Water Polo – West London Penguin

First London League tournament for new Hillingdon Penguin Under 16 team

9 November 20199 November 2019
London League, Water Polo

Over the past few months we have been assembling an Under 16 team to represent Hillingdon Penguin. Last Sunday, 3rd November, was their first opportunity to compete in the London Water Polo League: a Division 3 tournament in Croydon.

This was the first time Adam Maidment has coached a team in the LWPL:

“The performance from the players was absolutely phenomenal. In all three games, we showed great physical and mental strength to outplay the opposition and we came out on top.”

“This resilience shone through in our second game. At half time we were 5-1 down, so the team needed to rally and bring the game to the opposition. Clinching the draw showed the best of our spirit and togetherness.”

Hillingdon Penguin under 16 water polo team — Hillingdon Penguin Under 16 Team: Lucas Penny, Will Mitchell, Aryan Agarwal, Charlie Richardson, Dan Murphy, Oliver Castell, Georgia Mouratidi, Joshua Pan, Alfie Gilmore, Séan McHugh and Dan Usher, with coaches Adam Maidment and Shaun Hill.

“There’s still much to improve, both for the players and for me as a coach, however it is amazing to see the passion and desire from everyone. We hope to improve on this and come out stronger in our next tournament.”

And here’s what some of our parents said:

Karen Usher: “Congratulations to the whole team. The matches were so exciting to watch. I was particularly impressed with their performance and attitude in the second game. Thank you so much to the coaches. We’re very proud to belong to the Penguins.”

Tim Richardson: “Fabulous to see them competing again. Tight matches and great resilience demonstrated by all.”

Dave Castell: “ Well done Penguins! Three absolute thrillers. Great grit shown by all!”

Final scores
West London Penguin Hillingdon 5 : Beckenham 5
West London Penguin Hillingdon 5 : Kingston/Sutton & Cheam 5
Haringey Aquatics 7 : West London Penguin Hillingdon 5

Well done to Adam, Shaun and all the players, and a big thank you to all our parents for your commitment and support.

Developing our Hillingdon Penguin under-14 water polo team

5 October 20195 October 2019
Water Polo

Last weekend saw junior water polo players from our Hillingdon Penguin section competing at London Swimming’s Under-14 Development Tournament at Whitgift School in Croydon.

Coach Shaun Hill said, “Transferring from the Summer to the Winter London Water Polo League means re-grouping our children from under 13 and under 15, to under 12, under 14 and under 16. Having a development tournament before the Winter League starts is really useful preparation.”

Water polo players wearing red Penguin t-shirts and water polo caps — Hillingdon Penguin Under-14 Development team:
Alexandra, Hannah, Robyn, Danus, Sam, Sophie, Lize, Thalia, Avi, Shai and Jacob

“Instead of treating it as a competition, not having to worry about winning meant I could use it as an experiment. As well as introducing two new players to competition for the first time, I could try players in new positions. There is so much you can only learn by competing; this development tournament was a brilliant opportunity.”

“Thank you very much London Swimming and Chris Martin for your organisation. The children enjoyed it and it’s nice to see our section of the Club growing in numbers with both a mix of boys and girls, which allows us to take part in these great events.”

London League Ron Turner Memorial Trophy

14 September 201914 September 2019
Award, Water Polo

The London Water Polo League has named their new primary junior water polo trophy in memory of Ron Turner. Ron was a much-loved Penguin who was highly respected for his skills and achievements during his playing career and for his life-long nurturing of youngsters coming into the game. His memory remains very dear to our Club.

The Ron Turner Memorial Cup will be presented to each of the winning junior teams in the London League for their photos and memories, with the individual players receiving a separate medal as a keepsake. The trophy ‘lives’ at Whitgift pool and is available at the conclusion of each junior competition.

Gill Turner, Ron’s widow and still very much an active member of Penguin with our masters swimmers, says she is delighted to see Ron honoured in this way.

A fantastic recognition of Ron’s passion for the junior development of our sport.

Read about Ron’s water polo history.

My trip to Hungary with the National Water Polo Academy

7 September 20198 September 2019
Water Polo

By Audrey Tala

I was given the chance to go to Eger, Hungary with the England 2004 National Academy squad, from 16-23 August 2019. The day we flew to Hungary we ended up arriving at the hotel at 11:30pm so we quickly went to our rooms to unpack, settle in and go to bed. Thankfully the coaches were kind enough to give a lie in the next morning (with breakfast at 9:30am) so we all managed to get a good night’s sleep.

The next day, we took the 15-minute walk through the quaint town of Eger to the training pool which was outdoors in a holiday leisure complex. Here we did a strength and conditioning training session with GB rugby player Paige Costello (who was also our nutritionist as well as gym instructor for the week), before jumping in the pool for a 2½ hr training session. After we had finished and changed we walked to the restaurant where we would eat lunch and dinner every day (mostly just chicken and rice/pasta for seven days straight).

Following lunch, we were allowed an hour of free time to explore the town. Then we had to be back promptly at the hotel for ‘feet up’ time – a compulsory hour of just lying in bed either sleeping or relaxing so we would all be recharged for the evening training session.

Audrey and teammates exploring Eger — Time off exploring Eger

The next two days were more or less the same routine, however we started to have more tactical and technical training sessions in line with how European water polo is played.

National Academy girls training in the pool — Training in the pool

The last four days of the camp were tournament days at the tournament pool, which was an amazing natural spring water facility with rocks instead of tiled floor in one half of the 50m pool. From breakfast to dinner we were either watching matches being played, cheering on the boys’ team or playing games ourselves. These were, to say the least, the most tiring days of the whole trip.

Overall my team placed fifth in the tournament, with the GB 2003 girls coming 1st as part of their preparation for the European tournament they will play in September.

The trip was fantastic, and it was great for bonding better as a team and finding out how water polo is played in other European countries (in addition to getting a great tan!).

Thank you to all the staff with us, including coaches Chris Motely and Simon Tomlinson, and team manager Michelle Crossley.

Hillingdon Penguin Juniors at the Otter 150th Celebration

30 August 201930 August 2019
Water Polo

Hillingdon Penguin in action at the Otter 150th Anniversary Swimming and Water Polo Festival at the London Aquatics Centre

Our Hillingdon Juniors were excited to receive Otter’s invitation for an under-16 water polo team to compete against their juniors as part of their 150th Anniversary Swimming and Water Polo Festival on Sunday 14 July at the London Aquatic Centre.

The fixture was game of four quarters, played in the diving pool.

Although our hosts proved to be the stronger side (Otter 8 – Hillingdon Penguin 4) this experience was especially valuable for some of our older players who haven’t yet had the chance to play in the wider water polo arena such as London Water Polo League.

Hillingdon Penguin Under 16 team – Murali, Dan M, Alfie, Will, Ramsey, Luis, Aryan, Nik, Abelardo, Jacob G, Joel, Jenson, Lucas and Dan U – with coach, Shaun Hill

Our players, coach and parents all had a brilliant time. We should like to thank Otter President, Paul Hindle, for the meticulous organisation and attention to detail that went into this unique event.