Men’s Water Polo Annual Report 2009
This year has provided some mixed results for our teams but as one of the leading Water Polo clubs within Britain we are still maintaining our position at the top of the game. There are maybe 1 or 2 clubs who are performing better and have greater reputations, but these clubs rely on ‘outside’ players to gain results and maintain their level. Bristol Central relies almost exclusively on local players within its teams and is unlikely to resort to this type of ‘outside’ recruitment. But it gets more difficult each year to continue this.

Mini Polo
We have been running various mini polo sessions at both the University and Bristol South and with the help of Jez & Louise Sherman they have looked to use other pools for this to continue on a weekly basis going forward. Upwards of 15 youngsters have been attending regularly and the need to convert these players into club members is an important aim for 2010. We are indebted to the Sherman’s & Melanie Power for their unpaid support and coaching.

Junior Polo
We’ve not been able to run a junior team for 2009 due to lack of coaches and suitable pool time. The lack of a regular weekly session at a suitable pool has made it impossible to develop a squad of players. We hope to address this during 2010 & will be trying to run taster sessions for our own club swimmers & other clubs at some point in 2010. 2 notable successes have been Finn Taylor & Stuart Fennell. Finn has featured regularly in the 2nd team and made the score sheet a number of times. Stuart is a regular member of the Great Britain Youth team and is an excellent prospect for the future although he is forcing his way into the 1st team starting 7 already at such a tender age of 18!

2nd Team
In the 1st division of the Bristol & West League, the team  have performed superbly in beating Bristol Uni & Welsh Wanderers. But have looked less than ordinary in some defeats notably against Weston & Swindon. With such a young team, Coach Greg Harper and Captain Rich Manion will be looking for more consistency in 2010 and to a place higher than 5th in the league.

This team has secured the club’s only water polo trophy in 2009. For the first time they entered the Bristol & West Handicap Cup. By issuing a goal handicap to a team in another division, you’re able to compete against teams from different divisions. The final was against Exeter, who was reluctant to travel outside of the county boundary. So Central arrived at their pool to see over 60 spectators cheering on the home side! A superb 1st Qtr display saw Central race into a 7 -2 lead which silenced the crowd. I think we even witnessed some of the fans leaving early with tickets being ripped up when Central went further ahead and eventually win 17 -9 at a canter.

1st Team
Consistency has been sadly lacking in the team’s performance in both the Bristol & West  League & National League. In the British Championships in February once again they failed to reach the finals round and this is becoming a frustrating barrier for coach & team. A different approach will be taken for 2010 especially in the preliminary rounds to ensure they reach their rightful place in the Finals.  In the National League in 2009, they  have played outstandingly well against the better teams such as Manchester & Lancaster, but then performed poorly against teams such as local rivals Cheltenham & Rotherham. The lack of swim fitness is a bigger issue this year and the need to have access to more club swim sessions is an ongoing problem that needs resolving. Amongst the younger players, Stuart Fennell, Sean Coles & Lewis Matthews continue to improve and push more senior / older players to perform more consistently.

Swim 21 / Beacon Pathway Club Status
The club and  has been identified as a pathway club which will mean a radical approach to Water Polo will be undertaken over the coming 18 months / 2 years. A fully funded coaching & facility hire system will be introduced to provide a Long Term Athlete Development programme for South & West region Water Polo players. More details will be provided in due course but the club should feel proud to be chosen, following stiff competition from perennial rivals Cheltenham.

International Honours
Craig Figes as Captain of Great Britain senior men’s team, continues to represent our club with great honour and distinction. This year, they competed in the European ‘B’ Championship in Switzerland in September and they achieved their best ever result in finishing 4th. Craig was outstanding throughout and hopes are high that the team will qualify for the European ‘A’ Championship with the preliminary round robin stage being held in April next year. Stuart Fennell is also performing well for the Great Britain Youth team, but their competition target is unclear due to a change in the age group classification.

Rhys Tamlyn

Ladies Water Polo Secretary’s Annual Report 2009

The last year to date has been very productive. In 2008 in our local league we finished 4th; currently we are 2nd in our division and have a very good chance to win this league. The league is normally complete now but because of the fire at the pool we have not been able to fulfil our fixtures that we hoped to by Christmas.

In National League last year we finished 6th - that was the clubs highest finish in four years. This season we are currently top of the league, but as a coach, a player and a fan of sport I would say “there is a long way to go yet”.

The ladies water polo section has changed massively in the last 12 months from more of a social to a competitive section of Bristol Central Swimming Club. Our membership of players has doubled this year, admittedly we have recruited 6 of our new members through multi registrations but this has improved our section dramatically. Our numbers at training have doubled - we regularly get 14-16 ladies on a Sun and 12-14 ladies at our Thurs session. As you will be aware our section has also started to use the swimming sessions a lot more. Due to our increased pool time this has been beneficial to our section and the results are shown in our progress this year.

The one area we still need to improve is the recruitment of juniors. One of our national league team members is 13 and part of the GB set up but she is a multi registered player. I feel that to maintain a future for this section of the club the sections must work together, so swimmers get to see the other options they have, this could be done through taster sessions or demos. We already have a link with the other Polo club in Bristol and I have recently become a coach at the RTC (Regional Training Centre) so hopefully I can find some juniors for the club through this.

Greg Harper