Rise and fall of water polo

When local league competition moved to the St Mary’s College Pool in 1965, it was felt that spectator support would be enhanced at the new venue. With two CIC Water Polo squads, coached by Mervyn Marquez, entering the fray, the game, on the decline after the 1962 CAC Games, was given a temporary boost until about 1970 when for the first and again only time a National Under-19 team participated in the Junior CAC Games in Cuba.

It is noteworthy that in nearly all the regional water polo series between Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica, a Colts (Junior) Team was featured in an attempt to encourage the young swimmers to participate.

In fact between 1965-1970 St Mary’s produced some very promising young players, seven of whom represented Trinidad in Cuba with Richard Marquez as captain.

During these latter years, apart from seasoned campaigners like Tiger Sharks, Topless were added teams for UWI, Coast Guard, Carenage, CIC “A” and “B”.

After 1970, with a new set of rules introduced by FINA, the sport went into a decline with a lack of proper organisation and falling standards of play – and refereeing.

Also, the shallow end of the St Mary’s Pool did little to enhance the game, which eventually went into the doldrums.

Apart from a partly successful revival in 1988-89 with six teams competing and a sponsorship by Neal and Massy through “Gordon Borde”, water polo has regretfully never recovered fully.

The ASA must take some responsibility for doing something about this. A revival is now in progress at the Marlins Pool.

WATER POLO PLAYERS – HONOUR ROLL

Lloyd “Reds” Agard, Terry Samuel, Johnny Gatcliffe, Dave Barcant, Harold Mahon, Mervyn Marquez, Carlton Gill, John Reynos, Cecil Cipriani, Rex Exstein, Malcolm Browne, Herbert Dash, Harold Maloney, Dr Eddison Sinanan, Frankie Davis, Carl Chan, John “Tex” Teixeira, Harry Smith, John Humphrey, David Daniel, Aldwyn Ayow, Joe and Phillip Hadeed, Victor Jardine, Winston Questel, Michael Rostant, Leon Taylor, Glen Wilkes, Ken Sturge, Richard Galt, David ‘Peanuts’ De Verteuil, Gordon Borde.

Participants with the longest active history:-

Water Polo

Dave Barcant – 1949-1970; Lloyd “Reds” Agard – 1951-1972; Mervyn Marquez – 1950-1988; Phillip Hadeed – 1955-1988; John Gatcliffe – 1949-1965; Herbert Dash – 1951-1988; Carl Chan – 1950-1960

Swimming

Carl Chan – 1930-1960 (dec’d); Mervyn Marquez – 1940-present; Lloyd Agard – 1952-1982; Herbert Dash – 1952-present; Joey Kaufmann – 1957-1998 (dec’d); Gordon Borde – 1961- present; Geoffrey Ferreira – 1965-present; Peter de la Rosa – 1963-present; Richard Knaggs – 1968-present’; John Littlepage – 1965-present; Glen Wilkes – 1968-present.

DIVING

This section of aquatics, for which the ASA as the national controlling body, has regretfully been neglected completely in the last 30 years mainly because of the lack of facilities and expertise but some attempts were made to promote the sport in the fifties and sixties.

Prior to this, diving exhibitions/competitions were put on at regattas in the South with Pershing Spooner being considered the best high diver in Trinidad at that time. One remembers too the inimitable Carl Chan giving acrobatic diving displays at the pool of the Staubles Bay Club (now the Coast Guard Headquarters). Carl and Malcolm Brown who represented both Barbados and Trinidad alternatively in water polo and swimming, did give an exhibition at the Barbados Aquatic Club during the inaugural (1956) West Indies Aquatic Championships along with Rex Stollmeyer, who was undoubtedly Trinidad’s finest diver at the time and who had accompanied our water polo squad on that occasion.

Diving displays were put on, on a few occasions at the St Mary’s Pool, which at that time had two diving boards – (one was one metre and one three metres) of Olympic Standard (1965-1970). Unfortunately these were removed later when the pool was completely renovated. The Abbey School Pool also provided some limited diving competition during their swim meets, with Randal “Swami” Galt being top contender.

The late sixties and early seventies provided a few rare occasions to generate renewed interest in this sport with the visit of three top international diving champions. US Olympic diving champion “Jim Gorman” gave a scintillating public display of his skills at the Trinidad Hilton pool but because of poor facilities the benefits of this visit were limited in scope.

Trinidad was also graced by a visit from Canada’s Ladies Diving Champion and Olympic Silver Medal winner Sheila Wood, a statuesque and charming personality, who managed limited displays and clinics at the Trinidad Country Club and St Mary’s Pool.

Also a visit by Polish and European Diving Champion, Kurt Mackieuyca and his Olympic coach, went a-begging with only a limited display of his skills and his coach’s sharing of his obvious wealth of knowledge of this sport.

Again, interest locally soon waned and (like water polo) has not been revived.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

`Hereunder is a list of some of those who made long and/or significant contributions to the Water Polo and Swimming Association between 1950-1970, the two decades covered by this review: Harold Mahon, Bill Goodfellow, Mervyn Marquez, Dave Barcant, Johnny Gatcliffe, Comdr Chas Hayward, Carl Chan, Cecil Cipriani, John Pocock, Leo Davidson, Victor Jardine, Phillip Hadeed, Dr Eddison Sinanan, Fr Gerry Pantin, David de la Rosa, Tommy Gatcliffe, Joey Kaufmann, Lloyds “Reds” Agard, Peter Samuel (Snr), Adrian Perreira, Bro Rupert Alexis, Ignacio Garcia, Georgie Rodriguez, Dr “Bully” Littlepage, Juan Reece, Elcon Trim, Mickey Beddoe, Jean Cipriani, Patsy Fahey, Grace Perreira, Rhona Gatcliffe, Eva Gatcliffe.

Also to Gordon Punch and Eustace Ward – former Sports Editor of the Trinidad Guardian for their long support of the sport (and its columnist “Neptune”).

Peter Stoute, Carl Chan, Winston Questel, Cmdr Chas Hayward, Harry Smith, Aldwyn Ayow, Rita Sellier, David de la Rosa, Elcon Trim, Adrian Perreira, Gervais Rostant, Joey Kaufmann, Peter Samuel (Snr), John Reynos, Harold Maloney, Dave Barcant.