President’s welcome

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to everyone from last year and welcome to CUSWPC to those who have just joined. Firstly, I would like to thank the committee from last year, especially Ellie O’Keeffe who has been so integral to the running of CUSWPC for the past three years! 2022/2023 was a spectacular year with successes in and out of the pool, with notable victories at Varsity for the Second’s Swimming Team along with the Women’s Blues team, who took home the ladies’ trophy for the first time in 10 years! Yet, the athletic highlight of the year has to have been the performance by the Men’s Water Polo First team, who placed second in the country at BUCS and put over twenty goals past O*ford in a resounding home Varsity victory at Parkside!

The 2023/2024 season kicked off with a CUSWPC first, a swimming preseason organised and led by captains Meg and Tom, where promising freshers were invited to train with the Blues team. This allowed the newcomers to reach Coach Chris’ standard quicker which corresponded with impressive trials performances. With the start of term competitions have come thick and fast with the various men’s and women’s water polo teams securing several victories in BUCS and local league competitions. The Blues swimming team made their debut in the British Universities Swimming League competition (think Arena League for universities) and saw another successful short course BUCS competition. Alongside training and competing our Tadpoles’ President has been hard at work, organising both the Meet the Committee and Tadmas events, which help to integrate new members and allow for the swimming and water polo teams to catch up with each other. The coming Easter term beckons, with an away Varsity at O*ord on March 2nd, followed by the annual Varsity Dinner which is sure to be a highlight of the year!

Since my first week at Cambridge CUSWPC has been an integral part of my university experience providing not only athletic opportunity but also a brilliant, welcoming place where I have been lucky enough to meet friends for life. In this spirit the Tadpoles’ President, Flynn, and I have been working with alumni James Ganendra on creating a more concrete alumni network, with individuals as contact points for five-year groups of alumni. We hope this new system will allow for better communication from the current committee with alumni whilst also developing a better way for alumni to reconnect with each other. We are still looking for individuals to be alumni contacts so if you’re interested, please get in touch! As ever, we are looking for pictures, stories and memories from past years at CUSWPC, so if you uncover any please let us know.

I personally have high hopes for a successful season, with the potential for big Varsity wins on March 2nd in O*ford. The passion our members, old and new, have for CUSWPC has been so inspiring during my short time in the club and the friendships and camaraderie throughout the teams is remarkable, making CUSWPC such a special thing to be part of. I look forward to meeting you all in the coming months and celebrating after another successful year at our annual Varsity Dinner!

Ellie Mason, Junior President 2023-2024

Alumni Reunion Events

Throughout the next year, CUSWPC is looking to facilitate getting old team mates back together through the hosting of alumni events, either in Cambridge or elsewhere! This could be a great opportunity to catch up with some old friends and reminisce on the old days over some drinks or dinner. If you’re interested in attending or organising a reunion event for your year group, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, as we would be very happy to assist in setting things up and getting the word out to fellow alumni. We would love to hear from you.

Channel Relay Swim

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After nearly a whole week of waiting for the go-ahead due to stormy conditions, the 13th Channel Varsity race started for Cambridge at 1.30am on 7th July in a rather frosty Dover car park. Following a rather nervous boat ride to the starting location, Flynn Ryan got the race off to start, diving from the beach into the chilly, pitch-black sea. An hour later, team captain Evie Anema took over just as the sun was beginning to rise. Evie had been preparing all year to swim the channel herself (which she did just a week later!), so an hour in the channel hardly phased her at all, as she was then succeeded by Cambridge Triathlete Ed Cator. Good spirits and constant support kept the team going as we inched ever closer to France, with strong swims from CUSWPC Captain Tom Woolley and President Eleanor Mason brought us just over the halfway point, as Flynn hopped into the water for his second hour in the channel. But it was Jas Eden’s second swim at the 9-hour mark which proved to be the most exciting, as she mustered the energy for a sprint finish into the shores of Calais to finish in a time of 9 hours and 47 minutes, beating the previous Cambridge time by 11 minutes! Unable to make the swim on the same day, the Oxford team swam the channel 2 days later, beating the Cambridge time to take the win.

