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Category: Olympics

My Penguin Story: Graham and John Martin-Dye

18 March 20224 January 2023
History, Olympics, Penguin 100 Centenary, Penguin members, Water Polo

In this post Graham Martin-Dye tells his own Penguin story and that of his father, John…

John and Graham Martin-Dye in their dress suits at a Penguin Dinner
Graham with his Dad, John, at a Penguin Dinner

 

Born on 3rd January 1978 in Watford General Hospital to John and Delia Martin-Dye, I started swimming at Watford Swimming Club aged five, and I got into water polo aged seven or eight, watching my dad and older brother Steven.

I played for Watford seniors when I was about 12 and was soon scoring goals due to my fast swimming speed. I broke numerous club records and swam at county and southern county level.

When I was 15 I went with Watford to Malta for an annual tournament with teams from countries all over Europe. Penguin were there too and, because my Dad was a Penguin, the Penguin team treated me like one of their own, especially coach John “Shakey Lakey’!

A few year later, as my coach, Shakey would give me my first opportunity to play National League. He and Dad coached together and were great mates.

Graham Martin Dye with the Penguin Junior water polo team with his father and Shakey Lake as their coaches
Me in the Penguin junior water polo team in the 1990s, with my Dad (right) and Shakey Lake (left) as our coaches

 

At the Malta tournament, I watched a player from Yugoslavia called Igor Milanovic. He was one of the best centre forwards in the world and he inspired me to get better and gave me the desire to play international polo. He was an amazing player and scored some amazing goals.

I joined Penguin in 1994 and played my first National League game away against Cheltenham. Ian Spooner played. He was absolutely amazing and a real hero of mine growing up.

I loved playing for Penguin and we went on a pre-season tour to Konstanz Germany, where I played with the likes of Paul Skerm, Jerome Read, Paul Whatley and Graham Forbes.

Water polo team
2002 British Champions
Back row: Steve Baker (Coach) Aram Eidipour, Bruce Elder, Andy Holt, Sinan Naipoglu (GK), Chris Evans, Igor Zagaruiko and Ian ‘Grimbo’ Grimwood.
Middle row: Steve Cooter, Graham Martin-Dye, Tom Perry (c), Danny Davis, Wayne Davis and Paul Whatley.
Front row: Paul Skerm, Roger McPherson (GK), Jerome Read and Nick Beard.

 

At 16 I was selected to play for Great Britain in the European Junior Water Polo Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was a fantastic experience and taught me so much about international water polo and the level you had to be at in order to compete with the best.

I made the England senior team at 18 and played in the home nations in Scotland, where our goal keeper David Bush got red flagged in the first quarter of the final against Scotland. Luckily, we went on to win!

I then had a break from the international game for four years to focus on my swimming career. I was training for Sydney Olympics 2000, but just missed out on selection.

In 2000 I returned to water polo and was selected for the England team that played in the 2002 Commonwealth water polo championships in Manchester, winning the bronze medal. I also played with Penguin in the team that won the British Water Polo Championships at Sheffield the same year.

Water polo team photo
October 2002 and off the back of winning the British Championships title,  we played in the LEN Champions Cup, held in Malta. Sadly we returned home to London empty handed
Back row: Graham Martin-Dye, Bruce Elder, Simon Pemberton and Rodger Mcpherson
Middle Row: Chris Evans, Mark Bullerwell, Ed Morris, Nick Hume and Joe Ernst
Front row: Stephen Cooter, Aram Eidipour, Tom Perry, Wayne Davis and Jerome Read

 

In 2003 I left the UK to play water polo in Australia for the Balmain Tigers in the Australian National League from 2004 to 2010. We won bronze in 2004 and 2005.

All in all I had a great swimming and water polo career and I now live in Australia where I have a wonderful wife and three children. I also still try to enjoy some masters and Australian country water polo from time to time.

******

My father, John Martin-Dye was born on 21 May 1940 in Shepherds Bush where he grew up in Thornfield Road.

He joined Penguin when he was eight and remained a member of the Club throughout his life.

Young John Martin-Dye with his trophies
Dad with his swimming awards and trophies

 

One of the stories Dad would tell about his early aquatics career is how, aged 15, he did a back flip from a diving board but was too close, hitting his chin on the board and knocking out his two front teeth!

