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 2^nd, 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 2^nd 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

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.

After nearly a whole week of waiting for the go-ahead due to stormy conditions, the 13^th Channel Varsity race started for Cambridge at 1.30am on 7^th 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.

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.

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.

With the horrible events that are occurring in Ukraine, CUSWPC have set about hosting charity events over this year to raise as much money as possible to help as best we can. For this event we have teamed up with OUSC.

Many swimmers and water polo players on the teams have been directly impacted by the recent events, and so this cause means a lot to us as a club and a family.

We will be hosting a 100 by 100 metre Front Crawl relay on the 14th of May in which members of current and past members CUSWPC and members of OUSC will take part and power their way down the pool. The event will take place between 2pm and 5pm at Parkside Pools, in which time the team will be attempting to also get into the records books. If you are a member of our Alumni, please come along to swim or support us in this event!

After the relay, we will be hosting a Charity dinner at Hughes Hall starting at approximately 6:30pm. Even if you don’t feel like hopping in the pool, feel free to come along to both events! Price is estimated at £35 non-drinking and £50 drinking (bottle of white or red wine).

In order to sign up for the relay and/or dinner please fill out this form by the 30th of April. We’d love to see as many of our Alumni there as possible!

All of us at CUSWPC and OUSC would appreciate any support you can give; no matter how small the donation, it will still be making a massive impact. You can also be involved by donating to our just giving page, watching the livestream, or coming to the charity dinner afterwards.

The money raised will be donated to a charity called Save the Children. Save the Children is a charity that focuses on the education and health of children across the UK and the world. In Ukraine, their focus is on distribution of food, clothes, and medicine, providing vital mental health support and education to children and families and assisting refugees arriving in Romania. With over 3.5 million children trapped in Ukraine, they are attempting a very difficult task and can use all the help available. To find out more, you can check out their website here.

Thank you!

Ellie and Alfie xx

Blues Swimming Captains

Registering interest for 100 x 100 relay or dinner:

https://forms.gle/ccHnbMuLyU5TB2rQ7

Just giving page:

https://www.justgiving.com/Cambridge-University-Swimming-and-Water-Polo-Club

Save the Children:

https://www.savethechildren.org.uk

26th February 2022 at Rosenblatt Pool, Oxford
Cambridge 73 Oxford 107
Mens: Cambridge 42, Mens Oxford 48
Womens: Cambridge 31, Womens Oxford 59

Varsity this year was hosted by Oxford at their Rosenblatt pool, which meant an early start for the Seconds. The Seconds have had a particularly dynamic squad this year, with tough training times, some of the swimmers found it difficult to work around academic commitments and other sporting commitments, as well as some notable losses due to injury. With Renat Samur stepping up from the development squad, Raphael and Tads dropping down from the Blues to help fill the men’s squad, we managed to pull together a full squad! At 5:30 we departed for Oxford. After a quick parade, and an intense warm up, we could feel Oxford eyeing us up from across the pool.

The morning’s proceedings kicked off with the 100 IM, with the gent’s squad unsure what to expect; cheers erupted on poolside when Ed Roberts snatched first place by a second and a half from the first of the Oxford swimmers with a personal best time of 1:05.29. Ben Roberts secured 3rd place closely behind with a fantastic performance.

Next up was the 50 backstroke, where Grace Riley put on a fantastic performance to take 3rd place less than a second behind 2nd, with a 35.39, and Julia Dabrowska posted a personal best of 40.98. Tads put in an equally strong performance for the gents, securing 3rd with a 29.66.

This was followed by the 100 free. Evie Anema secured 2nd place with a blistering 1:04.4. Despite this performance some say the pool was still too warm for her taste. Raphael’s 58.02 marked 3rd for the gents, and Nathan Williams was closely behind with a personal best of 58.29.

The 50 Fly followed, where Anna Stevens secured 3rd place with 32.62, and late squad addition Abbie Lewis put in an incredible performance, swimming 35.31 despite only being with the squad for a few weeks prior to Varsity. The gents 50 fly proved equally stimulating when underdog Harry Weston brought it home, securing 1st place for the light blues with a rapid 26.67. Some say the warmup was his 4th training session of the year.