Women’s Water Polo Captain’s Update:

Weiyi Tan

2022-23 Season Review:

W1 had a tough season last year but made some great improvements in both individual and team play throughout the season, making for a close Varsity match that unfortunately ended with a 10-6 loss but was still a great end to the season. The team finished 5/6 in the BUCS Premier South Division, with memorable wins against Oxford and Bath. W2 also suffered a loss at Varsity, but it was a great opportunity for them to play and own their own match.

Stand out performers included Anna Leeson who led us incredibly through her second year of captaincy. Also, our two speedy wingers, Georgina Quayle who consistently won swim offs, got the ball, swam it into space and scored, and Carrie Day, who displayed incredible stamina and improved incredibly throughout the season.

2023-24 Season Preview:

This season, W1 are still competing in the Premier South Division of BUCS. We’ve had a lot of turn over this year and the team is made up of a majority of water polo novices. Given the strength of the league this year we expect BUCS to be a bit of a trial by fire, but endeavour to enjoy and learn from every experience. So far, we have had one win against King’s College London and three losses, with one closely fought match against Oxford until tiring out at the final quarter, and two very challenging matches against Birmingham and Bristol.

Promising players to look out for include Ffion Gregory, a new strong Pit Defence player who played for Sheffield University previously, and Lucy Wimhurst, our goalie who is completely new to water polo this year but has improved rapidly as she has been thrown quite literally into the deep end in BUCS matches!

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, recruitment was successful, and it is exciting that we have enough players for both a firsts and seconds team, especially given the scare of being left with only 7 members continuing after last year. We are looking forward to our training camp in Amsterdam which will not only provide steep improvement to gear us up for Varsity, but also be lots of fun and team bonding! For the seconds, we will organise friendly matches once the newbies get a hold of the basics. For the firsts, expectation management is key, and although we have tough competition, we are improving with every match and excited to see how far we can go as a team.

Men’s Water Polo Captains Update 2023-24

Men's WP

Callum Malcolm

22-23 Season Review:

MWP had a great season last year and we’re looking to kick on this year and build on that success.

The M1 team finished 2nd in BUCS Tier 1, missing out on the top spot to Loughborough by one match and made the Finals of the BUCS National Trophy Competition. At Varsity we played an O*ford team who had just won Prem South, the division above, and ripped them a new one by a score of 23-15, cracking the 20-goal threshold for only the 5th time in competition history.

Stand out performers from last year include Ronan “The Moose” Kirby, who finished the season with an outstanding 80 goals. Dan Gilbey, the resident team sharpshooter whose highlights include ripping a self-described “wonder goal” from half pool at the buzzer to help secure a crucial draw against Loughborough. Alastair Horn, team fixer and all-around defensive all-star. All three have unfortunately moved on, but our last standout performer is the ever-steady goalkeeper Andrew te Water Naude who remains between the sticks this season.

M2s also had a relatively successful season, beating O*ford 3 times last year. Stand out performers include goalkeeper Alex Humphries, up and comer Cai Evans, and long-time club servants Henry Stuart-Turner and Arka Banerjee who have both moved on.

23-24 Season Preview:

M1 is looking forward to a strong a season once again with most players returning from last year. The team mantra this season is “we don’t rebuild, we reload” as we’ve gotten significant minutes from 3 freshers to help cover losses from last season and big game contributions from M2 players last year who have stepped up and progressed.

Early season results are strong, we confidently dispatched Notts 2s at home and came away with a tough fought draw at Loughborough in which we thoroughly dominated for significant portions of the match. Despite ending in a draw, I’ve been told by resident club historian Andrew that it’s quote “the best result we’ve ever had away at Loughborough” which sets us up nicely in the table (Promotion Season anyone?). Additionally, we’re looking at challenging again for the BUCS National Trophy, first round is the 25th when we take on Exeter at home.

