Jessica Trevellick wins the Otter Mile Handicap

The Otter Mile was held at Windsor on Friday 26 June. It was a fantastic evening, the weather was great and the water temperature was just right. The after-event food and social made the evening even more enjoyable. Many thanks to Tory Thorpe who organised the event. The top three for each category were: 

Men's Scratch Race:

1. Dave Warren (21:00)

2. Pip Bennett (21:14)

3. Dave Roberts (21:36)

Women's Scratch Race:

1. Lex Higlett (21:46)

2. Jess Trevellick (22:27)

3. Gina Hobson (23:35)

Handicap:

1. Jess Trevellick

2. Dave Roberts

3. Lex Higlett

Congratulations to everyone who swam, helped or supported.

Otters break British & European Records at the 2015 British Masters and Senior Age Group Championships.

The Otter 4x100m Freestyle Relay set a new 200+ European record of 4.00.97. Otter had two swimmers from the previous 200+ Yrs British record in the men’s 4x100m Free Relay in the shape of David Warren and Peter Kirk. Mike Reys and Paul Goudie joined forces with them to establish the record. The same team of David Warren, Peter Kirk, Paul Goudie and Mike Reys also set a new British record in 200+ 4x200m Freestyle Relay touching in at 9:08.24. And Young Oliver Wilson broke the GB Senior Age Group record in the 50m Freestyle with a very speedy 23.46.  Congrats to all the Otter GB & European record holders. A full report from the weekends competition to come soon.

GB Captain & Otter Izzy Dean looks proudly back on Baku 2015 Games

Team GB water polo captain Izzy Dean insisted the Brits’ could be proud of their Baku 2015 European Games campaign after finishing 11th overall. 

The Brits defeated Isreal 10-5 in their last match of the Games to finish their challenge on a high after seven matches in as many days. Defeat to Serbia in their penultimate game ultimately cost the Brits a top 10 place – their target going into the tournament, having snuck through the qualifiers on goal difference earlier in the year. 

Dean was adamant the team would only take positives from their experience in Baku, having played three of the top six European water polo nations in the form of Greece, the Netherlands and Hungary, for the first time in the careers of all but one of the squad. “We learned so much,’’ said Dean. “It was just an invaluable experience for us all. “It was our first time competing in such a high multi-sport event, and only one of us had ever competed in a European Water Polo Championships before. So it was definitely a great start for our water polo careers.”

Baku Game 7 - Brits secure second win to end Baku 2015 on a high

Team GB secured 11th place at the Baku 2015 European Games with a comprehensive win over Israel. With both teams competing in their seventh match in as many days, the British women bagged their second victory over Israel of the competition with a 10-5 (1-3, 2-1, 3-0, 4-1) win.

“We’ve learned a lot from being here, especially how to deal with pressure and that’s going to be hugely beneficial going forward,” – Nick Buller.

“We’re pleased with today’s result as we saw how well Israel played the day before [losing on penalties against France] and how well they came back strongly in our first game, so we knew it was always going to be tough,” said head coach Nick Buller.

“It’s been fantastic for the girls to get this multi-sport experience. I think we’ve enjoyed and made the most of every moment. We’ve learned a lot from being here, especially how to deal with pressure and that’s going to be hugely beneficial going forward.

“We’ve shown we can score top goals against the top teams and the score differentials have been far less than in the past, so that’s a real positive. We’ve got plenty to build on in the future.”

Congratulations to Izzy, Mhairi, Kathy, Dani, Nick & all the GB girls. 

Baku Game 6 - GB fall to sharp-shooting Serbia

After six gruelling games in six consecutive days, Great Britain’s hopes of a top-10 finish at the 2015 European Games were dashed on Wednesday as they fell 11-3 (1-5, 1-1, 0-4, 1-1) to Serbia in Baku.

The defeat was tough on Team GB as in all six preliminary games they displayed great signs of progression and today they again showed fantastic determination, spirit and passion. “We did superbly to qualify and this team has done brilliantly to be here,” reflected GB coach Nick Buller after the match. “I can’t fault the girls’ efforts. Throughout the whole tournament they’ve all been absolutely superb. It just wasn’t our day today, but they’ve all learnt from this experience and they will come back stronger. They should all be very proud of themselves.”

Great Britain began the 7th-12th classification quarter-final by defending valiantly as Serbia were restricted to shots from distance which unfortunately hit the target as the eastern Europeans raced into a commanding 5-0 lead. “It just wasn’t our day today, but they’ve all learnt from this experience and they will come back stronger. They should all be very proud of themselves,”  – GB coach Nick Buller

 “GB’s Azerbaijan adventure will now end tomorrow as they face Israel in Thursday’s 11th-12th classification final, 9am start UK time.

Baku Game 5 - British Women set for Serbia clash after final group match.

Great Britain’s women’s water polo team have set their sights on their first knock-out game of the Baku 2015 European Games after bringing their group stage campaign to a close with a defeat against Hungary. After a tight first half, the experienced Hungarians ultimately pulled clear with a second-half shut to record a 16-4 (5-2, 2-2, 5-0, 4-0) victory.

“We were trying to be confident and more positive and I think that really helped because we played our best, especially in the first half,” – Izzy Dean.

