2021 marks our Club’s 100th anniversary.
To celebrate we are publishing a series of stories from Penguins past and present, recording what being a member of our Club means to them.
Our first post comes from long-standing member and Past President, Steve Baker.
1969.
15 years of age, a full head of hair and a 30-inch waist!
I didn’t really know what was about to happen.
Penguin were in a high point, junior national champions, ASA Knock Out runner up to Poly, top five in the newly formed, seven-year-old, National Water Polo League.
Numerous top and talented players, Pete Davis, and Derek Fraser, both international goal keepers; Ron Turner, John Martin-Dye, both Olympians; Eddie Rowe, Terry King, Gerry Jarrett, John Lake, Pete Berry, Ian Wright, Jimmy Andrews, Malcolm Cromer and numerous others. We boasted five senior teams and a junior team.
The early years
I joined Penguin from Hampstead Priory, a swimming and water polo club in Swiss Cottage, North London. I had some early plaudits for my goal keeping. I was a good swimmer, especially in fly and long-distance open water swimming and had represented London at the English schools.
At Hampstead Priory I started as an outfield player but as is often the case found myself in goal due to an absence of a goalkeeper. It was here that I started my ‘relationship’ with Yugoslavia. I met a Yugoslav goalkeeper, Nic Vuckovic, who was possibly the biggest and certainly one of the first influences in my career. Nic was a draft dodger (and who can blame it in Cold War Europe) who was not tall but a fabulous goalkeeper with fantastic technique and reflexes. He taught me skills unheard of in the English game of dynamic goalkeeping, positioning, ball stealing and importantly how to stop a shot. Useful in an aspiring goalie.
I played for the Priory in the days of the leather ball and was taught how to catch and throw by a policeman, Mr. Brown. Catching and throwing a leather ball is by far the best way to learn to control a water polo ball as there is no ‘grip’.
I wanted to get better, I was living in Kilburn and had my bike, so it was off to the Penguin. It might have been Polytechnic as they used my school pool for training, but they did not have a junior team. Their loss.
Thursday evenings at Lime Grove baths, Shepherd’s Bush, our home for many, many years, now a development of flats.
Shepherd’s Bush, famous for the Empire, Steptoe and Son, the BBC and Penguin Swimming and Water Polo Club.
Our home pool, Lime Grove (two pools actually), was immediately opposite the BBC TV studios. The story often told was that in the early days of TV when, shock horror, no one had 42-inch screens and watched football every night, there were matches where the crowds queued around the block to get in and see Penguin.
Rob Derbyshire, the pool manager at Lime Grove, founded Penguin in 1921. Hammersmith Ladies was formed in 1916. The two clubs merged in 1921: the birth year of my father and Prince Phillip, so lots of good things happened.
My early memories from 1969 through until 1972 were of evenings either training, playing pickup games where the winners stayed in and there would be three or four teams of Penguin players getting in after a period. Two hours of games. Sometimes we would have two proper matches in London and Middlesex Leagues on a club night.
Penguin Juniors was a fantastic experience. A fabulous set of players in a London League champion team: Peter Berry, Clive Roberts, Alan Wright, Jimmy Andrews, Graham Forbes and Steve Tetlow. The 1968 national junior champions included captain, Jack Nievens#, and Malcom Cromer. Malcolm’s father, Wally, was the club swimming coach and a silversmith who made the Presidents’ chain!
We also made up then bulk of the Middlesex county junior team that had numerous epic matches against Essex, led by GB junior captain Graham Bernard, Sussex, with the fearsome Billy Warner, and Surrey with their Chris Smith who had a habit of joining the opponents in the warm-up to test the ‘grit’ of the goalie by planting a shot on his nose. Legendary, unless you were the goalie.
That played into my hands of course, as I quite enjoyed saving with my head.
Tony Love playing for Watford and Hertfordshire was a standout player in the day with one of the best handling skills in the league. He turned his hands into being a top chef and later went on to provide us with some of our best annual dinners at Harrington Hall, Kensington.
