Great Britain’s U18 Women’s Water Polo squad enjoyed a five-day training camp in Tenerife as they continued their preparations for the U18 European Championships later this year.
Hosted by senior women’s star Annie Clapperton, and her Tenerife Echeyde side, Nick Hume’s squad headed to the Canary Islands for some vital training time together at the Acidalio Lorenzo Pool.
The 16-strong group began their week with a day of strength and conditioning training and pool drills alongside their hosts in Tenerife before playing matches each evening.
They took on a number of teams from the club, giving them the chance to gain some valuable experience of playing outdoors.
They utilised the club’s impressive facilities throughout the week and even took their training to the sea as they continue their build up to the Championships, which get underway on Sunday 31 August.
Back at home the group have been training alongside a wider group, including the new U20 side and were able to take in some top-level water polo before flying back to the UK.
They were all poolside as Clapperton’s Tenerife took on Trieste in the Euro Cup semi-final second leg on Saturday. The group cheered on GB’s vice-captain as Tenerife were denied a final quarter comeback in an 8-7 defeat.
The trip was the latest step in the team’s preparation for the European Championships in Malta. Last week, the group were drawn in Group D for the Championships where they’ll take on Slovakia, Romania, Switzerland, Czechia and Bulgaria.
Before they head to the Maltese town of Gzira at the end of August, the group will continue to train hard as they look to build on their success from last year.
The majority of the side were part of the England U18s side that took gold at the Junior Women’s EU Nations Cup back in November and they’ll also be looking to improve on the ninth place that the nation recorded in the U19 European Championships last Summer.
The men’s U18 side will also be in European Championship action this Summer and that squad have just begun their own week-long training camp in Greece.
