News | Tuesday, 30th April 2019
Champion water polo players make England squad
Seven of the men’s University team will play against Scotland
Seven of the University’s championship-winning water polo team have been selected to represent the England men’s senior squad in their match against Scotland this weekend (May 4).
The seven students, who all competed in the winning team when they became national champions in the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) league in March, will make up more than half of the England squad going to the exhibition game at the Manchester Aquatics Centre on Saturday.
Four of the players have previously been selected to represent England while at the University, with three others making their debut. Sports Scholar Dan Paddon is making a special debut as the team’s captain.
Honour
Dan said: “It’s always an honour to be selected for your country but as captain makes this even more so – it’s also amazing that six others from the team can join me. The BUCS Championship win and now international selection really shows the strength in our team at Manchester Met. I’m so grateful for the opportunities and support we have been given whilst playing at the University.
“Over the last four years, I have really pushed myself to be the best I can be, using the strength and conditioning facilities at Manchester Met, getting myself in the pool every day and generally just making the most of what’s available for me here in Manchester as an athlete.
“The main competition this year is the World University Games (WUG) where we aim to come in the top eight – this will be a great achievement for a country with very limited funding against the world’s best. So although the game against Scotland is a must win, especially as it’s the oldest water polo fixture in the world, it is essentially preparation for our WUG’s campaign.”
The game against Scotland is being played during the Men’s European Junior Water Polo Championships Qualifiers at 2:20pm at the Manchester Aquatics centre.
Proud
Jérôme Read, Head of Performance Sport at Manchester Metropolitan University, added: “We are very proud to see so many of our students making international selection. This continues our proud history of having elite athletes at our University selected as senior internationals whilst combining this successfully with their academic studies. A comprehensive behind-the-scenes sport support package along with strong internal faculty and external collaborative partnership engagement allow these opportunities for our student athletes here at Manchester Met to excel.”
All of the players are working towards selection for the WUG in Italy, beginning June 30.
The WUG is organised by the International University Sports Federation every two years and is the second largest multisport games in the world after the Olympics, with more than 10,000 participants from more than 150 countries taking part.