In the 1960s and 1970s Polytechnic was without doubt the outstanding team of the age. Nearly all their players were internationals: Neil May, in my opinion the best goalie, alongside Martyn Thomas of Cheltenham, that the country has seen. (I was too young to really see Pater Pass at his best, one of the few water polo plyers to be honoured by the Queen.); the much-feared Terry Benstead, club and country captain; Roddy Jones, Chris Ayling, the McCartney brothers, Tony Meek (still winning masters national swimming titles at the age of 70+), Dave Chapman and possibly one of the best forwards the country has seen in the form of left hander, Andy Lench. Andy was a young player for Aston before moving to Poly. Andy was also one of the first players in my knowledge to have gone abroad to improve themselves. He went to the then Yugoslavia as a current senior international water polo player. The Yugoslavs immediately said his leg work was not good enough and wouldn’t allow him to play until he had spent a month doing solely leg work.
A strong message for any aspiring player.
Playing for Britain
I had watched the Poly play an international tournament in Crystal Palace in 1968 when I was still at Hampstead Priory and was hugely inspired and influenced. Indeed, it was the Poly ‘methods’ that influenced me hugely as a ‘leader’. They had plans in the 1970s to play in the Dutch league to improve their play. I remembered that idea and it inspired me to start the regular forays to Holland for Penguin teams.
My international journey started in 1970. I was a member of the team in 1972 which won a three-team tournament of GB, Spain and Holland. It was the only victory against Spain and Holland in half a century.
I was selected for my country and represented GB Juniors in Duisburg, then in West Germany, in the 1973 European Junior Championships. A very memorable moment was playing in Hungary in a warm-up tournament, when the coach said we should be defensive to keep the score ‘respectable’. Mark Mitchell and Andy Lench both refused to do this and the team went on the attack. Although we lost 8-4, it was one of the best performances against a Hungarian team until the 11-11 draw in 1991 by the GB seniors. Sadly, this cost Mitchell and Lench their places in the European Championships team – a case of cutting off the nose to spite the face.
Another memorable match in Budapest was playing Sweden in a thunderstorm, lightning and all, the rain splashing a couple of inches above water level and the referees dressed in white waterproofs. Where was health and safety then?
Liverpool
1972 saw me go to Liverpool University and with two great goalkeepers ahead of me at Penguin, I joined Everton to get National League and higher-level competition.
With Everton, we won the ASA knock out against Poly in a 7-6 extra time game at Walsall baths with Geoff Derby as coach. He was to become Penguin coach 15 years later. We also staged the Europa Club Championship at Blackpool baths in 1974 and were beaten by a Ferencvaros side featuring Sivos and the Conrad brothers and the goalkeeper who went on to become GB Women’s coach. I got a MOTM award, the Hungarian goalie cap and a senior GB call up on the back of it. A very proud moment.
Having Gary Simons and Martin Blenkinsop as ball boys was a fun moment in retrospect. They both went on to become outstanding international players and of course played for Penguin in the middle 1980s.
At Liverpool, I had three great years where the University won the UAU (Universities Athletic Union) water polo championships three times and the UAU swimming championship twice, a never to be repeated feat. We also got Gold, Silver and Bronze in the BUSF (British Universities Sports Federation) championships. It was here that I met my lifelong friend John Barnes, who played so well for UAU B. To be fair, he was a ‘Fresher’, and an A team player for the subsequent three years, but put in the B team to lead on that occasion.
Rebuilding the team
On my return to London, I immediately rejoined Penguin for top division play. Sadly, the club was in a period of decline. In 1974 we appeared in the ASA Championship final, lost to Poly and a large number of the first team retired. This left Gerry Jarrett leading a team of older players and a couple of kids. It was so bad that we went to Birkenhead for one fixture in the ‘Ferry’ against Birkenhead. The Ferry was a huge lido on the south side of the Mersey where the cold wind was always present. Of the ‘Magnificent 7’ that day, we had 2 goalkeepers, Terry Bushell and me. I therefore played outfield and scored one of our two goals that game. We were relegated that season and 1977 saw us in division 2.