 

Some players to look out for are Jurgis Reinotas, last years captain who’s coming into his MJ year (the Last Dance) and looking to capitalise. Zach “Gabriel Martinelli” Lyttle who appears to be under the impression that if you say “Full Blue” often enough you’ll get one but has started the season quite strong, and Joe Gebers who despite never uttering the words is actually likely to get one off the back of his pit performances on both offence and defence.

M2s had a lot of turnover this year and a large number of the squad are water polo novices. The team is making quick strides however and we hope after a few more training sessions and a full camp in Amsterdam they’ll be fit and firing. Big time performer so far is Peter Suman who’s been an utter revelation in goal.

We’re focused and excited for the rest of the season and expect it to be a successful one for the 2nd year running.

Seconds Swimming Varsity 2023

25th February 2023, Parkside Pools Cambridge
Cambridge: 95 Oxford: 85
Mens: Cambridge 49, Oxford 41
Womens: Cambridge 46, Oxford 44

2svars1 The winning team!

After two terms of hard training and pizza eating, the energised and committed Seconds team was ready to come back with a bang at the first home Varsity in four years following last year’s fairly significant defeat. The Seconds Varsity kicked off the day of Swimming Varsities and, after sizing up the competition in the parade, supported by a strong home crowd, racing began.

Starting off proceedings was the 100m IM, in which women’s captain Yvonne Winterborn led in the Cambridge contingent with a personal best time, followed by strong performances from Kat Williams and Eva Barry, though they couldn’t prevent the dominant O*ford 1st/2nd. The gents followed and got off to a solid start, bagging 1st and 2nd, with Alfie Collins claiming the victory, and men’s captain Ed Roberts just tenths of a second behind him. Jake Scott secured himself not only a PB but also a county time, an impressive feat for the recent recruit.

Next came some seriously fast swimming in the 50m backstroke. Rosa Pollard Smith put in an electric performance to get a Cambridge Seconds Varsity record time of 32.70, only just out touched to come in 2nd. Grace Riley was just behind her in 3rd place, both securing county times, with shouts of “yeah Pem!” resonating from the stands. Recent dev squad graduate Vivian Jiang also gave a stellar performance. For the men, somewhat like Moses, Cameron Manley parted the Parkside water to put in a blistering time of 27.88, securing 3 points for the team and a new Cambridge Seconds Varsity record! Not far behind was Samrahn Sandhu to grab us third place in an event he doesn’t usually swim, and Alex Heatley, who put in a great swim having only joined the squad a few months ago.

Next up was the hotly anticipated 100m freestyle. Vet med veteran Evie took nearly 1s off her PB from varsity last year to come in 2nd – all her distance training for her upcoming Channel swim has clearly only made her faster! Speedy fresher Izzy was close behind in 3rd securing more precious points at her varsity debut, and everyone’s Faye-vourite Faye Zhao touched in 5th. With the crowd roaring for the men’s event, the Cambridge lions, Issei Kuzuki, James Jennings and Dafydd Ravenscroft, all got off to a great start. Surfacing from the final turn Issei found himself neck and neck with Oxford’s lane 5. Despite being pipped at the finish, Issei smashed home a new Cambridge varsity record. Dafydd and James both put in equally impressive swims to bag some extra points for the team. James achieved a new personal best, just shy of a sub minute time!

