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Great Britain’s future stars continue European Championship preparation

Three of Great Britain’s water polo squads have spent their half term break overseas as they continue their European Championships preparation.

Each of the men’s U19, women’s U19 and women’s U18 teams have been undergoing high intensity training camps which will be used as vital preparation ahead of their upcoming events.

Both the men’s U19 and women’s U18 sides headed to Barcelona where they were hosted by the Barcelona International Water Polo Academy (BIWPA).

For the men’s U19s it was a welcome return to Catalunya, where they took part in the Next Generations Cup back in September, for the team’s final training camp before their crucial U19 European Championship qualifiers in Trebinje, Bosnia next month.

Tim Dunsbee’s side will take on a five team group including France, Czech Republic, Finland as well as the hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina where the top two will progress to the finals in September.

They spent five days in Spain fine tuning their preparations for the competition which included scrimmages against Club Natacio Barcelona (CNB), Club Esportiu Mediterrani, Club Natació Atletic-Barceloneta (CNAB), UE Horta and the BIWPA Academy team.

Essential development

Great Britain’s Women’s U18 side joined the men’s U19s in Barcelona for a five day training camp of their own from Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 February.

The 16-strong-squad were working towards the U18 European Championships in 2025 with the exposure of taking on European opponents an essential step in the sides ongoing development.

Coaches Nick Hume and Sue Webb aimed to implement the tactical sides of their game that they’ve worked on in training back in the UK. They also faced CNB, CNAB and UE Horta as the team continued to prepare for the physical demands of a 10-day European competition.

Finally, GB’s U19 Women spent four days in Zeist which hosted the senior women’s side prior to their European Championship campaign in January.

They took on a mixture of the Netherlands’ U16-U19 age group sides to give them as much experience against top quality opponents as possible.

The U19 women will be competing in the European Championships later this year in Zagreb, Croatia and used the time in Zeist to work hard both in the pool and the classroom to develop the squad for the event which gets underway on Saturday 31 August.

You can find squad list for each of the teams training camps below.

Great Britain’s Men’s U19 squad on training camp in Barcelona, Spain 12-16 February:

  • Ben Alderson, Sedgefield
  • Alastair Cook, Neptune’s WPSC
  • Murray Dickson, Caledonia/Stirling
  • Aaron Downer, Cheltenham
  • Zac Downer, Cheltenham
  • Cayden Down, Boldmere/Wurzburg
  • Callum Eccles, City of Sheffield/Hucknall
  • Henry Jackson, Rotherham Metro/Hucknall
  • Andrew Lowe, Greenwich Aquatics
  • Teddy Meeks, California Water Polo/Menlo Schools Water Polo Team
  • Louie McKie, Cheltenham
  • Reuben Powell, Exeter
  • Daniel Preston, Miami Riptides
  • Pierre Rivet, Beckenham Water Polo
  • Alexander Sharp, Stanford Water Polo
  • Will Thompson, City of Bristol/Wurzburg
  • Tim Dunsbee, head coach
  • Sarah Dunsbee, assistant coach
  • James Jackson, team manager

Great Britain’s Women’s U19 squad on training camp in Zeist, Netherlands 15-18 February:

  • Lucy Blenkinship, City of Manchester
  • Eve Barnes, Watford
  • Amelie Cornell, City of Liverpool
  • Zara Christie, City of Manchester/ Dunfermline
  • Amelia Crompton, Tyldesley
  • Pippa Danielson, Otter
  • Harriet Dickens, City of Manchester
  • Christina English, Watford
  • Juliet Lyons, City of Sheffield
  • Izzy Robb, City of Manchester
  • Adriana Garcia Rodriguez, Cheltenham
  • Lily Ross, Cheltenham
  • Amelie Perkins, Cheltenham
  • Hannah Pyper, City of Liverpool
  • Laura Skelton, City of Sheffield
  • Izzy Howe, head coach
  • Michael Patterson, assistant coach
  • Jade Smith, assistant coach
  • Vicki Dickens, team manager

Great Britain’s Women’s U18 squad on training camp in Barcelona, Spain 13-17 February:

  • Harriet Bates, City of Bristol
  • Alice Berill, City of Coventry
  • Abby Colson, City of Manchester
  • Amelia Cook, Worthing/Mid Sussex Marlins
  • Elsie Graves, Worthing/Mid Sussex Marlins
  • Georgia Haines, City of Bristol
  • Isabella Ibbs, City of Liverpool
  • India Knights-Hume, City of Bristol
  • Sophie Leveridge, Hucknall
  • Isabel Olcer, Rotherham Metro
  • Harriet Ornsby, City of Liverpool
  • Alice Shields, Cheltenham
  • Darcey Tomlinson, Exeter
  • Ruby Taylor, City of Sheffield
  • Josephine Tuckett, Exeter
  • Zianna Wright, Monaco/Watford
  • Nick Hume, head coach
  • Sue Webb, assistant coach
  • Siobhan Barnes, team manager
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