Team of the year and league prizes for uni students

It's been a campaign to remember for the Uni's water polo sides.

The men, led by captain Arik Clausner, recently rounded up their season winning 11 out of 12 league games placing them at the top of the Scottish 1A League.

The women were crowned Team of the Year at the recent University of St Andrews AU awards.

Led by captain Hallie Wilkins, they made history this year with their season after winning the BUCS (British Universities) trophy final against Bath.

This was the first time women’s waterpolo has ever won the BUCS trophy.

They were also champions of their BUCS League with an undefeated season, winning all 12 league matches.

Two years ago they could barely get a team together with only seven members and now they have a full team, won the league undefeated and won the BUCS trophy.

The successes of both the men’s and women’s team is partly down to the many hours of training completed every week.

Due to the university’s lack of a pool, they use St Leonard’s school pool and travel to Dundee twice a week.

This results in nine sessions a week including two early mornings at 6.30 a.m. and two strength and conditioning sessions in the gym.

The water polo teams would not have been able to achieve any of this without the help of coach Ian MacCallum whose dedication and enthusiasm push every player to train and perform at the highest level.

Ian has an extensive international career in water polo, playing for Scotland and Great Britain, and is currently the head coach of the GB Junior Women’s Team.

As both the women’s and men’s seasons draw to a close, the Saints Water Polo squad is looking forward to celebrating a very successful season and kicking it off early again next fall with a pre-season trip to Eger, Hungary.

They are also offering a community outreach program of water polo for 8 – 10 year olds on a Wednesday evening once they return in September.

For details a contact Katy at [email protected]