Thankfully this didn’t affect his determination or passion for swimming and water polo.

Newspaper cutting
1961 Penguin Swimming Club Champions
From left to right: PJ Randall, Ian McClelland, John Martin-Dye, Howard Beesely, ‘Spud’ Murphy (Club Coach), Craig Gibson, Keith Young, Ronald Clapp, John Pickering, John Pettican, Keith Clapp, Terry Lines, Jack Nievens

 

Dad’s list of achievements in swimming is long and impressive, holding a place in the Great Britain team from 1960-1966 and a double Olympian. During this time:

  • In the 1960 Rome Olympics he came 4th in the 4x200m Freestyle Relay team which set a new European record.
  • At the 1961 ASA British National Championships he won the 110yd, 220yd and 440yds Freestyle
  • At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth he won bronze in the 4x200yds and 4x100yds Freestyle relays.
  • He became the ASA British National Champion in 400yds Freestyle again in 1963.
  • At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics he was 7th in the 4x100m Freestyle relay.
  • In the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston Jamaica he won bronze in the 4x100m Freestyle relay.

Dad was also a first-rate water polo player. He was part of the Penguin National League team from late 50s, I think, to 1968 and he played for Great Britain.

Water polo team
Penguin Water Polo Second Team probably mid- to late-50s, with the London Water Polo League Referees Cup, the Middlesex County Water Polo League shield and an unknown trophy
Back row: Ken Rogers, John Martin-Dye, Ted (Curly) Gerald and Terry Bushell

Front row: Terry Fray, Lewis Bloomfield and Bobby Wollaston

 

Watch John in action for GB vs Spain in this 1965 British Pathe video: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/britain-beat-spain

 

In 1965, in the Penguin team alongside Shakey Lake and other Penguin greats, Dad won the British Championships in Walsall in a close-fought final beating Cheltenham 6-5. Dad scored five goals and Les Baldwin scored the other. Ron Turner was captain of the team.

1965 Winners of the ASA Club Championships
Back row: John Lake, Terry King, Pete Richardson, Bobby Wollaston and Brian Randall
Middle row: Dave Littlechild, Lew Bloomfield, Terry Bushell, Gerry Jarret, Bernard Castle and George Pepper
Front row: Mike Rogers, Bill Waite, Ron Turner, John Martin-Dye and Les Baldwin

 

Read the press report of their success.

 

This post is part of our Penguin100 series of stories from Penguins past and present, sharing what being a member of the Club means to them as we celebrate our Centenary.

Frankie Snell – Penguin and the London 2012 Olympics

23 July 202122 September 2021
Frankie's Blog, Olympics, Penguin 100 Centenary, Penguin members, PenguINspiration, Team GB, Water Polo

As the belated 2020 Olympics get underway in Toyko, one of Penguin’s Olympians, Frankie Snell, looks back at her time with the Club and with the Team GB women’s water polo squad at London 2012.

I can remember my very first Penguin water polo training session. Tt was a cold autumnal evening in 2007 and I was lost in the maize of tunnels you had to conquer before finding the pool in the basement of the Shell Centre. I was just 20 years old and had recently arrived  in London from New Zealand.

It was an easy decision to join the Penguin club,. A few older NZ players were already members so I was looking forward to seeing familiar faces when I nervously turned up to that first session. I had nothing to be concerned about though. Right from the start with Shakey and the girls, I felt the strong sense of family and community within the Club.

Frankie Snell playing water polo
Playing in the London 20212 Olympics

 

That feeling carried with me over the following six years playing not just for Penguin, but professionally for clubs in France and Spain, and at the London 2012 Olympic Games with Team GB. I was born and grew up in NZ with a kiwi dad and English mother, hence having eligibility to compete for both nations.

I was the youngest in the Penguin team when I joined. I had a lot to learn from the older more experienced players and not just in the pool! They instantly took me under their wing and looked out for me throughout my time playing in Europe. This is my greatest memory and appreciation of being part of the Penguin Club, the lifelong friends I’ve made. We’re from all over the world, a lot of us now living back in our birth countries, but we’re still close and keep in touch from afar.