Into the break, Oxford led with a 20 point lead, but the squad was undeterred, with adrenaline running higher than ever as the second half kicked off with the 200 free. Another strong performance from distance swimmer Evie Anema tagged third place for the light blues with a time of 2:18.38, just 3 seconds off first place in what was a tense race right down to the final flags. The gents 200 free proved equally fruitful with Tads bringing home the full 4 points with first place, pipping oxford swimmer by 2 seconds to the pads.

50 breastroke was a loud one, with much anticipation from poolside regarding Ed Roberts’ performance. Some say he’s our very own Peaty. After a tense first length, Ed bolstered his lead and the scoreboard confirmed the win for Cambridge with a 32.32, pipping his Oxford rival by 0.3 seconds, and bagging his second personal best of the day.

Finally for the individual events was the 50 free. Despite difficulties making it to sessions due to various far-flung placements, the squad knew that Anna Stevens was fast on paper and quicker still in the water. Placements didn’t stop her from taking the lead in the first length, and after managing to fend off the Oxford swimmers she took home another victory for the light blues with the time of 29.71, a full 0.4 ahead of oxford. Despite this lead though, all swimmers finished within a second of each other, with Grace Riley narrowly missing out on 3rd by just 0.1 of a second, but still posting a personal best of 30.84.
For the gents, again a close race ensued, with just 1.2 seconds between first and last place. Wild card Harry Weston took to the blocks, and managed to convert all his erg training into a mighty performance for Cambridge, securing the win with a phenomenal 25.33. Ben Roberts put in an equally strong performance posting an impressive 26.55.

Oxford had a 26 point lead into the relays, and whilst the hopes of a win for the light blue seconds at Rosenblatt seemed only a distant dream, the squad was determined not to go down without a fight, and a loud one at that.

First up was the medley, with both the gents and the women conceding to Oxford, with the gents’ race being particularly close, with the light blues being just 1.5 seconds behind, owing to Oxford impressive backstroke performance.

Finally, all eyes fixed on the calm waters for the freestyle relay. After a close race the women were just 5 seconds behind, and whilst not beating Oxford, it represented a strong performance from the women that they should be proud of.
The final relay, the gents 50 freestyle relay proved to be one of the most intense races of the Seconds Varsity, and perhaps the closest I have ever seen. Despite strong performances from Tads and our dev squad swimmer Renat, Oxford put in a strong performance, and led by 3 metres into the final 100. Ben Roberts, our third swimmer, was faced with the daunting task of reeling Oxford in. Unbelievably the fresher from Fitz was able to take the wind from Oxford’s metaphorical sails, completely closing the gap, and leaving both shades of blue neck and neck going into the final leg. Stepping up to the challenge for Cambridge was top trainer Harry Weston. The tension on poolside was tangible. After hitting the water for the 6th time this year, in perfect synchrony with the oxford swimmer, Mr Weston surfaced a metre ahead of the Oxford rival. No doubt spurred on by the screams and chaos that were unfolding on poolside, he managed to fend our rivals off to the flags, and the team secured a win in the last event beating oxford by a full second and a half, with a time of 1:42.11, ending our fierce battle on a high.

Despite not quite being able to clinch the win from oxford, the squad should be very proud of themselves, the determination they showed right up until the last race, and phenomenal team spirit that was present throughout the whole event was truly fantastic. Despite difficulties making training times, a big congratulations should go out to the women’s squad who’s commitment to training regularly translated to some excellent personal bests.

On behalf of the team, I’d like to extend a massive Thankyou to Oxford for hosting us this Varsity, to Felix Gallagher for organising this fantastic weekend, to the Oxford Captains Lucy Greenwood, and Joel fernandez, and finally to our Coach, Chris Greenhalgh, and all our friends and family who have helped us along the way! I wish both squads the best of luck for any future competitions they may have, both in swimming and the squad’s many other sporting disciplines.

We look forward to duelling again next year, a little closer to home, in more familiar waters.