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The roaring home crowd

Next was 50m butterfly where Ella Veakins, armed with her light blue eyeliner, stormed into 2nd place with a Cambridge Seconds Varsity record. Kat, whose fly is just getting faster and faster, came closely behind in 3rdwith a PB and county time, followed by Abbie Lewis, who gave her all despite believing swimming should be followed by cycling and running. The men’s promised to be a loud one and it did not disappoint. After his second training session of the year, otherwise known as the warmup, Harry Weston donned his racing suit and was ready to channel his inner Michael Phelps. The half man half torpedo pulled off a colossal victory to bring home the full 4 points for the team. Nathan Williams and Pratyush Mishra both had a great start and surfaced level with each other. Nathan eventually pulled away and bagged an extra point for the mighty light blues along with a new personal best! Pratyush came in 1.4 seconds quicker than the time he achieved at BUCS earlier in the year, a testament to his commitment in training.

Just 2 points behind at the break, victory was within reach and the Seconds dug deep for an excellent second half of the individual events. The longest and most painful individual event, the 200m freestyle, started off the second half with Evie putting in a strong performance to gain 2nd, and Ellie Mason close behind in 3rd, a warmup for her spicy commentating at the Blues varsity later in the evening. Captain Yvonne took one for the team to fill the spaces, and touched in 4th, bagging herself a 5s PB. After only just getting his breath back from the 100m free, Issei was up again for the 200m. He mounted a momentous sprint on the last few lengths, pushing Oxford’s lane 3 to give it his all but just missed out in the end. Another length and he would’ve left Oxford in the dust. Oliver Bramley, another great swimmer who joined us at the start of term, had an amazing swim to finish in 3rd. Not far behind was Ed Cator from the triathlon team to bring home a nice Cambridge 2nd, 3rd, 4th. A great race all round!

Cambridge’s momentum continued to build in the 50m breaststroke. Exchange student Mishael Hyat Ayub put in a blazing performance to earn herself a Seconds Varsity Record and finally get the Cambridge women’s first podium top spot of the evening. Ella narrowly missed out on 2nd place, and recent addition from dev squad Charlotte Macey bagged herself a county time. The men’s 50m breaststroke was a successful one for the light blues with the team securing 1st, 3rd and 5th. Samrahn had victory in his sight from the start, finishing in a blistering time of 31.15, with captain Ed and Renat Samur both close behind. All three Cambridge men left the water with regional times to their name and lots of points in the bag.

The crowd went wild as the Cambridge women dominated in the final individual event, the 50m freestyle. There must be something in the eye makeup, as Izzy in her brilliant blue eyeshadow stormed to victory having led from the off. She was closely followed in 2nd place by Anna Stevenson, whose performance was excellent despite being pretty much anywhere other than Cambridge most of the year on placement, and Grace who was back in the pool the other way around after her strong backstroke swim earlier. For the men we had the trio Ben Carter, Alfie Collins and Hanyang Li. Ben and Alfie left Oxford for dust in their long bubble trail to claim 1st and 2nd! Hanyang had an equally impressive swim, finishing in a close 5th place. A solid last event for the gentlemen.

Some mental maths from Coach Chris told us we were 10 points ahead, meaning that we just had to win one of the four relay races and a Cambridge victory would be secured! A special shoutout to those who had waited through all the individual events for their time to shine: Ro Michaelis, Anya Penderis, Talia Rubin, Aidan Jones and Tom Plant, all making their Varsity debuts. Despite the strong Team A of Kat, Rosa, Ella and Ro getting a Cambridge Seconds Varsity record, they finished behind O*ford, meaning it was all to play for in the men’s medley relay. The pool was alive with energy as the four teams took to the blocks. Cameron Manley once again sliced through the water to put Team A ahead of their Oxford counterparts after the first leg. The roar of the crowd increased with the lead throughout the breaststroke and fly legs. Anchor Issei had the job of securing the victory on the final leg, an easy task for the part fish man from Clare. Parkside erupted with noise as he smashed home a new Cambridge Seconds Varsity record for Team A and, more importantly, formalised the light blues first varsity victory in many many years! There were also great performances all round from Team B, with Aidan putting in an impressive backstroke leg.

2svars3

The winning moment as Cambridge won the men’s medley relay!