Frankie Snell playing water polo
In action

 

I must admit the friendships were bonded not just in the pool, but also in the pub. Our weekends away for national league games were always work hard, play hard. We would battle it out in the pool during the day and then enjoy the local night life until the wee hours before being back in the pool first thing the next morning.

I have very fond memories of playing for Penguins at the LEN Trophy tournaments round Europe. We weren’t quite up to the standard of the fully professional club teams we were playing against, but we always fought hard, had the biggest smiles on our faces and definitely had the most fun!

Penguin women's wtare polo team on the poolside before a match
At a LEN Championships match with the Penguin women’s team

 

I played for Penguins for a couple of years before a season for ASPTT Nancy in France. From France I moved up to Manchester in 2009 to join  the Team GB squad in preparation for London 2012, on moving up there I made sure my home club stayed as Penguins.

Competing at the Olympic Games was obviously a dream come true for me, a truly unforgettable, totally amazing experience, but it was also the hardest, most disappointing time in my life.

We went into the Olympics as massive underdogs, we weren’t expected to medal but within our team we had full belief that we could, and would!

London 2012 Women's water polo team photo in the changing room
Team photo

 

In the weeks leading up to the Olympics we’d drawn with top countries Russia and Spain (the eventual silver medalists) so we knew within our squad that we could do it. That’s why when the final whistle blew on our quarter final match and we’d lost against Spain by one goal in the last minute of the match, it was so utterly disappointing and heart breaking. To have your dream of medaling at an Olympics –  everything you’ve worked towards for years –  squashed in an instant by one blow on a whistle.

Spectators with a banner supporting Frankie Snell
Penguin team mates supporting from the poolside

 

We went to hell and back throughout our training in Manchester, pushed to our absolute limit physically and mentally so words can’t describe how broken we all felt. I still struggle now actually, almost 10 years later, when I think about how different everything would have been if we’d won that one match, if I’d made that one block or scored that one shot. All our games are up on Youtube but I haven’t yet been able to watch them back.

The whole Olympic experience was an extreme rollercoaster ride of highs and lows. We lost four out of our six games by one goal… one goal…

It was so hard to deal with but on the flip side, I had the most incredible experience. Being part of the home nation Team GB with all of the support behind us was the best feeling. The athlete village was amazing, I could’ve lived there forever (all the rumours you’ve heard about the village are true!).

 

London 2012 Team GB women's water polo team in the Olympic Village
Moving into our accommodation in the Olympic Village

 

The opening and closing ceremonies were so much fun and real ‘dream come true’ moments.

Frankie and team mates at the London 2012 closing ceremonyy
Me, Chloe Wilcox and Rosie Morris (my team mates and house mates for three years in Manchester) at the London 2012 closing ceremony

 

We went to Buckingham Palace and met the Queen. The countless parties after the event and the athlete parade through the streets of London were all some of the best times of my life.

It was a true honour for me to represent the Penguin Club at the Olympic Games. The support I felt by the whole Penguin family not only during the actual tournament but in the years before during the grueling preparation was immense. Being a part of the Penguin family is a very special part of my water polo journey.

Spectators with a banner supporting Frankie Snell
Penguin teammates arriving at one
of our matches

 

I’m now very happily living back in NZ with my partner Rich Chambers, also a fellow proud NZ-Penguin water polo player, and our 1 year-old daughter Cleo.

We would absolutely love to be at the Penguin 100 Anniversary Dinner next year but this is unfortunately looking unlikely. I can remember dancing the night away at the 90th Anniversary Dinner ten years ago so I hope this next celebration is just as spectacular!

Use the tag at the top of this post to read the brilliant blog that Frankie wrote in 2012 documenting her journey to the London Olympics. 

 

 

This article is part of our Penguin 100 Stories, a series of stories from Penguins past and present, recording what being a member of our Club means to them as we celebrate the Club’s centenary.

Chat with Champions: Igor Milanović

31 May 2020
Olympics, PenguINspiration, Water Polo

Yesterday we were honoured to chat with Igor Milanović, considered to be the best water polo player of all time.

  • 2x Olympic gold medallist
  • 2x World Champion
  • European Champion
  • 2x World Cup winner
  • 2x Champions League winner

And, as a coach, 2x Champions League winner.

Igor Milanović
Igor Milanović answering questions submitted by Penguins

 

Igor answered questions submitted by Club members.

