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Welcome to our July edition of the England Water Polo club news! -

As the sun comes out and summer is here, the outdoor polo season is starting in the UK. We have news of 2 exciting events run by MANUP! in the coming months and advise you to get in touch with the organisers if you are interested. There’s a mixed U15 event at the Nantwich Lido in July, and then the Senior Men’s and Women’s tournament in the Salford Quays in August. From experience of previous years tournaments these are a lot of fun and not to be missed.

There are also some well-known members of our polo community getting into the sea to raise money for some really good causes. We would like to wish good luck to England Water Polo coaches Tim and Sarah Dunsbee, and family, who, as we go to press, are swimming across the channel to raise funds for a great cause. This is an incredible undertaking, and we wish them all the best (and good weather for the attempt!)

Tim, Sarah and family training for their epic Channel swim

For more information about Tim and Sarah’s epic swim, and to support by making a donation, please click here >

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Hayleys-Channel-Relay?utm_term=VWA5BAkBA

Sean and the Trinity distance swim team!

Polo players elsewhere have also been taking on the channel challenge in aid of a good cause, and we are delighted to congratulate Sean King and his Trinity polo team for completing the channel crossing distance of 37.8km on June 26th in a super quick 4 hours and 10 minutes. A great achievement Sean, but it has to be said that there are fewer supertankers and jellyfish in the Trinity School pool than Tim and Sarah are facing!

The Trinity School JustGiving page is still live, so please consider donating here. https://www.justgiving.com/page/trinity-school-channel-for-chipwepwete?utm_term=6wgB9EZvP

Swim England affiliated clubs up and down the country are offering the opportunity to try out water polo this summer. The free taster sessions are being held as part of Swim England’s Inspired to Try campaign, which aims to utilise the Olympic and Paralympic Games to encourage people to give aquatic sports a go.

The West London Penguin Inspired to Try event at the London Aquatic Centre

WestLondon Polo had a very successful intro to polo day at the London Aquatics Centre at the beginning of the month, and Sedgefield Water Polo Club have something similar planned on Saturday 3 August, 2pm at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre, Beveridge Arcade, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 4EJ. Both boys and girls are welcome and please email sedgefieldwp@hotmail.com to secure your place. For more information click here > www.facebook.com/sedgefieldwpc

If your club is planning an ‘Inspired to Try’ event then do please get in touch and we will be delighted to give you a mention.

 

The Herts League Knock-out Cup took place at Letchworth Lido on June 30th and saw Watford Water Polo win all their matches and emerge victorious with Enfield placed 2nd, Cambridge, Hitchin and Bedford made up a very competitive and enjoyable event.

The HL KO Cup victors, Watford WPC

2nd place Enfield

Letchworth Lido looking inviting

Herts League KO Cup action

Nominations are currently open for the 2024 Swim England National Awards.

There are a number of categories available for the water polo community, including water polo club, development coach and performance pathway coach of the year. You can also nominate any of our volunteers or officials that you think deserve to be recognised.

Last year Grantham Water Polo Club won the club of the year award with City of Manchester’s Izzy Howe winning the coaching award and Felix Monaghan winning Talent Athlete of the Year.

Last year’s winners Grantham, image credit Will Johnston Photography

Nominations close on Sunday 7 July with the winners being crowned at a live ceremony at the University of Birmingham in November. Click here if you want to nominate someone for an award > https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/swim-england-national-awards/

We close with news of Hillingdon’s U15 team which played in the 2nd round of London Water Polo’s U15 Summer League. Two wins from their three games with lots of hard work and effort in the pool, and Charlie was named MVP, well done everyone!

MVP!

The search for a new newsletter editor is now underway, so if you are interested we would be delighted to hear from you. To find out more please leave your contact details in the comments section below or email us on cd@waterpoloengland.org.

That’s all for this month’s round-up of water polo news in England, but don’t forget that we’re always eager to share news from clubs across England. If you have any exciting stories or updates, please contact us at cd@waterpoloengland.org

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