BUCS bronze for Water Polo

Going into the Championship semi-finals IC Water Polo had the toughest draw possible against Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh, all of whom have recently won the competition – something that IC have previously never come close to. Thankfully though to help us out we were joined by our not so secret weapon Adam Scholefield, fresh from playing in the Olympics for Team GB. The other teams began to worry as they witnessed our class and tenacity playing against our first opponents Manchester, which ended 10-6 in IC’s favour. Saturday night saw the team have a relaxing meal out, whilst resisting the temptation for a night out in Bristol, preserving our energy for a tough Sunday of matches. This however did not stop the supporting girls who had a great time with ladies’ man Torres.

Sunday was an early start against Edinburgh who at first proved resilient but tired quickly, ending in an 8-5 win to Imperial. Our last game of the round robin semi-finals were hosts Bristol, who were also tournament favourites as last year’s winners of the competition. A strong first half from Bristol lead to them having a comfortable lead, until we then had them figured out, where we began to then make a comeback and reduce their lead. However, the comeback was neither strong enough nor quick enough and the final score was 8-3 to Bristol. Bristol’s performance throughout the semi-finals proved themselves as the team to beat for the finals, with the other two qualifiers from the other semi-final leg, Bath and Durham, not looking that imposing.

The Finals were due to be played on the 23/24th of March at Leeds University, which happened to be right in the middle of England’s freak cold spell. Communication came through on Friday morning from the BUCS head office that the Water Polo Finalswere to be cancelled, due to heavy snow and treacherous driving conditions. Health and safety rules declared that it would be unsafe for any competitors to risk travelling into the area, and as such the Finals were postponed until the 11/12th of May. As many Imperial students can empathise, this is right in the middle of exam season, putting us at an immediate disadvantage with the loss of many key players.

News was then later received that Durham has pulled out completely, due to them being unable to field a team as exams had got the better of them. Great commitment was shown from Andrea, Nick and Jen Wei, who all had exams in the coming few days, but they were able to spare some time for the most important matches ever of their Water Polo careers.

We left early on Friday evening, arriving in late in Leeds but thankfully with comfy beds and a nice hotel to sleep in. As Durham had dropped out it left us with only Bath and Bristol to beat and also a guaranteed podium finish. Our first match of the finals were against Bath, which in the end proved to be one of the closest games we have played this season, akin to that of the one against Oxford back in the preliminary rounds. The final score ended 11-12 to Bath, with their winner being scored in the very last minute of the game, an unfortunate result and one which made the Bristol match even more crucial for Imperial.

After substantial hydration and sugar consumption we were ready to play our final and most important game of the season. Bristol started strongly putting 4 past us in quick succession, leaving the team looking shocked and confused as to what just happened. Ultimately this set the tone for the final match, with Bristol being the much stronger team – which is to be expected of a team who train 5 times a week and also compete in the national club league. Their performance was well drilled and almost robotic in a sense, giving them a strong advantage over us who had had a long Easter break without training and the absence of a few more key players.

After the match we headed to Leeds Union, where Marco was able to pull some strings and bag us all BBQ tokens meant to be exclusively for Leeds Mech Eng students. Once we had ravaged their meat stocks we hastily returned to the pool for the final quarter of the final match and the winning ceremony. Bristol produced a similar result against Bath, securing their position as championship champions. Our bronze medals were emphatically presented to us and we then headed back to London. An enjoyable minibus journey home was unfortunately marred for one anonymous individual who was the subject of a certain piss in an apple juice bottle prank. He neglected to check the colour and smell of the juice before consumption and subsequently drank the piss.

Despite this we all had a great trip to Leeds, and thoroughly enjoyed playing. A special thanks should go to Tom BF and el presidente Alex for travelling all the way up with us to support us, and also to coach Adam for the continual hard work he has put in over the season. This remains Imperial’s best performance ever in BUCS Water Polo, surpassing that of 4 years ago when we won the 2nd Division Shield competition. We look forward to next year where we will again be playing in the top division, and hope to surpass this year’s performance.