By Siya Cele.
Caption: Kiera Crawley, centre defender of the Elevate Water Polo U16 girls team taking a shot at goal during the BIWPA Summer Cup, hosted by the world-renowned Barcelona International Water Polo Academy in Barcelona Spain.
Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa: 9 July 2025 – A team of budding young South African water polo players returned to the country last week after dominating an under-16 tournament in Spain.
The group, who were part of the Elevate Water Polo programme, travelled to the Spanish town of Lloret de Mar to compete in the BIWPA Summer Cup, hosted by the world-renowned Barcelona International Water Polo Academy and attracting teams from across the globe.
This trip, which included a week of training and practice games against teams from Spain and the USA, was part of a greater initiative to develop young talent with the aim of bridging the widening gap that has emerged between South Africa and the top teams in the world.
Clearly the preparation time paid off as the Elevate boys’ side claimed an emphatic win in their first match against CN Caballa. The team then won all their remaining pool games and went on to meet CN Caballa again in the final, where Elevate sealed the accolade of being champions of the under-16 boys’ section of the first-ever BIWPA Summer Cup.
They added to that gold medal by then beating CN Sant Feliu (the under-18 section winners), and in doing so cementing their place as the top boys’ team at the tournament.
Head coach of the Elevate under-16 boys, Jono Swanepoel, said afterwards: “I am very proud of the boys. 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.”
Elevate’s under-16 girls team also put in a promising performance, finishing fourth in their section against some of the world’s strongest club sides.
Apart from the experience gained in the pool, the young South Africans also experienced some of the tourist attractions in the area and enjoyed a special guided visit to one of the best water polo clubs in the world, CN Barceloneta, home to five-time Olympian and 2022 world champion Felipe Perrone.
Co-founder of Elevate, David Ripsold, expressed his gratitude for being part of the tournament. “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,” he said. “We are blessed to have a supportive and trusting partnership with BIWPA and we have them to thank for the invitation to their first BIWPA Summer Cup.”
Elevate’s Head of Performance, Duncan Woods, added: “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.”