Generations of Waterpolo, Swimming and Diving club members reunite

Posted on: 6 June 2025 in Community

Past and present members of the University of Liverpool Swimming, Diving, and Water Polo Club joined together in May for a weekend of competition and celebration. They took part in a Waterpolo tournament which was followed by an evening of reminiscing and making new connections over dinner.

Words by reunion organiser, John Quirk (Engineering Science and Industrial Management 1977)

Well what a weekend it was!

It went fairly closely to the plan with a large group of the older Old Blues meeting for drinks at the Hope Street Hotel on the Friday evening. We met and started drinking and chatting at 6pm and carried on until… well actually I don’t know. But it was at some point on Saturday. I recall one UAU [Athletic Union] weekend in Walsall when I had to intercede to prevent a pantomime cow, containing two of the team, from being ejected from our hotel when they fell down the stairs. No stairs or cows at the Hope Street.

The early birds at the Philharmonic Pub in Liverpool

There were no casualties and we gradually re-assembled for coffee at the Philharmonic on Saturday at lunchtime. The pool was not available until late this year due to swimming lessons taking place so the tournament didn’t start until 3:15pm but it was well attended. There were four teams of men, two of women and one hybrid team. Time has taken it’s toll and the all conquering team from the mid 70s was no longer the force it once was. This is despite it containing a full set of UAU winners and two World Champions. Stef Radwanski and Duncan Broyd, just two of the members who travelled thousands of miles to attend the reunion, won the World Masters in 2006 in the over 50s category while playing for the Brisbane Sharks. Pete Lang, another OB who couldn’t attend this year, was also in that team.

Stef Radwanski, ex GB keeper, beaten by a ‘nipper’

The team from the mid 80s proved to be the strongest and the Old Blue women gave an excellent performance although they relied heavily on cheating: allowed as some of them were in their 70s!

The Oldest Blues line up at the start, still smiling at that point

The polo was organised and officiated by the current students, led by Club President, Akos Balog.

The core of the 80s team: unacceptable levels of smirking and smugness

The University of Liverpool was the birthplace of women's polo in the north of England with Helen Rowson organising an annual tournament from 1976 onwards.

The women's team ready to start

We lost Helen, we think to COVID, in 2021 and she would have been so pleased to see how much the sport she loved has grown in the ensuing years. It’s now a major activity with a National League.

After the polo, the Old Blues paid a flying visit to the The Cambo [The Cambridge], the pub where many of the teams went for post match and post training reflection and analysis of events. It has changed a little over the years but still retained it’s bohemian charm.

Two of the best known Old Blues in The Cambo. If the youngsters didn’t know who they were on Saturday morning, they did by Saturday night (Sunday morning).

The highlight of the weekend was, as always, the formal dinner with speeches, reports and presentations. This year, we returned to the Holiday Inn and 101 of us sat down together with ten tables containing mixes of old and young at each table. It was a wonderful evening. Stuart Wade, of the AU, gave a speech in which he recalled the successes of the club and spoke of it’s history and how it was a place where life long friendships were made: the assembled throng being testament to this.

Akos was the master of ceremonies and sequentially invited the captains of the teams to give their annual reports. Yet again, the club had been successful on both the women's and men's front. Awards were given out to members who had made great contributions to the club.

Each year the students vote for a recipient of the Adam Hughes (excellence in waterpolo) Memorial Award: for the person who best embodies waterpolo.

It was won this year by Alex Johns who also won the Club MVP award.

This year, the current students inaugurated the Helen Rowson Award in her memory: it is to be awarded annually for the most significant contribution to the club. This year the award was given to, Club Vice President, Erin Moran. Apart from all her other work, Erin made a huge contribution to the organisation of the reunion this year.

Alex and Erin with their awards

After the formalities, there was a session of photo taking with groupings of various sorts getting together to save memories of the weekend with old friends and new.

Table 6 (featured picture), winner of the loudest group award

The night was not over! A large number of us thronged to Seel Street to St Peters Tavern where festivities continued. Notice any commonality between the Loudest table and revellers?

There are stories about, which I am able to confirm, that some members went even further and crossed the road to the Irish Bar where they remained, singing and dancing until after 6am. I, of course, was not amongst them and was available for the Sunday activities: only five of us made it to the Pier Head for the ferry boat ride at 11am.

We skipped the planned lunch at the Titanic, when we discovered that it was quite a hike away, and settled for a coffee which we followed by an open top bus tour. This was better than expected and even I, a genuine Scouser, learned some interesting facts about my city.

Overall it was an extremely successful weekend and I cannot finish without passing on my thanks to Erin and Akos for pulling things together.

Group photo