John Lake took over as coach and the team reformulated around a group of young players and one or two elder players. John Martin-Dye and Gerry Jarrett were there, now supported by young, keen and slim players such as Graham Forbes who boasted ‘the best legs in the National League’ and a new talent who would go on to be the leading scorer in Division 2 for many years, Paul Whatley. Paul was tall, fast and extremely strong with a devastating shot.
John made me Captain and we started a programme of development with a strong association with Holland, playing in Zeist (the biggest water polo field in the world, probably), staying with Jan and Myrna, relations to Lew Bloomfield. Indeed, that association proved pivotal in later years.
Here’s a typical team attending Holland with all nine players under 25 years, plus John Lake as player/coach, Jan and Myrna and Lew and family:

Numerous young talented players came our way and we ‘reached out’ to other non-National League clubs for talented youth. David Burling, Dean Lloyd and Paul Howard were just three outstanding young players that joined us under this method, whilst through our junior development and connections with schools such as City of London we acquired Ian Spooner, Dave and Paul Bryan, and of course there were the ‘family’ ties, Paul Wollaston, Guy Neivens, Peter Falcini.
By 1978 we were League 2 champions and promoted.

Back row: Gerry Jarrett, Peter Allen, Paul Whatley, Jack Dengel (President), John Tozer, Steve Baker, Jimmy Andrews, Malcolm Cromer, Graham Forbes.
Front row: John Martin-Dye, Dean Lloyd, David Burling, Bobby Wollaston, John Lake, John Woodward.
We were joined for one year by Alessandro Ghibellini, Olympic Medalist and Italian hero. A member of Pro Recco, the most successful club side ever in Europe. That started another enduring relationship which saw future players such as Marco Baldinetti, one of the top players in the world at one stage, join us and indeed Alessandro’s sons Stefano and Alberto played for us, usually when living with me to learn English. Alessandro added experience and solidity to our structure, and we looked to have gained a foothold in Division 1.
However, a couple of outrageous incidents which after all these years still stick in the mind occurred. A ‘standing’ goal by Benstead where we were drawing 4-4 with Poly and thence lost by 1 and two final games of the season wins by Aston (including the infamous John Barnes) against Poly and Sutton after the season had been decided, saw our 8 points insufficient to stay up and we went down on goal difference, bitterly disappointed.
More than a water polo club
We had the very good fortune to become associated through Paul Whatley with Slush Puppie who were our sponsors for almost a decade. Ralph Peters, the company Managing Director, supported us hugely with cash, equipment and kit.
In 1980 we attempted to build on the relationship with our sponsors Slush Puppie and create something interesting and new by starting the Slush Puppie Galarama. My idea was to try to replicate the fabulous 1970s show It’s a Knockout, or, as we were in the EEC then, Jeux Sans Frontier.
In the event, we had water polo matches of course, but we included massive relay races 12x25m silly races and my favorite, the Club Superstars where the attending clubs would put forward their ‘Hero’ who would do a number of exercises in a competitive way. All events counted equally for the overall winners. In addition, the events were used as vehicles for sponsorship, raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, Help a London Child and Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
The first event was held at Potters Bar helped by our great relationship with the pool manager Dave Webzell and secondly at Janet Adegoke pool.
Portobello won the first event and we won the second.
It is a shame that this event stopped but it was mainly due to the lack of control of a home pool and demands on pools for whole weekends.
Whilst on the subject of ‘not water polo’, the swimming achievements should be mentioned.
John Martin-Dye alongside Rob Derbyshire, were our most successful swimmers, both Olympians. John was British 100m, 200m and 400m swimming champion, all achieved in the now long-gone Derby Baths in Blackpool. A beautiful indoor 50m saltwater pool.
We frequently attended the Middlesex Masters’ competitions with Ron Turner and John Lake regularly winning events. Indeed, John Lake in 1987 became the European Masters 100m and 200m Backstroke champion and held the British records for those events.
To broaden the achievement base, some of our members have qualified for the British Triathlon Age Group team and a number have completed solo and team Channel crossings.
As a slight tangent, we did some whacky things. We were awarded Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s Illuminated scroll twice for being British Champions, Chelsea FC being another recipient. We canoed the Wye as a team building exercise. We also entered the Guinness Book of Records with a 25-hour water polo match, led magnificently by a somewhat prune-like John Barnes.
