September greetings to all our clubs! - August 31, 2018

The weather has been amazing and outdoor water polo in England has been on show this summer.  Lyme Regis has been a home to water polo since 1906.  In 2017 Lyme Splash launched its first championship as part of Lyme Regis Carnival Week.  The event was such a success that it was decided to run it again on 5^th August 2018.

The matches took part in the sea with two pitches at the back of the Cobb Centre.  It looks like great fun and we recommend it to all clubs for 2019!

We have also had the ManUp Festival in the iconic Salford Quays.  The event was organised by Manup! Water Polo and supported by Swim England North West.  The event used a single 20 x 12 metre pitch with each game being 2 x 6 minutes.  11 teams participated and spectator numbers were estimated at around 250 with passing footfall throughout the afternoon increasing the numbers to a staggering 2000 give or take.  Lots of tourists visiting Salford Quays stopped to watch.

Iconic Salford Quays

There were six male teams (Castleford, Stretford, Chester, Lancaster, Bridgefield and Warrington). In the final Castleford beat Stretford 2-1 in a closely contested match to take the Men’s cup.

Castleford Champions

Triumpant Warrington All-Stars

In the Women’s competition Warrington All Stars won all preliminary matches to play Tyldesley in the final securing a 5-2 win to take the competition cup.  Liverpool Liverbirds took the bronze position.

Bridgefield were the victors in the Junior display match beating Radcliffe 12-5.

The organisers were delighted with the success of the event and are determined to return to Salford Quays next Summer.  They are also looking at additional locations for more events in 2018 to develop and promote the concept of UK outdoor water polo. Full information is on the ManUp! Facebook page.

Enfield Water Polo club travelled to Belgium again this year to participate in a tournament at Blaarmeersen Lake, Ghent.  The team was made up of all ages and came home with the Fair Play Trophy.  Well done!

Enfield take on Belgium

Congratulations to Hayley’s Channel Relay Team members Sarah Dunsbee, Tim Dunsbee, Cara Saunders, Anna Lord, Piers Martin and Jack Overton who overcame initial disappointment to complete the swim across the English Channel in 13 hours and 3 minutes whilst at the same time raising a magnificent £6,332 for Autism East Midlands.  A fantastic achievement – very well done!

Hayley’s Channel Relay Team

Keeping with the open water theme we also congratulate Richard Royal, a member of Humberside Water Polo Team, who completed a daring swim from the tiny nation of Sealand back to the shores of England on Monday, August 20.  Sealand is 12km off the east coast of England and was originally built as gun-tower fortress to defend shipping lanes during the Second World War.  Richard became the first person to complete this feat – and it took him just three hours and 29 minutes.  That’s what you call training for the new season!

Richard Royal

And finally, a reminder that @BoldmereWPC is hosting the WASA Water Polo Invitational on Saturday 1 September at Wyndley Leisure Centre, Sutton Coldfield.  The free event is designed to showcase the sport.  There will be four back-to-back matches with a DJ playing live music throughout the games.  If you know anyone who may be interested in playing water polo please invite them along.  If you just love water polo, then go along because it promises to be a great evening of entertainment.

We hope you find this report of interest.  We aim to showcase what has been going on in English Water Polo clubs over the last month and flag up forthcoming events.  If you have any news that you would like to share about your club please contact me at ah@waterpoloengland.org

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.