Future of British water polo 'looking positive' after U19s impress in Europe

The future of British water polo is looking strong after Great Britain’s U19s finished in an impressive ninth place at the European U19 Women’s Water Polo Championships in Zagreb.

The 13-strong squad secured five wins from seven during their time in the Croatian capital to finish inside the top 10, building on the 13^th from the U17s in 2023 and seventh from the senior side back in January.

It included players from across the country with seven English clubs represented as well as clubs from Scotland and some of our young players who play overseas.

And the team’s head coach Izzy Howe hopes their showing inspires the next cycle of up and coming water polo players.

She said: “I hope this shows younger athletes that the potential is there to succeed if you commit and put in the time.

“Many of our team are young and still have many junior cycles ahead of them, they can now build on this and continue to grow.

“Hopefully the future of British water polo is looking positive and strong. I wish the whole squad the best for whatever they choose to focus on now.”

‘Hard work paying off’

Starting in Group D, Great Britain needed to finish in the top two of the five-team-group to have any chance of reaching of finishing any higher than 13^th spot.

And despite a loss on penalties to Germany in their opening encounter, they stormed their way up the table with three wins in a row.

Those results included convincing victories over Malta (13-8) and the 32-6 victory over Bulgaria where every outfield member of the team got on the scoresheet.

The final group match with Turkiye would decide their fate in the tournament however, with a victory of any kind seeing them qualify for the crossover matches in second behind Germany – who won all of their group games.

It was a dramatic contest that was locked at 6-6 at the half way point. GB edged in front in the third before Turkiye battled back to make it 11-11 as they entered the final few minutes. But late in the fourth Lucy Blenkinship stepped up to complete her hat trick to grab the winner with just 1:21 left on the clock.

That win saw them move into the crossover matches where they took on an incredibly strong Netherlands side who took the victory to send the British side into the 9-12 place playoffs.

They took on Slovakia in the 9-12 place semi-final, in a match that was just as close as the game with Turkiye.

A standout performance from Amelie Perkins saw her net seven times in a back and forth contest where the lead changed hands throughout.

Slovakia took the lead with less than 90 seconds remaining before Blenkinship came up clutch with two late goals to turn the game around and give Great Britain a 15-14 win.

That guaranteed them a place in the top 10 and set them for a rematch with Germany.

The match was just as close as their match on the opening day but a strong end to the third saw Great Britain move into an 8-6 lead with eight minutes to play.

Some strong defending and another goal from Perkins – her fourth of the match – saw GB come out on top as they avenged their loss from earlier in the competition to end on a high.

It was a string of performances that impressed Howe, who was proud of how her team performed.

She added: “I am so proud of how the girls performed, we’ve worked so hard and to feel like it’s paid off is fantastic.

“They played with passion and determination and that really shone through especially in the close games where big performances were needed.

“This year’s preparation has been full of commitment and sacrifices, for a lot of this squad they’ve also had academic pressures and needed to find balance with their training so coming away with such great results is fantastic.

“We want to thank everybody who contributed to the success of this team, the families, friends, coaches, players, previous squad members and supporters. We are so grateful for your support.”

You can catch up on all the results from the European U19 Women’s Water Polo Championships here and you can watch the Games back on euroaquaticstv.com.

Great Britain’s results and scorers from the European U19 Women’s Water Polo Championships 2024