Home sweet home
If ‘pools’ has been a constant commentary in my recollections, it’s because having a ‘home’ pool has over time been a recurring theme.
Those early years of the 1970s and 80s saw us being moved on from pool to pool. Nine Elms pool where we were playing as they started to drain the pool, Lime Grove was closed to build flats, we moved to Kensington New Pools. Through Cliff Spooner we obtained Imperial College, which was our home for many years prior to getting into Gurnell. This association, which I managed to secure as the pool was just opening, was fortunate as it was the only deep-water pitch outside of Crystal Palace in London.
In my time at Penguin, we have used the following as our home pool:
- Nine Elms
- Lime Grove
- Kensington New Pools
- Imperial College
- Potters Bar
- Highgate School
- Gurnell
- Shell
- Hillingdon
- Latymer
John Lake, as manager for the Shell Centre pool, made a significant contribution to the club by enabling Penguin to use the Shell Centre for many years. It had previously been the home of arch rivals, Otter.
We have been very lucky to have developed relationships with pool managers and Local Authorities over the years to facilitate this.

Penguin v Scotland
What’s in a name?
Our club’s name has been a moving feast. 1916, Hammersmith Ladies, 1921, Penguin in the 1980s we became Hammersmith Penguin to associate ourselves more closely with the borough. The problem was that overseas Hammersmith meant very little. We were “London Penguin”. In the 1990s therefore with the ASA refusing our application to become London Penguin, we adopted the name West London Penguin S&WPC. The ASA had decided that London was too large an area for the ‘London’ suffix and all clubs had to have a geographic name. Established names such as London Polytechnic and Otter were allowed to stand.
Becoming a force
Back to competition.
Division 2 could not hold us, and champions again in 1981 saw us back up in the top division. From 1982 through the early ‘80s we gradually developed our position and our hold on Division 1. As we strengthened, further players joined us, John Barnes from Aston, Martin Blenkinsop and Gary Simons from Everton, Rick Ambidge from Bedford, Robbie Arnold from California, Fraser Moore from Scotland. Each of these players made a significant positive impact in their way. John, an outstanding swimmer and all-round player who should have represented his country. Martin and Gary, both very strong and astute water polo players. Rich, a raw recruit from Bedford who swam a 55sec 100m and was a very strong defender. Robbie had all the skills. Fraser, an extremely rugged centre forward.
We made many trips to Holland in those days playing in competitions and training in environments superior to what we had in London.
After that there was a grim determination. An incident saw Paul Whatley and me approached to join Polytechnic. We refused saying that we would be champions soon enough. The laughter from our erstwhile opponents was enough to drive us on.
Returning to Holland. We had a training weekend staying on Jan and Myrna’s garage floor in sub -zero February temperatures. “WE WILL WIN THIS YEAR,” said Paul Whatley, “cause I’m not ****** coming back here again in the winter”.
We did win. In 1986 we staged and won the British Deepwater Championships. In its inaugural year. As Secretary for the National League, I had set this up to replace the one-off game between the champions of England and of Scotland which had to that date decided the British champions.
That year the team was coached by Mick Leask, a policeman with pretty extreme training and motivational methods. The sight of players wearing the ‘hat of shame’ was enough to drive the best from them. The team in the 1980s was outstanding and the winning team at the first British Championship was a magical blend of raw talent and strong ‘professional’ players.
Ian Spooner, surely one of the best pure talents to emerge from the club, Robbie Arnold, only a year with us but hugely influential, Martin Blenkinsop, Paul Wollaston, the nonstop swimmer, Paul Anjos, always winning the swim off. Fraser Moore is a player worth a mention at this stage. In the key match of the British Championships finals, he scored two goals out of the pit against the then US national team goalkeeper to put us 2-0 up and completely shock Poly. A 6-6 draw with Poly. But with wins for us against Portobello and Sutton and Poly losing to Portobello, the championship came to West London.

Back Row: Paul Whatley, Fraser Moore, Paul Wollaston, John Barnes, Steve Baker, Martin Blenkinsop.
