The Final Weekend featured the league’s top five teams competing in a series of matches to decide the final standings. Manchester displayed consistent performances throughout, combining strong defense with effective attacking play to take charge of the competition.
During the weekend, Manchester remained calm in crucial moments. They managed their games well and limited the chances of their opponents. Their ability to stay organized defensively while taking advantage of scoring opportunities was key in setting them apart from the other teams. London Penguin and Welsh Wanderers put in strong efforts throughout the competition. London Penguin, in particular, ended their season on a high note with a dramatic win over Welsh Wanderers. After a shaky start in the first two quarters, Penguin picked up their game late and scored the winning goal in the final seconds. Their last match against Cheltenham was also eventful, with players from both teams receiving red cards in a heated clash. Despite this, London Penguin found their groove as the game went on and ultimately secured a comfortable win. Manchester’s victory reflected a strong and well-run season. The team delivered when it counted most throughout the entire season. Their performances at the Final Weekend confirmed their status as the leading side in the men’s competition as they lifted the trophy and concluded a campaign where they proved themselves the best team in the league. report: Ryan Donnelly Sheffield Sharks lifted the Championship 1 trophy at East Manchester on 15 March after overcoming Hucknall in the last game of the season. Sheffield trailed for the first half of the match before taking a narrow lead in P3, thanks to four goals from Kathy Rogers, and stretched to a comfortable victory at the final whistle.
Penguin Emperors will join them in Division 1 next season after defeating promotion rivals Worthing in their head-to-head fixture. Worthing clinched top spot at Haberdashers yesterday (8th March) with a clean sweep of victories in Men's Championship 1. They will be joined in Division 1 next season by Caledonia and Exeter, with the latter surviving a scare in the closing moments of their match against Hucknall. The Midlanders called a timeout with 24 seconds left on the game clock and a one-goal deficit, but were unable to score and take the match to a penalty shoot-out that would have dropped Exeter to 4th place. Instead it was Sutton & Cheam who narrowly missed the final promotion spot after tie-breaker rules were applied.
City of Bristol are winners of Men's Championship 2, one point ahead of Sheffield after winning their penalty shoot-out earlier in phase 2. Southampton took the third promotion place into Division 2 next season. Otter Women are due to compete in the European Aquatics Challenger Cup on the same weekend as the Super 5s Grand Finale, 21-22 March. Their last two Super 5s fixtures against Manchester and Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth will now be played at East Manchester on Saturday 14th March, see Fxtures page.
The Men's Championship 1 fixture Watford v Sutton & Cheam has been deferred from Saturday 24th January at Bolton. It will be played on Saturday 7th March at Haberdashers as part of a revised schedule that day, see the Fixtures page.
Please see the below update from the BWPL Committee regarding Swim England, Swim Wales and Scottish Swimming insurance. If any further information or clarification about insurance is required, please contact the appropriate governing body.
"The British Water Polo League was recently informed by Swim England that the insurance position of a club member who resided outside the United Kingdom was that they were not covered for either personal injury or public liability insurance. As such we prevented these players playing in the league. Following further work by Swim England with their insurers we now understand that the insurance policy does indeed cover members who reside outside the United Kingdom for public liability. They are however NOT covered for any personal injury. The League's current position (as at 22nd December 2025) is that players who reside abroad and who are members of a Swim England, Scottish Swimming or Swim Wales club are now insured for public liability and so are now able to participate in BWPL, providing they hold Club Compete (or equivalent) category membership and are properly registered with BWPL. Personal injury insurance is a matter for the individual and not for BWPL or the national governing bodies." BWPL has announced that Flying Subs will be introduced for Super 5s this season according to World Aquatics Rule 2.6. We will review all venues for next season with the intention of introducing Flying Subs across all divisions.
Other changes announced for next season include a new Super 5s structure with one game per day, and full compliance with World Aquatics rules for hat numbers. Teams will have to use hat numbers 1 & 13 exclusively for goalkeepers, with outfield players wearing hats 2-12 and 14. BWPL is working with the Swim England Safeguarding & Welfare team to help create as safe an environment as possible for all participants, be they senior or junior, coach, team manager or official. We will be consulting with Swim England on future relevant updates to Wavepower (Swim England’s safeguarding policy), and in the meantime, and with Swim England’s support, we are writing to all involved in BWPL as follows.
While providing the best possible environment for our best players it remains key for everyone involved to contribute to the safety of others and we would ask all concerned with the League to look at Swim England’s Wavepower: https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/wavepower-updated-version/ Can everyone please make sure they read and understand the sections relating to “junior” players participating in “senior” competitions and therefore against senior players. As many as one in four competing in our Women’s competitions and one in eight in our Men’s competitions are currently under eighteen years of age. Wavepower pages 105-106 deal with the matter specifically, but of relevance to the League is the section on competitions: Games and competitions (Wavepower page 106) "The coach has a duty of care to take all factors into account when selecting a team, including, but not exclusively, the age, gender, physical capability and skills of all players in the team and of the opposition’s team." |
Archives
July 2026
|
|
|
|
RSS Feed