The Otter Men have finished the London League season as runner ups in Division 1. According to the London League Rules Otter has now the right to challenge the second team from the bottom of the table in London League Premier Division. And challenge them we will.
Otter will play Sutton & Cheam on Monday 14 December in a winner takes all playoff. Should Otter win that match we will be back in the top league in London in 2016. Good Luck Otter!
Otter Mens team have finished phase 1 BWPL in 6th place, narrowly missing a place in the Championship 2. Otter will now take on Championship 3 in the second half of the season, which kicks off in Liverpool on Saturday 28th of November.
You can check out all the results from Phase 1 here. And the fixtures for Phase 2 here.
Otter on the attack against Bedford. Photo: Trevor Hyde.
Otter Lutra are on track to defend their Championship 1 title for a 3rd year in a row after two wins this weekend in Walsall saw them qualify for the second phase of the competition.
Lutra, who knew they needed one win from their two games to secure their place in the Championship 1, started their first game vs English Roses Masters strongly jumping out to 3-1 lead in the first quarter. Two goals in the second quarter to Bugsy & Anna saw Lutra go into the main break winning 5-2. And from there Lutra controlled the game, adding 3 more goals in each of the remaining quarters to win 11-5.
Otter scorers: Bugsy 5, Anna 2, Linds 1, Helena 1, Gari 1, Izzy 1.
Lutra started strongly again in their second game vs Welsh Wanders. Lutra scored four goals in each of the first two quarters while holding the Welsh to one goal per term to have the 8-2 advantage at half time. The second half was a closer affair but Lutra always looked in control winning the second half 7-5, to take the match 15-7.
Otter goal scorers: Gari 3, Helena 2, Linds 2, Anna 2, Busgy 2, Heather 1, Sasha 1, Izzy 1, Emma 1.
Anna in defence.
Otter returned to La Santa in September 2015 for the annual training camp. Nearly 40 club members made the trek to sunny Lanzarote for a week’s worth of training and sunbathing in the work hard/play hard Otter tradition.
As always, plenty of other sports were on offer, with Otters excelling in pretty much everything they took up, especially on the tennis courts and the duathlon and triathlon events. With most days having a morning and afternoon session at two hours a piece, many also spent their free time sunning themselves on deck, enjoying one of La Santa’s many restaurants, or cooling off in their flat. All were pleased that Coach Steve made the trip again and provided everyone with challenging sets and plenty of useful, welcome advice.
On the Wednesday night the locals and tourists in Puerto del Carmen were treated to the Otters donning the red and white stripes of Where's Wally, ensuring that anyone’s hopes for a quiet candlelit dinner and nightcap were duly shattered.
Many Otters competing at Nationals later in the year took advantage of the week at La Santa to peak before a well deserved taper, with others carrying on with the normal training schedule on their return to the UK. Chris Sutton (aka Ginger Babies) did an unbelievable job in organising the trip and making sure that the week ran smoothly for everyone. Thanks Babies!
Congratulations to all the Otters who swam at the ASA National Masters Short Course Championships in Sheffield last weekend. There were many fantastic Otter performances with tonnes of medals, PBs, and even a few first competitive master swims. Huge thank you to our wonderful Otter coaches Steve & Aeron. Full recap of the meet to come. In the meantime all results from the meet can be seen here and a list of Otter results can be found here.
Some of the Otter Short Course team.
London Otter ’01s claimed the girls’ title after a thrilling day of action at the ASA National Age Group Water Polo Championships (U15) at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.
Otter entered two teams in the championships the older Otter ’01s & the younger Otter '02s. It was the first time either team had played in the Championships and it was another brilliant result for our Otter juniors, who now hold the 2015 U/15, U/17 titles, and were runners up in the U/19s age group.
The Otter '01s opened their 2015 campaign with an immediate display of strength, a commanding 21-1 victory over last year’s champions, City of Manchester, before posting posting emphatic wins in all remaining group games, Cheltenham (23-2), Rotherham Metro (7-2), and Tyldesley (13-2), to finish top of the Group A
The semi-final action saw London Otter ’01s overcome Welsh Wanderers 12-5.
Before coming up against City of Liverpool in the final. Liverpool jumped out to an advantage, scoring two quick-fire goals in the first three minutes of the final before London Otter ’01s responded quickly, equalising in less than a minute before scoring a further two goals to set the scores at 4-2 heading into the break. Despite strong attacks from City of Liverpool in the second half of the match, London Otter ’01s held their nerve & scored 3 more times sealing their U15 Girls Water Polo Championships 2015 title 7-3 with a final goal in the last 10 seconds from Drew Goold.