Here’s some of the advice Igor shared with our young players:

Water polo is hard to practise. It won’t bring you fame or make you rich like some other sports, so you have to love it.

Teach yourself that hard work is not your enemy. Hard work is your friend. It will set you up for success in life.

Don’t eat sweets or drink fizzy drinks. Drinking water is very important. Please don’t eat sugar, it destroys bodies.

If you want to be a good individual player, you must be part of the team. Respect the orders of the coach, respect the rules and respect your team mates in the water, then the team will give back to you the chance to show your individual qualities.

The team will choose who will be the leader, you can’t choose it for yourself. If want to be a leader, respect and become part of the team and perhaps your chance to lead will happen.

Good defence is all about teamwork. Defence is the most important part of the game. Defence is the basic, then we can think about attack.

Know how to play in defence and 1:1, and be technically assured in receiving and passing.

 

Claudio Palumbo
Penguin head water polo coach, Claudio Palumbo, asking the questions


And there were wise words for coaches too…

There must be trust between a coach and players. There is only one commander – one boss – who can tell the team how to win when the game is going against you.

Coaches must be calm and cool when things are going wrong. If the coach loses his head in a match, players will not find the path to victory.

Encourage your players to be rounded individuals… listen to blues and jazz, read books, watch theatre. Broader minds give better analytical thinking. Feeling some kind of culture will make young people richer for life in general.

And possibly our favourite quote:

I didn’t like losing and it was like a couldn’t breathe, so I was lucky not to lose too often.

Igor, it was pleasure meeting you. Thank you for making the time to inspire us.

#Chat with Champions
This is part of our Chat with Champions series, bringing Penguins together with some of the top players in the sport we love.

 

My Olympic Story

5 September 201212 February 2018
Frankie's Blog, London 2012, Olympics, Water Polo

What an incredible two weeks we had! Before the Olympics I thought I would be sad when it was all over but, somehow, the whole experience surpassed even my ridiculously high expectations by a mile so there’s no way I can feel sad when I look back. I have never had such an emotional time of extreme highs and lows but I have many happy memories and stories to tell…

I shall have to start from the very beginning…

We arrived in the Athlete Village from Manchester only a few hours before the Opening Ceremony was due to start so it was a manic rush checking everything through the airport style security, getting our accreditations and finding out where we would be living. The volunteers were amazing, helping us all the way, even carrying all our luggage up to our rooms!

Checking in at Accreditation

All of Team GB were in one apartment block overlooking the Olympic Park. Our team was split into two different accommodations, eight of us in a three storey town house and five in an apartment above. My bedroom was in the town house on the first floor overlooking the Olympic Stadium – not a bad view to wake up to every morning! Our rooms were full of goodies: drink bottles, snacks, a teddy bear, swimming costumes, toiletries, bath robes, books, shrugs and lots more, all of which we could take when we left… including the Olympic-themed duvet!

My bed in the Athlete Village

We dumped our stuff and changed into our Opening Ceremony outfits which we thought were interesting, but as soon as the whole Team GB came together they looked amazing! We walked en masse from the Olympic Village to the stadium. It took almost two hours as we were moving very slowly behind the other countries, but there was music playing and kids lining the walkway asking for photographs, signatures and chanting ‘GB’ the whole way. One of my favourite memories of the whole Olympics was waiting in the tunnel to come out into the stadium. The atmosphere was electric as we could hear the crowd roaring and we were all jumping up and down with anticipation and excitement! We were supposed to stay in lines of ten to walk out, wave to the Queen and then we could take pictures and do what we liked. But because Waterpolo was right at the back, as soon as it was our turn we all just came running out! Dancing around the track, confetti falling from the sky with 80,000 people cheering for us is something I will never forget.

Chloe, Rosie and me before the Opening Ceremony

Water Polo Team in front of the Olympic Flame

I won’t describe the actual ceremony because I’m sure your view from the TV was a lot better, but we had a wonderful time, dancing in the middle of the stadium and all the way back to the village. It was hard to get to sleep that night.

Life in the Athlete Village was incredible and I could have lived there forever! Everyone was so friendly and we all had something in common so it was easy to get chatting to people from all over the world. One of the great things was that everything in the Village was free! I went to the hairdresser, dentist and hygienist without paying a thing. You could see a doctor without waiting and there was no charge for any medication you might need. There was a non-alcoholic bar and vending machines and food stalls dotted around everywhere and you just took what you liked!

