2013 Canoe Polo European
Championships – Poznan, Poland
22 – 25 August 2013
Day minus 1 – 21 August 2013.
Hello to all supporters of Canoe Polo, wherever you may be. Yes, the Old Bloggers are back, and ready
to report (with maybe a little bias) on the European Canoe Polo Championships 2013. And to help us all,
the organisers have arranged for the Tournament to be held at Lake Malta in Poznan, which hosted last
year’s World Championships. So we all knew where to go, where to eat, and, most importantly, how
long it takes to walk to the venue (I bet you thought I was going to say “where to drink”).
So, with pencils sharpened, and quills stolen from the local ducks, it time to get writing……
First, a little about Poznan:
The flagship of the City of Poznan is the Malta Regatta Course, considered one of the best and the
prettiest in the World. Malta Lake is an artificial reservoir which was created in 1952 with the damming
of the Cybina River.
Malta (this area of Poznan, not that hot island in the Med) owes its name to the former owners of the
land, The Knights Hospitallers, who arrived here at the end of the twelfth century.
The Hospitallers probably arose as a group of individuals associated with an Amalfitan hospital in
the Muristan district of Jerusalem, which was dedicated to St John the Baptist and founded around 1023
by Blessed Gerard Thom to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land. (Some
scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and Amalfitan hospital were different from
Gerard's order and its hospital.) After the Western Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during
the First Crusade, the organisation became a religious and military order under its own Papal charter,
and it was charged with the care and defence of the Holy Land. Following the conquest of the Holy Land
by Islamic forces, the Order operated from Rhodes, over which it was sovereign, and later from Malta
where it administered a vassal state under the Spanish viceroy of Sicily.
And a little about the tournament:
It is understood that there are 47 teams taking part this year, representing the following countries:
France; Ireland; Denmark; Finland; Lithuania; Germany; Switzerland; Poland; Hungary; Great Britain;
Spain; Sweden; Russia; Netherlands; Italy; Portugal; Belgium and the Czech Republic.
Of these, 8 countries are in the Euro zone. So, todays quiz is (without looking it up) what are the
currencies of the nations involved in the European Championships today (and better, what were they
before the introduction of the Euro)?
The tournament is arranged over 4 days, running from Thursday 22 August through to the finals day on
Sunday 25th. The tournament will not be as manic as the World’s last year (then there were 66 teams
attending), but we can expect the matches to be just as tense, and there will be some very exciting
games over the next few days.
And so to the Great Britain Squad:
Leading up to this tournament, there have, as usual, been a number of selection events, and training
weekends, where the Squad have been forged. In addition to this, the Women have had to also contend
with the World Games, which were held in Cali, Colombia at the end of July / beginning of August.
So let’s start there, with massive congratulations to the Women for winning the silver medal at the
World Games, losing out to the powerful German women team. Despite not winning the Gold, the
women can be very proud of their achievement in this competition, but it seems that the German
Women will have some dominance in the sport for a while yet.
I think there will be a separate report on the World Games, but with only two weeks between
tournaments, the focus has been elsewhere.
The Women squad for the World Games however was: Ginny Coyles; Chas Cheung; Charlotte Lister;
Aimee Robson; Claire Mitchell; Pru Blyth; Kathryn Moffitt and coach Paul Brain.
Well done Girls!!!!
In the last few weeks, Stuart Moffitt has stepped in to coach the Mens Squad. This has helped
enormously, and has taken a lot of weight off Alan Vessey’s shoulders. Alan was struggling to coach
both the Men and the U21 Men’s teams.
The appointment of Stuart has given the Men some direction, and they have won their last two
tournaments (Veurne and De Paddel), and got a good third place at Mechelen. Let’s hope this run
continues into this competition!
And now for the U21 Men, who are gaining also from the coaching situation, and getting positive
attention from their coach for this year, Alan Vessey. At Veurne and De Paddel, the lads have been
entered in the senior leagues (same as the men) and achieved good results, finishing in the top half and
gaining huge experience along the way. Of last year’s silver medal team (in the World’s) , several players
have aged out, so this team has a core form last year of four players, with four more added. So, a whole
new learning curve! However, we believe that the lads will do well in this competition.
Unfortunately, the U21 Women team are not attending this tournament, so we will not be able to
report on their progress this year.
So, the Squads for the Europeans are:
Women:
Pru Blyth; Kathryn Moffitt; Claire Mitchell; Aimee Robson; Zoe Anthony; Louise Saxton; Ginny Coyles,
Chas Cheung and coach Paul Brain.
Men:
Ed Feltham; Olly Thomson; Will Borrett; Junior Longley; Ross and Gallin Montgomery; Jack and Dan
Robson, and coach Stuart Moffitt.
U21 Men:
Jamie Thomson; Ross Montgomery; Pete Neal; Lewis McVey; Tom Leigh; Graham Webster; Kartik and
Suryan McCutcheon, and coach Alan Vessey.
Today (Wednesday) there has been scrutineering (all kit passed, despite the best efforts of some), plus
some training, a lot of eating and larking about. The competition starts tomorrow, so let’s hope all have
their right heads on for that!
The opening ceremony was conducted by the President of the Polish Canoe Federation, together with
the Mayor of Poznan. The tournament was officially opened by the President of the European Canoe
Association, Albert Woods.
Following this, we were given a performance of 60’s Beatles hits, performed by the Polish equivalent of
the Bootleg Beatles. Stuart Moffitt, a renowned Fab 4 fan and one time mop-top, was seen singing and
jigging in the stands. Hopefully, that’s the last time we’ll see that. If a photo turns up, you’ll get it!
We will, as usual, bring you the news from Poznan, hopefully at the end of each day, and let’s hope it’s
good news!
Keep checking the website!
The Bloggers
PS – has anyone seen that damned duck!!!!