Otter '01 captain Lily Turner was named Most Valuable player of the tournament, with Barbola Toth named best Goal Keeper. “I am delighted. I couldn’t be happier for the team,” said Lily Turner. “This is the first time we have competed here so it feels great to leave as national champions. ”Our older age group won the Under 17 championships earlier this year and I think that really spurred us on as team.”
The Otter 02's also performed extremely strongly, finishing 6th overall after posting wins over City of Manchester (10-1) & Cheltenham (9-1) in the 5th-9th Place Playoff Group. A brilliant result from a very young team in their first National Championships.
U15 GIRLS WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS 2015 OVERALL MVPS:
• Highest Goal Scorer – Nia Sanders (Welsh Wanderers)
• Goal Keeper – Barbola Toth (Otter ’01s)
• Overall Most Valuable Player – Lily Turner (Otter ’01s)
Otter won two from two this weekend in Grantham. Beating Caledonia 14-9 on Saturday before running away with a 21-2 win vs Leeds on Sunday. Both games were solid team performances, with every field player netting v Leeds.
There's a familiar look to the top women's division of BWPL again this year, with Liverpool Lizards, City of Manchester, City of Coventry and Otter all lining up for the Super 5s places - with a weekend of competition still to be played. Sheffield Sharks and City of Leeds are best placed to challenge for the final slot.
The final rounds of Phase 1 will be played on November 14th & 15th in Matlock. Where Otter will face Coventry & Sheffield.
Otter scorers v Caledonia: Claudia & Izzy (3), Holly & Mhairi (2), Kate, Brooke, Peggy & Hannah (1). Otter scorers v Leeds: Lex & Holly (4), Lizi, Claudia & Izzy (2), Mhairi, Brooke, Emma, Peggy, Kathy, Hannah & Kate (1).
Holly in action, top scoring for Otters over the weekend with 6 goals over the two games.
Congratulations to Otter Hannah Patchett who has been awarded the 2015 AASE (Athlete Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) Water Polo Apprentice of the Year.
The Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence is a government-funded initiative that's been designed to help young people aged 16 to 18 combine education and sport.
It’s aimed at athletes who have the potential of achieving excellence in their sport – and want to make a career of performing at the highest level – but who also want to continue their education. We're so proud of you Hannah and all your achievements in and out of the pool.
More info on the award can be found here found here:http://www.swimming.org/ios/apprenticeships/aase/
Otter outplayed promoted West London Penguin in the opening game of the women's BWPL Division 1 season in Watford on Saturday. Otter lead from the start, winning the first quarter 3-1 before pulling away to lead 8-2 at half time, 12-2 at the end of the third quarter before winning the game 16-3. It was a solid team performance, with new Otters Claudia & Kate settling into the team quickly. It was also great to see Hannah, Izzy, Mhairi & Kathy, all who played for Lutra last year, stepping up and performaing well in their first, 1st team game.
Otter had it tougher vs Manchester on Sunday morning. Otter recovered strongly from 8-5 down in the third quarter before narrowly falling short of snatching a draw in the final minutes of the game. Leaving Manchester to take the points with a 9-8 win.
2 hours after the Manchester game, Otter were back in action against defending champions Liverpool who proved to strong for Otter on this occasion winning the physical encounter 14-10.
Otter scorers V Penguins : Lex 5, Claudia 3, Emma 2, Izzy, Mhairi, Brooke, Peggy, Kathy, Hannah.
Otter scorers v Manchester: Lex 2, Claudia 2, Emma 2, Hannah & Mhairi.
Otter scorers v Liverpool: Claudia 2, Emma 2, Kate 2, Lex, Mhairi, Brooke, Kathy.
Otter Lutra kicked off their BWPL Championship 1 title defence in Ponds Forge on the 12th & 13th of September.
Lutra started the 2015/2016 competition with a 4-4 draw vs Hucknall. Helena, Lindsey, Gari & Bugsy finding the back of the net in the low scoring first game that was dominated by solid defense from both teams.
Lutra hit their stride in the second match of the weekend rolling Manchester Coments 14-5. Helena & Lindsey top scored for Lutra with 4 goals each. Gary added 3, with Yedden, Anna & Izzy added 1 a piece.
The win & a draw see Otter sitting second on the table with 3 points behind Mid Sussex Marlins. For full results, scorecards & the standings please see check out the BWPL website.
Lutra will be back in action on Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th of October at Malborough College, where they will face Mid Sussex Marlins, Tyldesley & Liverpool Liverbirds.