The best way to eat though, was in the 24h food court. It was HUGE! You couldn’t see from one side to the other when you walked in. To cater for people from all over the world there was every type of food imaginable; Best of British, Mediterranean, Caribbean, European, American, Asian, and even a free Mcdonalds, which we didn’t touch till after we’d finished competing (although I was surprised by how many athletes were eating it every day!). I always had such difficulty at meals times becuase no matter how hard I looked, every time I returned to our table someone else had something better than me! The menu changed daily and throughout the day so you could never get bored of the food, and it was delicious.

The food hall was one of the best places for celeb spotting too. For the first few days we were a bit star-struck, living and socialising with some of the world’s top athletes. It soon became normal though to have physio next to a premiership footballer or eat your lunch next to a top tennis player. On our second day an incredibly special guest come into the Village to visit us, The Queen. She arrived in the middle of the day so many Team GB athletes were training away from the Village. She came with Prince Andrew and Princess Anne. A few girls from our team were selected to meet the Queen formally but we all greeted the royal party in the courtyard at the back of our Team GB block. Princess Anne spoke to me personally and I tried my absolute best to put on a nice English accent (I still haven’t lost my kiwi twang from growing up in New Zealand!). We also had a few other high profile visitors during the two weeks in the village: David Cameron was very friendly, chatting to us in our back yard one day. However I was gutted that I was out when Prince William, Kate and Prince Harry came into our block. Some of the girls were around and got to meet them all personally and Rosie was just in her underwear in the physio area when Kate came in and started chatting to her! Chloe was in the same situation a couple of days later when Sir Clive Woodward came in and shook her hand!

The Queen in the Athlete Village

Team photo in our GB training costumes

After the first few days of meeting everyone for the first time and exploring the Village we soon settled into the routine of training and competing. On match days we would have an easy training session in the morning at the competition pool and on rest days we would train twice, for an hour, in the morning and evening. There were a couple of pools dotted around London that we would be driven to on the rest days or if we were lucky we would train in the onsite swimming complex in Eton Manor. This was an incredible indoor temporary facility with three 50m swimming pools, a synchro pool, a waterpolo pool and a poolside gym! It’s such a shame this was not a permanent facility as I know London is in desperate need of more 50m pools.

Our competition started on Monday 30th July against the Russians. We went into every game with the attitude that we were not going to lose. The years of training, the 6am wake up calls in the rain and snow, surviving all of Szilvester’s torrents… they were all for these two weeks. Although we were ranked 8th we believed we had enough experience and passion behind us to surprise everyone and make our Olympic dream come true. For this reason it is still painful even now, almost two months later, to think back and write about these games. This is what I meant earlier about a rollercoaster of emotions because we would go from great experiences like meeting the Queen to losing the opening game by one goal… one goal! The first week of competition continued like this… the highs of meeting our families for the first time, showing them around, discovering something new in The Village, to underperforming against the Australians and having another painfully close defeat by the Italians. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we were distracted, unfocused or not ready in any way, I think it was all just part of the whole Olympic experience.

Despite the three loses in our opening round we actually ended up going into the Quarter Final match exactly where we wanted to be, and about to face the Spanish. The Spanish had a great first round, were on form and had won their pool yet this was the team we knew 100% that we could beat. Unlike some of the other ‘bigger’ teams, they were small and fast like us, and played a similar game. We had trained against them a lot in the build-up to the Olympics and we had been evenly matched throughout which gave us the confidence we needed. We had all known for years that this one match, the quarter final at the Olympic Games, was the most important game we would ever play.

In the changing room before the game Fran, our captain, gave the a rousing speech. As we emerged to the deafening cheers of the GB home crowd there was no way we were going to come out of that pool defeated. I have heard athletes talking about taking it to another level for important contests, almost going into an ‘animal like’ state and this is practically how I felt. For the whole hour we were battling it out I didn’t notice the crowd or the cameras or Szilvester yelling. Were all 100% committed to what we had to do so when the final whistle blew and realisation hit that we had lost in the last minute of the game, we were absolutely distraught. That the goal that we had trained towards for years and years had been shattered in just a matter of minutes was heartbreaking – the only word I can think of that describes how we all felt in the hours afterwards. There were a lot of tears shed that night.

