Elevate U16 boys’ dominate at an international tournament, while the local girls’ team impressed against top global teams in a week of world-class competition.
Cape Town, South Africa (10 July 2025) – South Africa’s tally of gold medals just keeps on piling up. After we did a roundup of gold medals South Africans should currently be celebrating, it seems like one might have to create more space in the trophy cabinet after a team of rising South African water polo stars have made a splash in Spain. Returning home as champions of the first-ever BIWPA Summer Cup.
Representing the Elevate Water Polo programme, the under-16 boys’ team headed to Lloret de Mar, a coastal town just outside Barcelona, for a week packed with training, exhibition games and top-level international competition.
The SA boys team meant business from the get-go, kicking off their campaign with a dominant win against CN Caballa. After sweeping their pool games, they met Caballa again in the final and claimed the U16 crown in style. To add more flair to their fairytale ending, they went to defeat CN Sant Feliu, winners of the U18 division. This made their unofficial bragging rights as the top boys’ team of the tournament.
“I am very proud of the boys,” said head coach Jono Swanepoel. “Obviously, it is fantastic to win the gold medal, but it is also the way they kept their focus for the whole tour and showed that they are keen to continue to learn and improve at water polo. That kind of attitude is what we had hoped for when planning the trip.”
The U16 girls’ team also impressed, finishing fourth in a tough division that featured some of the world’s top youth clubs.
David Ripsold, co-founder of Elevate, praised the tournament’s impact.
“It is always such an awesome cultural experience to see how sport brings people from all over the world together with a shared passion for the game.”
Elevate’s Head of Performance, Duncan Woods, concluded,
“Our contribution to improving the sport in South Africa is by creating unique opportunities for South African water polo players to be positively impacted. We have lots more work to do, but after another successful trip, we are more focused than ever to help South African water polo talent to achieve to its potential.”
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Sources: Supplied
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