With warm regards,

Alex Vayro and Cameron Lackey
Second Swimming Captains

26th February 2022 at Rosenblatt Pool, Oxford
Cambridge 77 Oxford 103
Mens: Cambridge 40, Mens Oxford 50
Womens: Cambridge 37, Womens Oxford 53

Varsity was back to its roots this year. Hosted at the Rosenblatt pool, Varsity started early for the Blues team as we all travelled up at … 5.30am, which led to a lot of people having a cheeky nap on the coach. Despite the sleepy start, the team was in great spirits as we cheered on the Seconds to a fantastic performance. Then, at 11am, it was time for the Blues to parade and perform.

After a confusing last few years, the team was back and ready to hit the ground running. The team has put in an incredible amount of work this season and despite only having 5 sessions a week, having an almost record breaking number of injuries: from sprains, to torn muscles, to broken feet, we were looking strong and feeling excited for the battle we were preparing for. With the camp training under our belt, coached by the one and only El Captain, Coach Collins, only a month prior to Varsity, confidence was high and the team had an incredible atmosphere.

Our very own Captain, Ellie O’Keeffe, and Justine Rannou, a first time Varsity swimmer, led us off to a flying start, with Ellie breaking a 12 year old club record in the 200 IM going an incredible time of 2:22.15 and Justine coming shortly behind.
The guys were already jealous of the strong female performance. So, the dynamic duo of Theo and Leo (Cannon and Karski) stepped up to the blocks for their 200 IM. They took matters into their own hands, with Theo breaking his own club record in a spectacular time of 2:01.05, and Leo following hot on Oxford’s heels for another 2nd/4th finish.

After this incredible start, the 100 Backstroke was up next. Second year’s Sophie O’Keeffe and Clemmie Butler Brown performed fantastically, with both swimmers getting best times and Sophie smashing the blues time, smashing the O*ford swimmers by over 2 seconds and winning our first race of the meet. In a close finish, Clemmie was unfortunately touched out by her competitor, but put in a brilliant race.
In an even closer finish, the guys race led to all swimmers finishing within 0.5 seconds of each other and an exhilarating race. Fresher Yann Divet and CUSWPC Veteran Kaz Uzwyshyn-Jones smashed out two blues times with Kaz achieving his first ever in his final year of racing.

200 Free was up next, with Jasmine Gray and Yoshi Eschen stepping up and both achieving personal bests.
CUSWPC legend Jacques Bonsell dove in next with fresher Tom Woolley. A solid 2nd/3rd performance from the boys with two fantastic swims and Tom achieved his first 200 Free PB in 4 years!

Ellie was back up again for the 100 Fly, along with fresher Megan Kemp. Both swam fantastically with Ellie getting a close second and Meg getting a brilliant personal best time.
Up next Hugo Bellamy and Alex Song swam a strong 100 Fly. Hugo managed to equal his previous record and Song came in strong just behind.
Our very own president, Carmen Lim, stepped for a 50 Free. Not only did she hit a strong personal best, she also went the fastest S8 50 Free in Asia for this season!

After a short break, it was time for some distance. Yoshi was up once again but this time with Fresher/OAP Georgina Quayle to race the 400 Free. Despite both girls being more used to choppier waters, they swam incredibly well, with Yoshi getting a blue and personal best and Georgina swimming her heart out for a personal best as well.
After the girls was one of the most exciting 400 Free races I have witnessed in a long time. Jacques was on the blocks again, accompanied by Fresher and BNOC Flynn Ryan. The front pack came in to all finish within about of a second of each other with Jacques being touched out by O*ford’s Max Loake. Flynn finished in an incredible personal best of 11 seconds!

Next up was the 100 Breast, with Lili Csada and Sara Mahmmud both performing in their first Varsitys. They gave their all, finishing some great races but couldn’t quite reach the O*ford girls.
The guys 100 Breast was a tough battle. Giorgos Papageorgiou smashing a big personal best, getting his blues time and beating the O*ford team captain. While Maxim de Wildt managed to hold onto the ex-Olympic gold medalist from O*ford … for 25 metres, before finishing 0.3 behind the next O*ford swimmer. The boys came out with a strong 2nd/4th finish.