Though victory was already ours, that didn’t stop the women’s freestyle relay A team of Evie, Grace, Anna and Izzy from giving their all, the latter three having swum the 50m free minutes before. They stormed to victory, coming in well under the 2-minute mark to secure the victory for Cambridge, with the B team putting in a good fight too. Finally, all eyes were on the glistening Parkside water for the men’s free relay. The race was a tense one with Oxford and Cambridge leapfrogging each other several times throughout the race. Eventually Cambridge secured 2nd and 3rd, with rumours the powerful kick of the swimmers could be heard as far away as Girton. Team A were only half a second behind their Oxford rivals while Team B smashed Oxford Team B by a humongous 3 seconds. All in all, another good showing from Cambridge.

Waiting for the finalisation of the results felt longer than the commute to the Uni Sports Centre, but sure enough, the Cambridge victory was confirmed, and the team leaped into the pool in celebration, accompanied by jubilant roars from the home crowd.

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The jubilant team celebrating their victory!

None of this would have been possible without the tireless work of President Ellie O’Keeffe in organising this Varsity, and the invaluable coaching from Chris and Harriet at CoCSC. A big thanks also to commentators Clemmie and Megan, and of course to the O*ford captains and team for making the journey over to us and being fierce competition. And lastly to our team, whose dedication and hard graft this year truly paid off – hopefully this year is the start of Cambridge dominance in Seconds Swimming Varsity!

Ed Roberts and Yvonne Winterborn

Seconds Swimming Captains

Blues Swimming Varsity 2023

BSV23 Picture 1

The mandatory team picture!

 After 4 years of absence, the much anticipated Swimming Varsity Match came back to Cambridge! The Blues were the last swims of the day. The night session started off with a wave of cheers from our home crowd during the team’s parade.

BSV23 Picture 2

Captains Giorgos Papageorgiou and Sophie O’Keeffe leading the way of the parade!

 Cambridge hit Oxford first on the 200m IM, with a crushing 1st/2nd from fresher Rebecca Keetley and CUSWPC veteran and President Ellie O’Keeffe. Pumped by this win, Leo annihilated the field on the fly leg of the medley. Despite this flying start, O*ford were able to come back for a 1st/2nd, despite PBs from both the Captain Giorgos “Papa” Papageorgiou and Leo, who got his first Blues time.

The scene was set for the 100m backstroke. Captain Sophie O’Keeffe killed the race early and came back to touch just tenths away from her own Cambridge record to keep her Varsity title. Victoria Caroll secured a 3rd place to steal vital points from Oxford again. The men’s 100m back was one of the most indecisive races on the programme, with all 4 swimmers less than a second between their PBs. Just like last year, Oxford won the race but only three tenths behind Yann Divet and fresher Ieuan Blackwell, who secured his full Blue with a new PB.

For their first Varsity, Orla Keaveny and Olivia Du both stepped up and hit PBs in the 200m freestyle. Which was also the case for Jacques Bonsell, only he had a few Varsities behind him. Winning in a mind-blowing 1:49.7, Jacques dropped under 1:50 for the first time ever, dropping his personal record and CUSWPC record by 2 whole seconds, grabbing himself the Varsity record along the way! The crowd went wild, with fresher TJ Guy Semple just missing out the mighty 2 minute barrier, dropping 4 whole seconds from his PB just a month before.

President Ellie O’Keeffe came back from 3rd on the first 50 to grab the win on the 100 fly, with fresher Menna Walmsley going a lifetime best to finish just off the podium. The men’s race was as exciting, with Thomas Coste out touching Oxford by 3 hundredths of a second to finish second on his first Varsity. Leo managed a superb race considering he had swam the 200 IM a mere 10 mins before the race, which led us to a well deserved break.

