AN outstanding year for Warrington Swimming and Water Polo Club has been capped by selection of seven of their players in the National Water Polo Academy.

After a successful season in local leagues, including winning five trophies in the under 16s age group, all seven chosen by the North West Region selectors to attend trials have made it through to the Academy.

Luke Atkinson, Ben Dailey, Conor Lynch, Dominic Richard, Dan Farini, Brett Takemoto and Katie Bowater join a squad of 60 players who will regularly train together in a bid to take the next step towards international honours.

Further recent representative achievements saw Marcus Woods and Louis Stowell compete for the North West in the Under 14s Inter Regional Championship in Walsall.

Woods played for the North West Tigers team that won the competition, while Stowell featured for eighth-placed North West Ravens.

There has been much to celebrate.

The club’s swim teams have been promoted to Division Two of the Merseyside and District League, while the under 14s swim side won the Cheshire Trophy.

On the water polo side, the senior men’s team were crowned champions of the Liverpool and District Grade One Tournament, and at the same event the under 16s won the Liverpool District and Cheshire trophies.

The under 16s had already won the Bolton and District League and knockout competitions earlier in the year, going undefeated all season.

They are also currently top of the Manchester and District League.

Over the past year, the club picked up more than 70 trophies which were presented to the teams at their annual presentation event at Padgate Community Centre.

LiveWire are hoping to display the trophies at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub, where the teams train.

Club spokesman Neil Musgrove said: “While it is great to see so much success, we are still looking for children in the 10 to 12 and 13 to 14 age ranges who would like to try their hand at this great team game and join our water polo squads so we can build on these achievements.”