The draw for the Women's Euro League Qualification Round 2 has been announced.
The competition will take place on the 4th - 7th February 2016. Otter are drawn in in Group C which will be played in Porto.
Otter will be playing Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE), NC Vouliagmeni (GRE), Plebiscito Padova (ITA) & hosts Clube Fluvial Portuense (POR).
More details & game times to follow early 2016.
There's a familiar look to the top women's division of BWPL again this year with Liverpool Lizards, City of Manchester, City of Coventry and Otter all qualifying once again for the Ladies Super 5s places. Caledonia's 12-7 victory over Penguin Emperors on Sunday earned the Scots the final Super 5s spot but only once defeats were confirmed for immediate rivals Sheffield Sharks (beaten 19-10 by Otter) and Leeds Sharks (who lost 11-6 to Coventry).
Otter came away with 2 wins from 2 games for the second weekend in a row, beating Coventry 11-9 & Sheffield 19-10. In both games Otter lead from the first goal to the last, controlling the game throughout to get the wins. Both games were solid team efforts, and the team are now looking forward to taking on the best in the country once again in the Super 5's. The first games will be in Leeds December 12th & 13th.
Otter scorers v Coventry 11-9: Claudia 4, Lex, Peggy & Hannah 2 & Izzy 1.
Otter scorers v Sheffield 19-10: Lex, Izzy, Kathy 3, Holly, Turny, Claudia, Hannah 2, Kate & Peggy 1.
Izzy Dean attacking for Otter.
Otter Lutra are on track to defend their Championship 1 title for a 3rd year in a row after two wins this weekend in Walsall saw them qualify for the second phase of the competition.
Lutra, who knew they needed one win from their two games to secure their place in the Championship 1, started their first game vs English Roses Masters strongly jumping out to 3-1 lead in the first quarter. Two goals in the second quarter to Bugsy & Anna saw Lutra go into the main break winning 5-2. And from there Lutra controlled the game, adding 3 more goals in each of the remaining quarters to win 11-5.
Otter scorers: Bugsy 5, Anna 2, Linds 1, Helena 1, Gari 1, Izzy 1.
Lutra started strongly again in their second game vs Welsh Wanders. Lutra scored four goals in each of the first two quarters while holding the Welsh to one goal per term to have the 8-2 advantage at half time. The second half was a closer affair but Lutra always looked in control winning the second half 7-5, to take the match 15-7.
Otter goal scorers: Gari 3, Helena 2, Linds 2, Anna 2, Busgy 2, Heather 1, Sasha 1, Izzy 1, Emma 1.
Anna in defence.
London Otter ’01s claimed the girls’ title after a thrilling day of action at the ASA National Age Group Water Polo Championships (U15) at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.
Otter entered two teams in the championships the older Otter ’01s & the younger Otter '02s. It was the first time either team had played in the Championships and it was another brilliant result for our Otter juniors, who now hold the 2015 U/15, U/17 titles, and were runners up in the U/19s age group.
The Otter '01s opened their 2015 campaign with an immediate display of strength, a commanding 21-1 victory over last year’s champions, City of Manchester, before posting posting emphatic wins in all remaining group games, Cheltenham (23-2), Rotherham Metro (7-2), and Tyldesley (13-2), to finish top of the Group A
The semi-final action saw London Otter ’01s overcome Welsh Wanderers 12-5.
Before coming up against City of Liverpool in the final. Liverpool jumped out to an advantage, scoring two quick-fire goals in the first three minutes of the final before London Otter ’01s responded quickly, equalising in less than a minute before scoring a further two goals to set the scores at 4-2 heading into the break. Despite strong attacks from City of Liverpool in the second half of the match, London Otter ’01s held their nerve & scored 3 more times sealing their U15 Girls Water Polo Championships 2015 title 7-3 with a final goal in the last 10 seconds from Drew Goold.
Otter '01 captain Lily Turner was named Most Valuable player of the tournament, with Barbola Toth named best Goal Keeper. “I am delighted. I couldn’t be happier for the team,” said Lily Turner. “This is the first time we have competed here so it feels great to leave as national champions. ”Our older age group won the Under 17 championships earlier this year and I think that really spurred us on as team.”
The Otter 02's also performed extremely strongly, finishing 6th overall after posting wins over City of Manchester (10-1) & Cheltenham (9-1) in the 5th-9th Place Playoff Group. A brilliant result from a very young team in their first National Championships.
U15 GIRLS WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS 2015 OVERALL MVPS:
• Highest Goal Scorer – Nia Sanders (Welsh Wanderers)
• Goal Keeper – Barbola Toth (Otter ’01s)
• Overall Most Valuable Player – Lily Turner (Otter ’01s)
Otter won two from two this weekend in Grantham. Beating Caledonia 14-9 on Saturday before running away with a 21-2 win vs Leeds on Sunday. Both games were solid team performances, with every field player netting v Leeds.
There's a familiar look to the top women's division of BWPL again this year, with Liverpool Lizards, City of Manchester, City of Coventry and Otter all lining up for the Super 5s places - with a weekend of competition still to be played. Sheffield Sharks and City of Leeds are best placed to challenge for the final slot.
