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