But the Brits will approach tomorrow’s first classification match with confidence, having recorded their first win against Israel yesterday then impressing in the early stages today, trailing by just one goal at 5-4 down with less than three minutes to go in the second quarter.

While Hungary ultimately proved their class, their final tally of 16 was their lowest against any of the three Group A teams heading into the 7-12 classification matches, having notched up 21-4 and 23-3 defeats of Germany and Israel respectively.

Grace Rowland and Kathy Rogers converted for Team GB in the opening quarter as the Brits kept themselves in the game, trailing 5-2 after conceding three penalties. After five minutes of the second period, the Brits were just one goal behind and threatening to pull off the biggest shock of the tournament as Otter Rogers scored her second of the game and fifth in two matches before Dani Brazier also found the net, maintaining her record of scoring in every match so far in Baku. Hungary piled on the pressure in the third and fourth quarters to avoid the upset but the Brits emerged with plenty of credit, keeping their opponents’ scoreline below 20.

After finishing fifth in Group A, Team GB will now face Serbia – who finished bottom of Group B after five defeats – in their first knock-out match at 06:30 UK time on Wednesday 16 June.

The winners be guaranteed a top 10 finish as they move to the 7-10 classification semi-finals while the losers will play off for 11th place.

Baku Game 4 - Mhairi & Kathy score hat-tricks in win vs Israel

Izzy Dean admitted a calm approach was key as the women’s water polo team held on to record their first victory of the 2015 European Games. Despite defeats to Greece, Germany and the Netherlands, Team GB went into Monday’s in confident mood of learning from their previous mistakes.

It started off well as Otter Mhairi Nurthen got the first goal of the game inside seven minutes before the girls finished the first quarter 4-2 up. GB continued to lead at the half-way point too with two goals from Otter Katherine Rogers plus a second for Nurthen taking the score out to 7-3. Both Nurthen and Rogers completed their hat-tricks in the third quarter but Israel were not prepared to roll over and suddenly the pressure was on coach Nick Buller’s team with the scores at 11-9 to Team GB with four and a half minutes to play.

Thankfully two Grace Rowland efforts, the latter completing her own hat-trick, gave Team GB some breathing space as they ran out eventual 13-9 winners.

"We're really happy to win but we did make it a little bit harder than it could have been,” said Dean. “We rushed our shots a bit in some moments but obviously to get a win is really exciting for us.

Baku Game 3 - Brazier on target again as GB battle with Netherlands

Chelmsford / Otter's  Dani Brazier continued her fine goal-scoring form at the Baku 2015 European Games with two fantastic finishes in the 19-6 (0-2, 2-6, 3-8, 1-3) defeat to a tough and aggressive Netherlands on Sunday. 

The goals take Brazier’s tournament tally to five and despite the team struggling against a well-established and well-funded Netherlands, there were signs of improvement for head coach Nick Buller ahead of GB’s crunch game against Israel tomorrow.

“We knew this game would be difficult, but for us, it’s all about improvement from one game to the next and I’m pleased with how we performed today,” added coach Buller. “Scoring six goals was a great achievement and we can definitely build and improve on this result for the future.”

Netherlands, who won the bronze medal at the 2013 European Junior Championship, dominated from the start, but they didn’t have it all their own way as GB defended strongly and goalkeepers Sophie Jackson (Leeds) and Hayley Price (Tyldesley) again produced a number of outstanding saves. 

Otter leading London League

After two rounds of play Otter are at the top of the Division 1 London League table. Otter have won all 4 games played, beating: West London Penguins 7-0, Beckenham 8-3, Mid Sussex 6-2 & 6-1. And Chelmsford who forfeited the fixture.

Good luck to Otter who are playing the final round of fixtures on Sunday July 12. The team will take on Beckenham, West London Penguins & Chelmsford, and are hoping for a clean sweap to take out the London League title. 

Baku Game 2 - GB vs Germany

Great Britain’s second game at the Baku 2015 European Games ended in a narrow 10-8 (3-4, 1-3, 2-2, 2-1) defeat on Saturday as they were beaten by a well-organised Germany.

After their opening day 20-2 loss to Greece, GB were determined to respond strongly and for large periods of the game, they were the team on top. Verity McCoy and London Otter’s Izzy Dean proved constant threats in attack as they joint top scored for the Brits with two goals each, while goalkeepers Sophie Jackson and Hayley Price were in inspired form between the sticks.

Germany, who finished seventh at the 2013 European Junior Championship, began the game brightly, but they struggled to find a way past GB’s resilient and spirited defence. “If there had been another two minutes of play, we’re sure the result would have been different,” – Izzy Dean. Both teams hit the post early on before McCoy fired in a stunning bounce shot to open the scoring with 5.06 remaining in the first quarter. McCoy struck again along with Liverpool team-mate Grace Rowland and Crawley’s Lara Partridge, but it was Germany who took a 7-4 half-time lead. In the third quarter, GB captain Dean hammered home twice and Chelmsford’s Dani Brazier took her tournament tally to three with an excellent goal in the final period. Liverpool’s Lucy Shaw found space late in the fourth to set-up a tense final minute, but Germany were able to close the game out as 10-8 winners.