Water Polo: Germany Tour Diary

To kick off the season, the water polo team returned for the fifth time to Germany for the Aachen Annual Water Polo Tournament. Not having previously won any matches in Germany, the team arrived with no expectations other than giving it their best shot and getting in a lot of playing time to allow all levels of players improve their skills. The tournament kicked off on the Saturday morning after a short night of sleep in the corridor for most people, with Maurice sleeping on the bar top. The girls kicked off with the first match. Starting out modestly, they picked it up in the second half with Jo scoring our first goal of the day. Although the girls played well, the other team was too strong, leaving the girls at a 1-5 loss. The girls’ second match was tougher, with the other team playing violently and the match resulted in a 1-7 loss with another goal from Jo. The guys started a bit slowly in their first match but got better in the second half with Tim getting two goals in and our fresher Irish James getting in another goal. We also had Stuart put the ball in the corner of the goal after a good pass by Tim. The guys lost the match 4-10 but, scoring more goals in this match than we have in the whole tournament in previous years, the guys were pleased with their performance. The second match of the day was tougher for the guys but Alex scored in the second half leaving the final score to be 1-10. Saturday night the team got ready for the legendary water polo party. Our team mascot The Blumenkholen was broken early in the evening, but this did not stop TJ from getting photos with all the girls at the party. Thanks to Tom BF Imperial were the last to leave the party only three hours before the first match on Sunday morning. After some good navigation and some solid driving from Stu (mainly on the right side of the road) the team arrived safely at the pool. The guys’ match kicked off at 9 am and impressively all the guys got in the pool. The hangovers and lack of sleep left the guys badly defeated 9-0. Their second match of the day was more successful with Irish James scoring 3 goals, one of them beautifully set up by an interception, sprint and assist from Jackson. Captain James took on the strongest German player he could find to protect the freshers and still managed to get in a solid goal. The match ended 4-6 with another loss, but it was still one of the best matches we have played, so everyone was pleased. The girls also had a match on the last day and, with a motivational talk from Joey, they all tried to forget their pounding heads, giving everything in the last match. Starting off strong Jo managed to get in a goal early in the match, giving us an edge over the other team. Smashing in another goal in the second half, the excitement was rising as the girls won their first ever match in Germany 2-0! Satisfied with the weekend and their progression, the team is ready to take on the other UK universities knowing nothing will compare to the German beasts.