After their win against France on Thursday the British Gas Women’s Water Polo team continued their excellent form as they took on the French side for a second and third time.
Playing at the Manchester Aquatics Centre the team started Friday’s match with enthusiasm, and goals from Alex Rutlidge, Angie Winstanley-Smith, Fran Clayton and Ros Griffiths saw the side edge 4-3 ahead after the first quarter.
The French team scored very few goals in open play but managed to convert their ‘man-up’ situations allowing them to level the score to 6-6 by the half time whistle.
The British Gas team stepped up their game for the second half and a number of goals from different players showed the depth and strength in the squad. The match ended 14-9 in favour of the British side.
On Saturday, the team put on another tough contest for the French. Playing a different kind of defence they managed to claim a 12-5 victory.
Joanna Wray, World Class Programmes Manager, said: “We played well. The results showed a good quality in the squad with both the older juniors and seniors playing together. Each day the team beat France by a bigger margin showing their confidence. “
Slyvezster Fekete, Head Coach, was pleased with the team’s performance over the past couple of weeks: “The team has had a good start to the season with the Russian competition and these three games against France, we now have lots of optimism moving forward. We’ve started playing at a good level, much better than last year, and we can only get better.”
The team will now continue with their preparations for the LEN European ‘A’ qualification tournament at the High Performance Centre in Manchester.
-ENDS-
For further details contact Lauren Sanderson, British Swimming Media Assistant, on 01509 632236 or email lauren.sanderson@swimming.org.
About British Swimming
British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain. It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (ASA), Scotland (Scottish ASA) and Wales. (Welsh ASA) British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
About British Gas
British Gas is Britain's favourite domestic energy supplier. As well as providing gas and electricity, it also installs and maintains central heating and gas appliances in millions of homes throughout the country. British Gas is very proud to be the principal partner of British Swimming and home countries: The ASA, Scottish Swimming and Swim Wales. British Gas is supporting the team's quest for medals on the world and Olympic stage - and giving as many people as possible the opportunity to learn to swim and use swimming as part of a healthy lifestyle. British Gas wants to ensure local pools remain at the heart of our communities. By using its expertise, it can help them reduce costs by being more energy efficient and safeguard the facilities for this and future generations. For more information visit www.britishgas.co.uk/swimming
About Speedo®
The world’s leading swimwear brand, Speedo® is passionate about life in and around the water, creating revolutionary new technologies, designs and innovations. Supporting swimming from grass-roots through to elite level, including the phenomenal Michael Phelps, Speedo® is owned by Speedo Holdings B.V and distributed in over 170 countries around the world; SPEEDO, the ARROW device, FASTSKIN, LZR PULSE, SPEEDO ENDURANCE, FLIPTURNS, FASTSKINFSII, SPEEDO BIOFUSE, SWYM and LZR RACER are registered trademarks of Speedo Holdings B.V. The LZR RACER suit has worldwide design rights and patents pending.