The final rounds of Phase 1 will be played on November 14th & 15th in Matlock. Where Otter will face Coventry & Sheffield.
Otter scorers v Caledonia: Claudia & Izzy (3), Holly & Mhairi (2), Kate, Brooke, Peggy & Hannah (1). Otter scorers v Leeds: Lex & Holly (4), Lizi, Claudia & Izzy (2), Mhairi, Brooke, Emma, Peggy, Kathy, Hannah & Kate (1).
Holly in action, top scoring for Otters over the weekend with 6 goals over the two games.
Congratulations to Otter Hannah Patchett who has been awarded the 2015 AASE (Athlete Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) Water Polo Apprentice of the Year.
The Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence is a government-funded initiative that's been designed to help young people aged 16 to 18 combine education and sport.
It’s aimed at athletes who have the potential of achieving excellence in their sport – and want to make a career of performing at the highest level – but who also want to continue their education. We're so proud of you Hannah and all your achievements in and out of the pool.
More info on the award can be found here found here:http://www.swimming.org/ios/apprenticeships/aase/
Otter outplayed promoted West London Penguin in the opening game of the women's BWPL Division 1 season in Watford on Saturday. Otter lead from the start, winning the first quarter 3-1 before pulling away to lead 8-2 at half time, 12-2 at the end of the third quarter before winning the game 16-3. It was a solid team performance, with new Otters Claudia & Kate settling into the team quickly. It was also great to see Hannah, Izzy, Mhairi & Kathy, all who played for Lutra last year, stepping up and performaing well in their first, 1st team game.
Otter had it tougher vs Manchester on Sunday morning. Otter recovered strongly from 8-5 down in the third quarter before narrowly falling short of snatching a draw in the final minutes of the game. Leaving Manchester to take the points with a 9-8 win.
2 hours after the Manchester game, Otter were back in action against defending champions Liverpool who proved to strong for Otter on this occasion winning the physical encounter 14-10.
Otter scorers V Penguins : Lex 5, Claudia 3, Emma 2, Izzy, Mhairi, Brooke, Peggy, Kathy, Hannah.
Otter scorers v Manchester: Lex 2, Claudia 2, Emma 2, Hannah & Mhairi.
Otter scorers v Liverpool: Claudia 2, Emma 2, Kate 2, Lex, Mhairi, Brooke, Kathy.
Otter Lutra kicked off their BWPL Championship 1 title defence in Ponds Forge on the 12th & 13th of September.
Lutra started the 2015/2016 competition with a 4-4 draw vs Hucknall. Helena, Lindsey, Gari & Bugsy finding the back of the net in the low scoring first game that was dominated by solid defense from both teams.
Lutra hit their stride in the second match of the weekend rolling Manchester Coments 14-5. Helena & Lindsey top scored for Lutra with 4 goals each. Gary added 3, with Yedden, Anna & Izzy added 1 a piece.
The win & a draw see Otter sitting second on the table with 3 points behind Mid Sussex Marlins. For full results, scorecards & the standings please see check out the BWPL website.
Lutra will be back in action on Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th of October at Malborough College, where they will face Mid Sussex Marlins, Tyldesley & Liverpool Liverbirds.
Nick Buller and Tim Dunsbee have been appointed as head coaches of the England women’s and men’s U19 water polo squads respectively for the 2016 season.
Both teams will be aiming to qualify for the European U19 Water Polo Championships with the women’s event taking place in Gouda (women’s) and Alphen (men’s) in the Netherlands next summer.
Buller guided the Great Britain 1998 women’s squad through qualification for the inaugural European Games and to an 11th place finish at the Games in Baku.
“I’m pleased to have been given the opportunity to show what this squad can achieve,” said Buller. “This is an exciting time to be involved with the national team as the level of players is improving all the time. The Baku European Games was a good starting point and future teams will only learn and build from that experience. I’ll be looking closely at not only those who went to Baku and those going to Greece for the Under 20 World Championships in August, but also the many emerging talents coming through and the players who maybe only just missed out on selection previously. Our goal is to build a strong outfit and perform well at next year’s Championships, and with the talent available I’m confident we can achieve that.”
Buller will appoint the remainder of his coaching team in the next few weeks in conjunction with Water Polo Management Group performance lead Phil Winstanley and England Water Polo manager Ian Elliot.
The British women’s U20 water polo team brought the curtain down on their World Junior Championships in Volos, Greece with a battling defeat to European giants the Netherlands.
After finishing bottom of their group, GB bounced back with a mature performance in a 10-4 victory over South Africa in the classifications round to guarantee a top-14 finish and meet their target for the competition.
The British squad continued in the same vein in their final classification match against the Dutch, one of the ‘big six’ European women’s water polo nations, matching their opponents in the first half before fading in the third and fourth quarters to a 22-7 defeat.
Massive congratulations to Otter's Brooke & Kathy who represented GB at the tournament. We're incredibly proud of you, and looking forward to have you back at for Otter in the upcoming BWPL season.
