The Champagne Water Polo League pays tribute to Paris

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The Champagne Water Polo League pays tribute to Paris

It was a grey and rainy day in London which seemed to complement the sombre mood across the city.

As they prepared for a business-as-usual training session at the University of London pool in Malet Street, the thoughts of the London Orca water polo squad were clearly with friends in Paris – a city still reeling from the shock and devastation of the attacks of the previous night.

With a state of emergency declared in Paris, there would be no training for the teams of Paris Aquatique and Paris Aquahomo, but there were messages of support flooding in from the members of the Champagne Water Polo League around the world.

As they prepared for training, the London Orca squad reminisced about their visit to Paris earlier in 2015 for the annual tournament – having drinks at Le Carillon on rue Alibert, before choosing between Petit Cambodge and Maria Luisa for dinner (ultimately the decision was for pizza at Maria Luisa where the sexy waiter flirted outrageously with Ginger Luke). On a Friday night that vibrant corner of Paris would have been buzzing with young people excited to be out with their friends.

In London for training it was Ass. Coach Andrea in charge and after a quick warm up it was straight into friendly scrimmage with four even teams battling it out for glory.

The action was fast and furious. Nico Bardot seemed determined to single-handedly mount a French resistance, vigorously disputing the numerous calls that Ass. Coach Andrea made against him. Trigger Morgan took delight in sledging Hackney, who seemed to spend most of his pool-time being dunked by Secretary Ricky. However the highlight of the session was the performance of the women’s team – playing a tight defence and a driving attack that rained goals down on their opponents.

Life goes on in the Champagne Water Polo League.