General History
Originally, Water Polo was not part of the club, and instead the club was just for swimming.
The earliest records of swimming at Cambridge date back to 1567, when Walter Hadon of King’s was tragically drowned while bathing in the Cam. Swimming was subsequently banned by an injunction for many years; members of the University were forbidden to enter any pool or river by night or day in the County of Cambridge subject to drastic punishment. However the Cam was to lure undergraduates back to its murky depths and by 1705 the first university pool had been built a mile and a half upstream of the town.
The swimming club itself was founded in 1855 and is one of the oldest in the country. Training took place in the River Cam at the University Bathing Sheds at Grantchester Meadows. Here the course of the river is reasonably straight for 120 yards and hence is suitable for racing. On the grassland by the river there were horizontal bars, a trapeze and a 15 foot diving tree.
Swimming in these days was described by someone who, obviously, did not enjoy the sport;
“Here on summer afternoons and evenings crowds of naked undergraduates may be seen enjoying the doubtful pleasure of plunging about in the narrow muddy stream, going head foremost at intervals through a coating of terrible looking scum, an accumulation of unclean matter which the sluggish stream has not the energy to carry away. “
The club quickly established an emphasis on competitive swimming with most galas held against London swimming clubs and inter-collegiate competitions taking place. The events competed in were various distances from 30 yard to a quarter mile depending on the venue, plunging, steeplechase, a race in clothes and water polo.
In 1888, Club ‘colours’; consisting of green, yellow and light blue; were first awarded for swimming and water polo achievement. ‘Half blues’ were awarded to first string swimmers from 1893 onwards, and to all swimmers who competed in the Varsity Match from 1949. Finally in 1966 swimming became a ‘full blue’ sport with a place on the Blues Committee.
The team was heavily handicapped, however, by the fact that Cambridge had no swimming pool and consequently members of the club only had the Easter term (April to June) in which to practice. Fortunately in 1906 the new pool at the Leys School allowed training to be extended.
The date when the CU Ladies Swimming Club was founded is less clear. In 1903, the Girton College Review records that the college swimming club had 80 members and organized an annual inter-year water polo match, played by girls in long flowing white dresses.
1970 saw the merging of the men’s and ladies’ clubs. The following year ladies were even allowed to use the bathing sheds despite fierce opposition from more traditional members.
There was a major dispute between the two universities in 1982, when Oxford selected a lady international to play in the men’s water polo team. The selection was forbidden by a special ruling of the ASA. Cambridge were quick to come up with a solution, challenging Oxford to a ladies’ water polo match the following year, and so completing the four match competition.
From its earliest days the Club has been fighting for a university pool. In 1892, the Cambridge Review commented that
“… he must be an enthusiast of no common kind who would venture on bathing during such weather as we have had this term. When it is remembered that a swimming bath is now beginning to be considered as a necessity in most of our large public schools, it seems strange that we are still without one. “
Swimming Varsity History
Between the wars the club flourished, with the bathing sheds playing host to scores of undergraduates. Every year, at the end of the Easter term the Varsity Team would embark on a two week tour of London, culminating in the match against Oxford watched by crowds of several thousands.
In 1882 CUSC sent a challenge to Oxford for a Varsity match between the Universities. This was rejected as they had no organized club. In 1891 Oxford founded their club and the annually repeated challenge of a match against Cambridge was accepted in October of that year, with the first men’s water polo Varsity Match. The next year the first men’s swimming Varsity Match was added to the programme. During these years the club also fostered many other galas, most notably against Otter SC the first of which took place in 1890 and which began a long tradition of links with that club.
1892 witnessed the inaugural men’s swimming Varsity Match held annually since then, bar breaks during the wars, between Oxford and Cambridge. The first event was held at the Kensington Pools in London and many subsequent matches were held in London, even as recently as 1999 in Ealing.
In 1921 the ladies swimming Varsity Match was initiated.
Originally the gala consisted of three individual freestyle events with two swimmers from Oxford and two from Cambridge competing in each event. The exact distances varied considerably from year to year but roughly equated to a sprint, an approximate 100m and a quarter mile; although the middle event varied from 100 yards to 174 to 240 during the 1890s. Each race could be won by either university on a points basis of 5 for first, 3 for second and 1 for third. The overall winner was the winner of the most events.
In 1897 a team event was introduced to the programme, with each university fielding seven swimmers. However the decision of who won the Varsity match still went purely on the individuals.
This format remained through until the 1920s. A points system was introduced in 1926. However it was not standardized as events were added and the scoring system changed so total points varied from year to year.
The 1920s also brought about another major change with the first ladies’ swimming Match in 1921, although it was held separately from the men’s. The format of the competition was noticeably different with distances half those of the men’s events and the relay consisted of five swimmers. The programme also contained a plunge, style swimming and diving.
By the 1930s, the men’s competition had gained events and the programme consisted of:
- 100 yards Free
- 220 yards Free
- 440 yards Free
- 200 yards Breast
- 100 to 150 yards Back
- Medley Relay of Back, Breast and Free
- Free Relay of four swimmers
This was extended to include butterfly and individual medley events and a full medley relay during the 1950s. In fact the Varsity Match already included a butterfly event in 1953, two years before it became an official competitive stroke.
The point scoring system also changed to the current system which was different from the standard at the time but did ensure a close battle for victory.
The first men’s water polo Match was held in October 1891 after Cambridge had sent challenges to Oxford since 1882. It was the first of the four Varsity Matches in which CUSWPC now compete to take place, with competitions now taking place for over the hundredth time.
The following is an extract from the Cambridge Review from October 15, 1891.
In 2009 ladies were also able to compete in 400m freestyle at Varsity.
Up until 2004 the Match has taken place in Lent term (January to March) as part of the Varsity Games with venues alternately organized by Cambridge and by Oxford. It was, from 2005, an event in its own right, with the venue alternating between Cambridge Parkside Pools and the Rosenblatt Pool Oxford each year.
Water Polo Varsity History
“The Inter-Varsity water polo match, the first of it’s kind, is fixed for next Friday, at the Crown Baths, Kennington Oval, at 7.20pm. Owing to the want of a covered swimming bath at Cambridge, water polo can only be played at the sheds, and at the close of a bad season like the present men are necessarily very much out of practice. Our team will feel the loss of Muttlebury, who is unable to play, and our opponents have a strong team. “
Out of necessity the Varsity Match had to be held in London due to the lack of a covered pool in Cambridge which often cut matches against other teams, such as the Otters, short (just 5 minutes each way), due to the coldness of the water.
Reports about the Varsity Match have generally concentrated on swimming and the development of the waterpolo Match is less clear. The early years were quite turbulent as the changes in water polo rules were very dramatic.