BSV23 Picture 3

Jacques in disbelief after his record-breaking 200m free swim

The competition kicked back with the longest individual event on the programme: the mighty 400 free. Orla swam like an orca on an eye-popping last 50 to snatch second from Oxford in a new personal best, with Jasmine Eden-Gray coming shortly behind 8 seconds under her previous lifetime best. A special shout-out to Orla, who started from seconds at the beginning of the year to a Blues time less than 6 months later, eventually throwing up at the end of her race!

The men’s event provided one of the most mouth-watering races of the night, with Social Secretary Flynn Ryan and Cameron Lackey both going new PBs, with Cameron dropping 35 seconds from his previous best !!

No drama on the women’s 100 breaststroke, with 200m breaststroke record holder Rebecca Keetley killing the race to secure her second top spot of the night, with Sara Mahmmud swimming to share points with the Other Place. The lads Captain Giorgos and Maxim de Wildt both broke 1:07 to get astounding new PBs in new Blues times for the event, yet their “Max” wasn’t enough to stop O*ford’s 1st/2nd.

The Varsity can’t be complete without the much anticipated 100m free. Captain Sophie O’Keeffe dived back after her 100m back to swim a lifetime best in order to win the women’s 100m free. Fresher Rebecca Thornton finished on the podium in a Blues time and season best under the mighty minute barrier. Jacques Bonsell kept his momentum from his ground-breaking 200m free to break a new lifetime best to come even closer to the sub-50 barrier. Treasurer Tom Woolley was in the money with a bronze-medal finish, also getting a new PB.

With the individual events over, all eyes were on the relays. The women’s 4x100m medley relay was just a race against time for backstroker Sophie O’Keeffe, breastroker Rebecca Keetley, flyer Ellie O’Keeffe and freestyler Rebecca Thornton. Finishing 18 seconds in front of the Other Place, they had enough time to celebrate lowering the new CUSWPC record by 3 seconds, with both Sophie and Rebecca Keetley finishing unbeaten for all 3 of their swims. For the men’s relay, Ieuan Blackwell lowered his personal best from an hour ago to lead off the relay. Both on their first Varsity, Sihan Yu and Thomas Coste unofficially broke their PB on their breaststroke and butterfly split respectively, with Jonnie James anchoring the relay. Despite those valiant efforts, the Other Place touched first.

I never saw a closer race than that freestyle relay. And I’ve seen many races, trust me. The team of Secretary Megan Kemp, Vice-President & Vice-Captain Clemmie Butler-Brown, Sponsorship Officer Justine Rannou and Jas swam neck to neck with O*ford, before getting out-touched at the end of the race. The men’s team of Yann Divet, Guy Semple and anchored by Thomas Woolley weren’t able to hold on to star man Jacques Bonsell’s lead, despite the valiant fight.

BSV23 Picture 4

My favourite picture: @twoollz devastated after the freestyle relay defeat, with O*ford celebrating in the background. You know he won’t let that happen next year

This thrilling 128th Swimming Varsity match concludes a ground-breaking season for CUSWPC, which will certainly be remember as the first women’s victory over the last decade. As mentioned during Varsity Dinner, 12 swimmers achieved Blues times (7 men, 5 women), which is a significant increase from 9 swimmers last year. The team’s strength doesn’t only reside in standout swimmers such as Varsity MVP Sophie O’Keeffe, our one-to-watch fresher Rebecca Keetley or veteran Jacques Bonsell, but also the cohesion between each and every CUSWPC swimmer. All these accomplishments are even more impressive when we take into account the limited swimming time this year of 5 hours a week.

These performances wouldn’t have been possible without the consistent help of tireless President Ellie O’Keeffe, who organised this Home Varsity, and both swimming Captains Sophie O’Keeffe and Giorgos Papageorgiou for their leadership. No superlatives can describe how amazing Chris Greenhalgh’s training has prepared us for our highlight of the year. The match couldn’t have been as exciting without Samrahn Sandhu and Ellie Mason’s commentaries, as well as the roaring support of friends and family at our special home of Parkside Pool.

BSV23 Picture 5
The whole team cheering on the relays!