Team GB at the water polo arena

Signing the ‘Our Greatest Team’ wall at Team GB House

We were given the next day off to recover both physically and emotionally which we all desperately needed. Two days later we were feeling refreshed and ready to face our old rivals, the Russians. We had lost against them by one goal three times in the last six months. Unfortunately we couldn’t continue this trend, losing to them by two goals this time in another really upsetting match. We tried really hard to pick ourselves up for the last game against the Italians as this was probably the last game our team would ever play together. The Italians’ experience and strength proved too strong for us though and we bowed out of the Olympics with an 11-7 loss.

After every game we would go out to the front of the pool to chat to all our supporters, I would always walk out really upset at the loss but everyone was constantly so positive. It was frustrating being congratulated on how well we had done while feeling deeply disappointed inside, but it eventually always made a smile return to my face.

That smile stayed on my face for the whole last four days of my Olympic experience. We definitely made the most of what the Village had to offer, eating as much McDonalds as we liked, getting our hair and makeup done in the salon on numerous occasions, and socialising with the other athletes who had finished competing. I don’t think I actually paid for a thing on those last few days, even when we travelled out of the Village. At night the clubs we went to let us skip the queue or cover charge, and there would be free drinks and nibbles for us everywhere we went. One of my favourite memories is going to the concert in Hyde Park the night before the Closing Ceremony. There was a special area exclusively for Team GB athletes and supporters but we (waterpolo and a few other Team GB athletes that were there) were invited on-stage and were presented to the 50,000-strong crowd. People were cheering and waving GB flags for as far as I could see! It was also Beckie’s birthday that day and the host got the whole audience to sing Happy Birthday to her! It was such a fantastic night.

At the Hyde Park concert

The festivities continued on to the next night too. The Closing Ceremony was so much fun. All the countries walked over to the stadium as one this time and again the atmosphere was electric as we waited to run down the steps though the crowd towards the centre of the stadium. It was great to have a front row view as some of our favourite acts performed. When we got back to the Village the BOA had laid on a party in the BBQ area for all the Team GB athletes. I think most of us were still there when the sun started to rise the following morning!

Team with Mo Farah ahead of the Closing Ceremony

Me at the Closing Ceremony

Next day buses had been organised to take all the athletes back to whichever corner of GB they came from. It was quite funny seeing bleary-eyed people virtually crawling out of their rooms and onto the buses. I ended up getting a very nice chauffeur-driven BMW from the Village right to my doorstep in Islington and the Volunteer even insisted on carrying my excessive luggage into the house for me. My Olympic experience started and finished with one of the many thousands of incredible volunteers going the extra mile to help out.

The next few weeks passed very quickly. I went on holiday with my New Zealand family who had flown over to support me. We had a much deserved team holiday at a villa in Portugal and even a quick trip to Ibiza too. But we all came back together one last time, with the Paralympians also, as ‘One Team GB’ for what was probably the best day of my life… the Athletes Parade.

We all met on the morning of the parade at The Guildhall in central London and were given a lovely breakfast. We were then slowly taken out, sport by sport in alphabetical order, onto our floats. As Waterpolo we were on the very last float. The following two hours were absolutely unbelievable! We travelled at a walking pace and as far as the eye could see in all directions there were people cheering and waving. People had climbed rooftops, lamp posts, phone boxes, they were hanging out of windows and sitting on top of trucks, it was incredible! It was really nice to read all the messages of support on everyone’s posters, they were all yelling ‘well done’ and ‘thank you’ but I just wanted to yell ‘thank you’ straight back because the support we had was overwhelming!

Water Polo float at the Team GB Athlete Parade

View of Trafalgar Square from our float

We came to the end of the journey in front of Buckingham Palace where all of Team GB gathered on the steps together for the final display. That is another amazing memory I have, standing there looking down The Mall and for as far as I could see there were people cheering and waving GB flags. This wasn’t the end of the day for us however.

Straight afterwards we headed to a function centre close by for one last party! Again lovely food and alcohol were all put on for us and ‘One Team GB’ partied together for the last time. It was a perfect day to finish what had been an incredible Olympic experience!