Front row: Jerome Read, Gary Simons, Ian Spooner, Guy Nievens, Paul Anjos, Robbie Arnold.
Laying down: Rich Ambidge.
We played in the European club championships for the first time of a number in following years. We were drawn in Naples against a very strong set of opponents from Italy, of course, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. We lost to Naples by one goal and appeared on Italian Match of the Day. A week of training in the Pro Recco pool prepared us well for the competition. We gave a good account on our first European Cup competition but failed to get through to the second round.
This was not our first foray into Europe of course. The club has been on regular tours to Holland, Portugal and Malta and struck up firm friendships such as with Charlie Mock of Malta.

The team went on the next year (1987) to win the National League and featured possibly the most all-round player I have ever seen at the club, Rich Ambidge. He joined as a very raw, big and fast swimmer. Two years with us as an attacking back and then off to the USA where he starred for many years. His influence on our play was extraordinary. We also had the emergence of Miguel Ortiz who topped the scoring charts. He was as close to Gary Lineker as you will see in a pool. A scoring sensation from all distances and of course with some South American guile thrown in. We had a new coach, Goeff Derby, in his day a high scoring forward for Everton.

Bact row: Derek Roberts, Graham Forbes, Ian Grimwood, Rich Ambidge, Paul Wollaston, Mario Tixi.
Middle row: Paul Whatley, Fraser Moore, Steve Baker, Ian Spooner, Alan Wollaston.
Front row: Miguel Ortiz, Gary Simons, Paul Anjos, Jerome Read.
In the middle 1980s we had a number in the National Team, Paul Whatley, Gary Simons, Martin Blenkinsop, Miguel Ortiz, Paul Wollaston and me for England, Ian Spooner and Paul Nicholson for Wales, Fraser Moore for Scotland.
I became coach of Penguin in 1989 and we had success with a very young team winning the ASA Plate in 1991 in Ponds Forge, Sheffield and repeatedly came close in other competitions.
1992 saw a barbarian team go the World Masters including 4 Penguin players, Paul Whatley, John Barnes, Ian Grimwood and myself. We had a remarkable journey in the competition reaching the semi-finals.
I also became the GB and England Manager in 1993 which saw my involvement with the club reduce.
The club continued to be very close to winning many trophies in the 1990s under coaches, Paul Wollaston and John Lake. Young players continued to be the core of this team including Jerome Read, Bruce Elder, Tom Perry, Danny and Wayne Davis and JP Gaume.
The 1990s saw Penguin again as very close to the top but never quite there for the men’s team. But the club developed in other ways with the formation of the women’s team. It was here that John Lake gravitated to become their very popular coach for many years.
The women competed at the top with clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester and Otter, all of which were very strong in the fledgling years.
In 1999, I was approached by senior members of the team to come back as coach. How can anyone say no to such a request?
On my return to Penguin as coach in 2000 we had 5 years of great success, winning the British Championships in 2002 and runner up in 2001 and 2003.
The team by the early 2000s the team was becoming a lot more cosmopolitan. The 2002 British Championship winning team featured players from England, Scotland, Wales, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan. The finals at Ponds Forge, Sheffield were as epic as when we won in 1986. Wins against all teams left us with the crunch match against Bristol, who had emerged under Mark Taylor, the National Team coach. In the tightest of games, the breakthrough goal was scored by Aram Eidipour against the national team goal keeper, Dave Bush. Aram must have dummied Dave and the defence 10 times and got closer and closer to the goal to make a certain goal. Time stood still during those dummies.

Back row: Steve Baker (Coach) Aram Eidipour, Bruce Elder, Andy Holt, Sinan Naipoglu (GK), Chris Evans, Igor Zagaruiko.
Middle row: Steve Cooter, Graham Martin-Dye, Tom Perry (c), Danny Davis, Wayne Davis.
Front row: Roger McPherson (GK), Jerome Read, Nick Beard.
We were once again on the European tour with trips to Malta, Crete, Portugal, Holland and Belgium.