GDBO, we’ll get them next year!

Yann Divet

Swimming Publicity Officer

2022 Alumni Recap

Henry Choong:

Having graduated in 2019, fellow CUSWPC alumni Henry Choong is now focused on his career as a modern pentathlete. 2022 marked the first year of competing on the senior international stage for Henry. He most notably finished 23rd at the European Championships this September, as well as participating at the World Championships and reaching the semi-finals at his first world cup.

HenryChoong

David Skidmore:

Despite the freezing temperatures and snowy conditions, CUSWPC David Skidmore has been swimming outside this winter!

SkidmoreJan23

We were also honoured to have him coach a few sessions of our annual swimming camp early January this year, along with freshly-graduated Charlotte Rowlands.

SkidmoreRowlands

Yann Divet
(if you’re a CUSWPC alumnus and would like us to publish an update from you, get in touch!)

Swimathon fundraiser for Ukraine

As originally published in the Lent 2022 Ospreys Newsletter. 

Many often refer to the ‘Cambridge bubble’, the sense that when in Cambridge, the outside world appears to dissipate, and you are at once transported into this 8-week period of academic seclusion. Whilst this distance can be welcomed, when crises such as the ongoing war in Ukraine, emerge, it is necessary to bridge the gap between where we find ourselves in Cambridge and global realities. This was the point of CUSWPC’s 24-hour Swimathon. Thirty-three water polo players took it upon themselves to swim in 30-minute slots around the clock from 5pm on Monday 14th March until 5pm on Tuesday 15th       , with the aim being to raise as much money as possible for the British Red Cross Charity as part of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Our challenge, to which we succeeded, was to swim the distance between Parkside Leisure Centre (where we train) and the Ukrainian Embassy in London; measured as 80.6km.

It was a pleasure to connect with many individuals who are as fond as CUSWPC as we are. Receiving an email from Penny Woods, the pioneer of women’s water polo at Cambridge, was a personal highlight of mine. Watching the comments from donators come through on the JustGiving page was also particularly endearing and shows the extent to which CUSWPC is more than just a club, but a family.

The war in Ukraine is a terrifying and heart-breaking situation, something that personally affects many CUSWPC members. It is for this reason that we participated in the Swimathon; to show solidarity with our friends, for CUSWPC is a team not just in the water, but out. Whilst we all love to win, in times of crisis, it is not the number of goals that matter but the ability to unite and champion justice that is what counts. We raised a total of £7,319 for Ukraine and I have never been prouder of my fellow teammates.

Anna Leeson (Women’s Water Polo Captain 2021-2022)

100 x 100m relay for Save the Children

On Saturday 14th May 100 people including swimmers, water polo players, alumni and even coaches from Cambridge, Oxford and all over the UK gathered at Parkside Pools to each complete 100m freestyle in the largest relay that has ever been swam in Cambridge. The race was led off by the CUSWPC and OUSC captains Ellie O’Keeffe, Alfie Collins and Andrew Hong. For the next 2 hours, everyone swam their hearts out. The team managed to finish the 10k in a time of 1 hour and 55 minutes, breaking the 2 hour barrier. Some honourable mentions for their swims include our alumni: David Skidmore OBE, Leila Goodman, Karen Wiemar, Eve Hull, and Joe Anderson, the swimmer with the fastest split: Theo Cannon in 52.47, and the best dressed swimmer: Kazimir Uswhyshyn-Jones who looked fantastic in his fishnets! 

We would like to say a tremendous thank you to everyone who participated, shared and donated to make the event the fantastic success that it was. We managed to raise a sum total of £2400 for Save the Children, a very worthwhile cause that will help many children currently suffering from the war in Ukraine. The event went so well that we’re hoping to host a big charity event every year in the future. Hope to see as many of you there as possible!

Ellie O’Keeffe and Alfie Collins, Blues Swimming Captains 2021-2022