And that is my story.

For the past 18 months I have been writing this blog as a record of how we’ve been doing and I am so glad I did. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported us throughout our journey. To all the friends and family who travelled from far away, including my grandparents who are both in their 90s and couldn’t travel to the games but are great supporters, thank you. And of course a special thank you to all the Penguin players and the Club for the continuous support over the last five years. At the moment I am enjoying the relaxed lifestyle of playing for Mataro (a club on the outskirts of Barcelona) in the Spanish League, where ‘morning’ training doesn’t start till 1pm, but I am already looking forward to coming back to London next year and playing with the mighty Penguins again! Until then…

Francesca

June 2012

9 June 201212 February 2018
Frankie's Blog, London 2012, Olympics, Water Polo

I MADE THE TEAM!

Sorry for the delay in posting my blog this month… since the team selection announcement we have been super busy! I am actually writing this from my hotel room in Budapest where we are on a training camp with the Hungarians and the Spanish. But let me rewind a few weeks and start from the beginning – waiting to hear the selection…

We were due to find out via email at 8am on Saturday 23rd July. At 1am that morning Chloe, Rosie and I were all still wide awake with excitement and nerves. I don’t know how we managed it but we did eventually fall asleep for a few hours, then from about 7am onwards all three of us were in Chloe’s bed waiting for the email. The last ten minutes were the worst; it took forever, and it didn’t help that Rosie was playing nerve-racking music like ‘It’s The Final Countdown’.

When 8am finally did arrive anxiety quickly changed to elation as all three of us had made the team! We spent the next half hour dancing around the house in our pyjamas to ‘Celebrate Good Times’. I admit that we did also have a glass of champagne to celebrate!

The hardest thing was keeping it a secret for the next two days until the official announcement at the press conference on the Monday. Both the men’s and the women’s teams were announced at the same time and this was the first opportunity we had to all come together as the Olympic Team. We also got to try on some of the Olympic kit for the announcement. Wearing the Team GB tracksuit for the first time was incredibly exciting to say the least!

Here’s our final team for London 2012

Official photo with the Men’s team

After the press conference we had an afternoon of photos and media interviews. (As the only one in the girls’ team from London, I often have to do a lot of the local media stuff for London.) The worst part was when we had to give back the Team GB tracksuit at the end of it all. Luckily for us, though, we only had two days to wait till we headed down to Loughborough for the official ‘Kitting Out’. This has to be up there with some of the best days of my life!

With Chloe, Rosie and the Olympic Torch after the press conference

My group for Kitting Out: Hazel, Fee, Chloe, Alex, me and Fran

We travelled to Loughborough University – where the Team GB Kitting Out is based – by bus and were split into small groups upon arrival. My group first went to the ‘Ceremonies’ section where we tried on the Opening and Closing Ceremony outfits and the Formal Wear which is for when we visit Buckingham Palace apparently! All of this has been designed by Next and is top secret so you will have to wait to see what that looks like.

After that we headed into the ‘Adidas’ section for the kit we’ll be wearing during the Olympics. This area was so big that we had a ‘personal shopper’ to take us round! They greeted us at the entrance and we were shown rows and rows of t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, trousers, shorts, shoes and more! It was split into different categories of ‘Village Wear’, ‘Training Wear’, ‘Competition Wear’,’Podium Wear’ and ‘Accessories’.

Each athlete gets one or two of everything so tried everything on and our personal shopper kept a note of the different sizes, then it was all ready and waiting for us at the end! We also had one of our hands and feet scanned for inclusion in the Olympic Museum which is opening in 2014.

Heading home with all my kit

Chloe and I try on our training costumes

With such an exciting few days it’s been very hard not to get too distracted by the hype of it all and I think it’s a good thing that we have come away for our final training. It means we can focus solely on what we have to do over the next five weeks. Also, training against Hungary and Spain is good practice for us as they are both really strong teams and we are likely to cross over with one of them at the Olympics.

This will be my last blog now until after the Olympics when I will do a final post about the whole experience at the Games. We head into the Athlete Village on the morning of the Opening Ceremony. Apparently all of our games will be televised and will also be available on the internet. I know a few Penguins have managed to get tickets so I’m looking forward to hearing your support!

Until after the Games…

Francesca

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