West London Penguin complete U15 double after winning gold again in Coventry

West London Penguin returned to the top as they were crowned champions at the GoCardless Swim England Water Polo U15 Open National Age Group Championships 2024.

They completed the double in the U15 championships, having claimed gold in the female competition only two weeks ago.

After winning the open competition back in 2022, Penguin finished outside the medal places at last year’s event, but secured an impressive return to the podium two years on.

They were able to overcome Croydon Amphibians in the gold medal match following a strong performance which saw them earn an 11-6 victory.

Croydon were first on the scoresheet through Max Barrasa Gordon, but Penguin quickly turned things around to lead after the first quarter courtesy of a goal from Zain Garnie and a Nikolaos Karagiannis hat-trick.

A good move from Croydon saw Otto Taucher convert from close range, making it 4-2 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was one of tough defence as the deficit reduced to just one – both Zachary Uwins-Garesse and Joe Beckett-Aller pulled goals back for Croydon and Ioannis Karagiannis grabbed the only goal for his side.

But it was Nikolaos Karagiannis who made the difference in the second half – adding another four goals to his tally and taking his total up to seven for the match.

His efforts helped his team to gold and also saw him collect the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for his performances, not only in the gold medal match, but throughout the competition.

Goals from Barrasa Gordon and Ioannis Karagiannis for their respective sides meant the scoreline stood at 10-5 ahead of the final quarter.

Dominic O’Neill Cuadros, who was another of the standout performers in the West London team throughout the championships, added his name to the list of scorers while Croydon’s Jonathan Fraser took his side’s total up to six to round out the match.

The remaining individual accolades were collected by City of Manchester as their number two, Andrew Stephenson, won the top goalscorer award after netting a total of 24 goals across the weekend and his teammate, Logan Mathewson, was awarded the top goalkeeper award.

On winning gold, Penguin coach Rumen Kurtev said: “I feel very excited because fortunately for me that was my second title; two weeks ago, I won the same championship with my under-15 girls’ team.

“I am really proud of my side for how they played, they have worked really hard and they deserved their place in the final.

“In the final they showed strong teamwork and looked for each other in the water, they followed my instructions and everything has turned out really good for everyone. I’m very happy with that.”

Paying tribute to the beaten finalists, Croydon Amphibians, Ruben added: “They were strong opposition, they had really good quality players.

“At the end of the game, we dominated a bit, but the first and second quarters, it was close because they were at a good level.

“I am happy with the outcome and I am very proud of my boys. Hard work pays off.”

Caledonia see off Sandwell for bronze

Caledonia and Sandwell went head-to-head in the bronze medal match as the sides bid to secure the final medal position.

It was a competitive first half – the team from Scotland opened up a slender lead in the opening quarter and four goals apiece in the second saw the scoreline stand at 7-5 at the halfway mark.

The goals began to flow for Caledonia in the second half as they gradually moved out of reach of their opponents.

Despite some fantastic long range goals from Charlie Smart and Ethan Graves, as well as a neat chip from Smart, Sandwell were outscored as Caledonia scored 15 second half goals.

Five of those were scored by John Wilson in the final quarter alone, with Charlie Grey also grabbing a hat-trick in the third quarter.

The match finished 22-11 in favour of Caledonia as they got their hands on the bronze medal, with Sandwell finishing in fourth place overall.

All of the scores from the second day of action can be found here and the final rankings are below.

All event photography, courtesy of Will Johnston Photography, can be found here.

Final Rankings