Terry King passed away early Sunday morning.
Terry joined Penguins in the early 60s and soon became a permanent member of the men’s water polo first team.
Terry represented England in water polo from 1970-72. He was an honorary Vice President of the Club.
Terry organised the first Club tour to Malta in 1967 which was an outstanding success and started Penguin on its subsequent European exploits which have continued to the present time.
Our thoughts are with Terry’s family.
It’s been a busy few months at the Hillingdon junior branch of Penguin and before the festive break, all the coaches, members, volunteers, supporters and parents got together to celebrate Christmas and present a number of awards.
The awards recognise players who are new and improved and the evening also gave the opportunity to say thank you to some of those whose work behind the scenes is vital to the running of the section.
Shaun presented awards to the older players that he coaches:
Most Improved Player – Aryan
Best Newcomer – Lucas
Coach’s Player – Will
Girls’ Award Cup – Vicky
Under-15s Shield – Dominic
In the Under-14s group, coached by Mickey, awards were presented to:
Coach’s Player – Lily
Most Valuable Player – Anton
In the Under-12s group, coached by Adam, awards were presented to:
Best Newcomer – Evan
Most Improved Player – Avi
Jack Petchey Foundation Outstanding Achievement Award – Charlotte
The event also gave players and parents the chance to say a huge thank you to Sue Seagroatt for her tireless work behind the scenes over the past eight years, managing and helping to drive the section forward. Sue is taking a well earned rest and everyone connected with Hillingdon Penguin will miss her greatly. Thank you, Sue.
We also have amazing parents and a big thank you for all your time and energy that make it possible for your children to train and compete.
A huge thank you to Gisela for organising the Christmas party and to everyone who has supported the team in various roles over the past few months. We couldn’t do it without you and all the other coaches, volunteers, supporters and parents.
We are grateful to the Jack Petchey Foundation for their continuing support and in allowing us to make these awards which are an excellent way of encouraging the players to progress and improve.
Find out more about our water polo sessions for children at Hillingdon Penguin and Latymer Penguin.
We are sad to say goodbye to John Martin-Dye who died today.
John joined Penguin in 1948 when he was eight, and he grew to be a top swimmer and water polo player who stayed with the Club throughout his life, although also played for Watford in later years.
As a swimmer John was a double Olympian. As a water polo player he represented Great Britain internationally and was part of the Penguin team that won the British Championships in 1965.
John’s son, Graham, says, ‘John was an amazing father! His ethic in life was inspirational. He always worked hard to achieve anything, and never gave up. He lived life and travelled the world. He was always there for me and supported me in anything I wanted to do. He gave so much of this time back to sport and the community.’
Read more about John in the blog post written by Graham, last year.
Our thoughts are with John’s wife Delia, Graham and all the family.
RIP John.
Hillingdon Penguin Under-12s travelled to Whitgift School last week for the opening round of the London Water Polo League Winter Championships.
With a number of new faces in the squad, everyone put in a huge effort across their five matches.
The day began with two defeats for the Hillingdon Penguin team as they came up first against their club teammates Latymer Penguin, and second against Worthing, although the scoreline didn’t reflect how close these games were.
Then it was Lewisham and despite holding the lead going into the closing minutes, it was the south London side who scored two late goals to win the match 3-2.
Beckenham were the next opponents. In a hard-fought game it was Hillingdon Penguin who ran out 3-2 winners with a battling display.
The final game saw a defeat by Croydon, but the Hillingdon Penguin squad went away with their heads held high knowing the final results didn’t reflect their efforts and a great team performance.
Thank you to all the coaches, players, volunteers and parents who made the tournament possible.
Find out more about our water polo sessions for children at Hillingdon Penguin and Latymer Penguin.
The new look under-12 team from our junior water polo section in Hillingdon got their first taste of tournament play on Sunday 9 October at Whitgift School in Croydon.
Our squad was one of three teams to take part in a development tournament organised by London Swimming with the aim of giving young players experience and practice as a team.
With a number of new faces in the squad, it was a great opportunity to get to know each other a bit more and build team spirit and ahead of the London League Winter Championships starting in December.
The squad played several games against Croydon and Lewisham. They grew in confidence as the tournament went on, quickly learning about match play and gaining lots of experience from the afternoon.
The players were: Anaiya, Avi, Charlie, Charlotte, Eira Grant, Eleanor, Tuline, Zachariah.
Thank you to Coach Adam for his patience and hard work developing these players, to Mike and Lynsey for looking after the team and to all the parents for their support.
We are grateful as always to London Swimming for providing this brilliant opportunity, Chris Martin for organising the tournament and Ultan Brennan for being a very welcoming and efficient event organiser on the day.