Then we came to the final individual race, the 100 Free. For the women’s race, Sophie O’Keeffe was back up again with 6 year CUSWPC veteran Charlotte Rowlands, who was performing with a broken foot! Sophie came in 2nd with an awesome personal best and blues time, with Charlotte close behind and only 0.4 off her personal best.
The boys then stepped up. Theo the Cannon Cannon was back again to smash another personal best, beating his own record and became the first CUSWPC swimmer to ever go under 50 seconds for 100 Free! Following close behind was Jonnie James, who claimed a personal best and his first ever blues time in his first full season in the Blues team.

Second break over, and it was time for the relays, and as always, these supplied some incredible swimming and amazing races.
For the Women’s 4×100 medley relay we had Clemmie Butler Brown on the Back, Alex Vayro on the Breast, Megan Kemp on the Fly and Ellie Mason on the Free. The girls performed fantastically and hit great times.
For the Men’s 4×100 medley relay we had Alex Goodacre, resident Geriatric, on the Backstroke, Samrahn Sandhu on the Breast, Kashif Carter on the Fly, and finally Ben Carter on the Free.

Finally, my personal highlight from the competition, the 4×100 Free Relays. Both teams beat Oxford and broke club records and did the team proud.
The girls were led off by Jasmine Gray, followed shortly by Ellie O’Keeffe, then Charlotte Rowlands and then brought home by Sophie O’Keeffe in an incredible final time of 4:01.03.
For the guys, The Cannon led us off, followed by a strong Hugo Bellamy, then Jacques Bonsell whipped out a swim, anchorman Tom Woolley smashed out the back end to bring home in a final time of 3:24.85.

Overall the team managed to achieve a record breaking 18 individual blues times, 6 club records. Despite this incredible performance from the whole team, it was sadly just not enough this year. For a team with only 5 sessions a week and a lack of our own pool, we surpassed even our own expectations.

We would like to say a massive thank you to Oxford for so graciously hosting us this Varsity, to Felix Gallagher for organising this fantastic weekend, to the Oxford Captains Sophie Lawrence and Max Underwood, and finally to our incredible Coach, Chris Greenhalgh, and all our friends and family who have helped us along the way!

Hope to see you all next when we face off against the dreaded O*ford, but this time on home turf.

As always, lots of love,

Ellie O’Keeffe and Alfie Collins xx
Blue Swimming Captains

The aspiration to build a swimming pool on the West Cambridge site for University staff, students and community use remains a key ambition for the Sports Service. It also remains firmly within the City and South Cambridgeshire sports facilities strategy, with West Cambridge being identified as the preferred location to serve the west and north of the city.

The Perse School is advancing its plans to build a 25 metre 6 lane pool on its Hills Road site in the south of the city and a West Cambridge site development would complement this. The rate of growth of the city and surrounding areas means current infrastructure such as sports facilities, and water space in particular, is insufficient.

The long-awaited confirmation of planning approval for the West Cambridge site masterplan that was announced recently has added some impetus to looking at the remaining phases planned for the original Sports Centre that has now been open for 8 years.

There are a number of significant conditions to be satisfied within the planning approval such as finalising transport, energy and other infrastructure requirements. In addition to meeting the needs of students’ clubs, we believe that provision of better sport, health and wellbeing facilities, will be recognised as an important factor in making West Cambridge a desirable place to work and important in attracting commercial research companies to invest in the site.

Our aim for 2022 is to put a business case, plans and design options for indoor and Padel tennis, additional indoor multi-purpose sport space and a 25 metre eight lane pool into the University’s internal planning process.

There will be challenges around capital costs, sustainability, parking and transport to overcome and, of these facilities, the pool is the most challenging to deliver in economic terms. However, good pool-time programming that meets a range of needs from children’s swimming lessons to swimming for health, wellbeing and competition (including related activity such as water polo) can be managed to deliver a well-used facility within an efficient pool design.