The St Niklaas tournament in Belgium on August Bank holiday weekend became a regular pre-season training tournament for both junior and senior teams. We won this tournament a few times with both senior and junior teams. A morning swim across the chilly lake was the penalty for anyone whose intake on Saturday evening was over the eight…

Back row: Andy Holt, Paul Skerm, John Whatley, Stefano Pedrali, Dorian Dacie.
Middle row: Paul Whatley, Guy Whatley, Jerome Read, Brice Elder, Tom Perry, Nick Beard, Justin Shute, Paul Wollaston.
Front row: Steve Baker, Steve Cooter.
One of my favourite photos was taken by Martin Waller of a voluntary entry following beating the Belgian State team in the St Niklaas final with a Penguin junior team. I was the overworked coach:

Bright new beginnings
As Club President, I made an after-dinner speech urging the club to turn its attentions to the development of young players.
Paul Bryan, Paul Whatley and I worked at St Paul’s School for many years developing young players, but we were always in the hands of others regarding pools.
The opening of the 50m all deep pool in Hillingdon provided an opportunity for the club. A return to former days and a huge opportunity to develop junior water polo. There was a time when Penguin would play matches in Hillingdon lido. John Whelan liked it so much he bought a house within walking distance.
With the senior players seeking to run the first team on their own, I moved on to working with the juniors. After some five years of negotiation and public relations where I worked very closely with the Sports Development Officer in Hillingdon Council, we were awarded the right to develop water polo in the borough, securing the water polo contract for Hillingdon pool and setting up our junior operation there which started in 2010.
This took the form of junior and mini polo and was the basis of the junior teams that we now have. Success in winning the London League junior division 2 and winning the junior county and regional championship and semi-final of the ASA junior was a great run. This formative operation in Hillingdon in one of the premier 50m deep pools in London is still going as under the leadership of Sue Seagroatt.
A training camp in Becej, Serbia allowed that crop of young players including Joe Ortiz and Tom Dean to develop their skills ahead of their international appearances. It also meant a full circle in my relationship with Yugoslavia. Starting with my Yugoslav coach and coming to Serbia with the juniors.
A number of senior games for the men and the women were played at Hillingdon and we staged some London League tournaments. This excellent facility was largely passed up as a home by the club and we now run the Hillingdon Penguins there once a week.
Penguin is still developing junior players with the main focus now at Latymer Sports Centre where, with Latymer Penguins, along with a solid base in masters swimming.
As President for the London ASA, I led a funding proposal for water polo and was successful in getting a £250,000 award from Sport England for a three-year project in London. With the money, I employed Claudio Palumbo to work with all clubs in London. This initiative saw London win the junior nationals in 2014.
When the contract was terminated by London ASA, Claudio became the Penguin coach with the successes that have followed. This including winning the U17 Boys National Age Group Championships in 2019.
International Management
I became the GB men’s manager in 1993 in a real low period with then coach, Rob Heemskerk, resigning 6 weeks prior to the European Championships in Sheffield. Quite a baptism of fire. The first three years were really tough. GB dropped from the A Championship to the B Championships and then into qualification status. However, in 1996 I attended a FINA conference representing Great Britain and met Tom Hoad, the Aussie water polo legend. Over a few amber nectars, we came up with the idea of the Commonwealth Games for Water Polo.
After many presentations, discussions, papers and the like, the Commonwealth Games 5-year plan was hatched and thence one of the most successful periods for England in the pre-professional period.
In 1984, Paul Whatley, Martin Blenkinsop and I were members of the England team which won a tournament in Austria, the first England had won since the 1950s. In the 1990s and early 2000s, England won numerous international tournaments, including the almost unimaginable feat of winning in Malta. The North Sea Cup, the Home Nations, and tournaments in South Africa and Egypt all added to the run of success.
I made contact with and developed a close relationship with coaches in Becej. A small agricultural town in Serbia, Becej has a population of 24,000 people, a terrific reputation for water polo and benefits from a 50m pool! Two training camps for the England national team there were instrumental in the Commonwealth Games performance and success.
