Water Polo: Cardiff crowned BUSA Champions.
9 April 2008
Cardiff University Sport and Exercise Department is pleased to announce that the University Ladies Water Polo team are now British Universities Champions.
Having qualified from their initial regional league in January the team progressed to the National semi-finals in Walsall. This was a one day event consisting of 4 teams, the Cardiff team managed to progress courtesy of a superior goal difference over Birmingham. They were joined in the finals by Manchester, Loughborough and Edinburgh in Sheffield on the weekend of 14th – 16th March. The finals were run on a mini-league/rounds robin basis. Cardiff entered the weekend as underdogs but started well with a convincing 6-3 win over Edinburgh. Next opponents were Manchester and the Cardiff team managed to hold their nerve to win a very hard fought game 8-7. In the deciding match Cardiff faced Loughborough, who were reigning BUSA champions and heavy favourites to regain their title. However, thanks to some resilient defending and clinical shooting, in what was an extremely hard fought match; Cardiff managed to defeat Loughborough 12-11 to seal a magnificent achievement in winning the title for the first time.
A special mention and congratulations must go to first year Jen Myo who scored an incredible 10 of Cardiff’s 12 goals in the final and deciding match against Loughborough. Jen is part of the University’s Sports Bursary Programme and is in the first year of a degree in Medicine. As well as competing for Cardiff University Jen plays for Manchester in the National League and helped the team to a top five finish in their first year in the Premier division. More recently Jen has been selected to captain the Wales team at the Celtic Games in Dublin with her ultimate aim to compete for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics.
Another Sports Bursar who competed for the Ladies Water Polo team this year was Lucy Williams. Lucy is in the first year of a degree in Physiotherapy and her specialist sport is Surf Life Saving. Lucy was disappointed she could not make the Water Polo finals as she was competing in the Senior Surf Life Saving Still Water Nationals. However, her disappointment was short lived as she came away with three 2nd places and two 3rd places in individual events. Last weekend Lucy went on to compete in the Junior Surf Life Saving Still Water Nationals. After which she must be congratulated on winning 2 Gold and 2 Silver medals. Lucy has also recently competed for Wales in the Celtic Games taking part in the backstroke where she gained another PB.
In addition, it should be mentioned that the University Men’s Water Polo team also qualified for the BUSA championship finals and went into the event as reigning champions. However, retaining the title proved slightly too much for the team and they finished an extremely creditable second to new champions Bristol University. Sport and exercise would like to congratulate both teams on their achievements this season.