British water polo struggling to stay afloat

In more than a decade since the London 2012 Olympics, British water polo is fighting for survival.

After briefly emerging into the national spotlight, the sport has now fallen sharply off the pecking order.

Since the Games, all elite-level funding from UK Sport has dried up from the men’s and women’s national teams, resulting in Britain lacking the financial base to compete internationally.

The effects are grim: no Olympic appearances since 2012, fewer development paths and a sport that is becoming more and more reliant on volunteers and self-financed athletes.

The problems on the club level are equally glaring.

It allows teams like the London Penguins to train well into the night at the London Aquatics Centre and other world-class venues, but with almost no financial backing.

Players hold full-time jobs, travel long journies and pay for their own expenses but remain engaged.

Passion keeps people in the pool, but passion cannot recreate the professional culture throughout Europe where investment in youth development and coaching is the backbone of thriving water polo systems.

Players and coaches across the UK report frustration in many ways: the talent is there but the infrastructure is not.

Britain continues to lose young athletes, who, with adequate support, can take steps forward to the international stage.

Minimal media coverage limits avenues for public engagement and sponsorships.

“I do feel that we do need some support from the city, from the councils, to help us grow; to support different, special categories of youth in terms of joining, being involved in sport and, ultimately, increasing funding of senior teams and the sport itself,” Adrian Carrieri said.

But within that context the spirit of the sport is just so powerful.

Other athletes, such as Adrian, grassroots clubs and passionate volunteers around the country are still driving water polo forward.

British water polo might be in crisis, but it certainly is not over. It could once again regain its place in the national sporting landscape, provided it had renewed recognition.