It all culminated in a bronze medal in Manchester in the Commonwealth Games 2002, behind Australia and Canada. This was the first medal for England on the World stage since the 1920s. That team included Penguin players Jerome Read and Graham Martin-Dye, with other Penguin players a part of the squad, Bruce Elder, Tom Perry and Chris Evans.
I would go as far as saying that the medal won at the Commonwealth Games was the pinnacle of my career. My club pinnacle has to be winning the British Championships with Penguin as a player in 1986, 1988 and then as coach in 2002.
It must not go unmentioned that the Olympic Games in London in 2012 saw GB gain a place by hosting rights to the water polo competition. Francesca Snell became our first water polo Olympian since the 1950s. It also saw an unrivalled period of financial investment in the national teams to develop them for that competition.
Great names past
When you have been associated with an organization as long as 50 years plus, there will have been losses along the way. Too many to name them all, but really significant people in the history of this great club include Bobby Wollaston, player and then coach in the early 80s; Jack Dengel, responsible for so many years for the Annual Dinner and a good goalkeeper in his time; Bill Usher, our erstwhile Secretary for many years and the keeper of the Penguin Book of Minutes; Dima ‘Prince’ Gallizine, a real Russian Prince and Nilo Falcini, also both good goalkeepers; Ian Williams, a long-term servant of the club and Secretary.
John Lake deserves a special mention as a great friend and mentor to many, coach of the men’s and women’s teams over the years and a very good swimmer and player.
But possibly the most shocking passing was the untimely death of Ron Turner. Ron has been a long-term firm favorite and a three-time Olympian, 1948, 52, 56. On his passing, I organized the making of an unique trophy that bears Ron’s name. A marvelous piece of work paid for entirely by a number of past and current members of Penguin:

Summing up
My career at Penguin is now 52 years and there have been many highs and a few lows.<.p>
Who could have known how long this relationship would last. My relationship with my parents was not so long, a serious ‘other’ has not been so long, no institution, employer or organization has been so long.
Water polo and Penguin have been my lifetime obsessions. This is the real answer to the importance of the club to me. Anyone telling me that the club doesn’t matter to me or that I no longer matter to the club is barking up the wrong tree.
My collection of Penguin memorabilia and Objets D’Art is probably unrivalled! My lifetime friends and relationships all revolve around Penguin.
I have had the good fortune to have been National Team Manager for 11 years, National League Chairman for 10 years, National League Secretary for 4 years, London ASA President, Club President and of course represented my Club and Country as a player, coach and manager.
None of these successes would have been possible without being a member of Penguin.
Happy Birthday Penguin. Congratulations on the first 100 years.
Stephen Baker
National Water Polo League Results
Key: Year-Division-Position
Men
West London Penguin (previously Penguin and Hammersmith Penguin)
65-1-5, 66-1-8, 67-1-7, 68-1-5, 69-1-5,
70-1-6, 71-1-3, 72-1-6, 73-1-7, 74-1-6, 75-1-8, 76-1-10, 77-2-3, 78-2-1, 79-1-10,
80-2-7, 81-2-1, 82-1-6, 83-1-6, 84-1-5, 85-1-4, 86-1-2, 87-1-1, 88-1-3, 89-1-4,
90-1-5, 91-1-6, 92-1-7, 93-1-6, 94-1-6, 95-1-5, 96-1-5, 97-1-6, 98-1-2, 99-1-3,
00-1-4, 01-1-3, 02-1-2, 03-1-4, 04-1-5, 05-1-7, 06-1-9, 07-1-6, 08-1-5, 09-1-9
10-1-5, 11-S5-3, 12-C1-1, 13-C1-7, 14/15-C2-4, 15/16-C2-2, 16/17-C1-4, 17/18-C2-2, 18/19-C2-4, 19/20-C2-1
Women
West London Penguin Emperors
10-1-4, 11-S5-4, 12-S5-5, 13-C1-7, 14/15-C1-4, 15/16-C1-6, 16/17-C1-8, 17/18-C1-6, 18/19-C2-8, 19/20-C2-5
West London Penguin Kings
10-2-7, 11-C2-7, 12-C3-3
West London Penguin Rockhoppers
10-4-2, 11-C3-1, 14/15-C2-6, 15/16-C2-9