Youngsters in winter trip abroad

Young waterpolo players and swimmers, under the charge of national coach Steven Kormos, were away from the island recently as part of their preparation for their commitments later on in the year.

The Exiles U-15 and U-17 waterpolo teams, headed by club official Andrew Paris and coach Kurt Dowling, travelled to Holland where they spent seven days, mixing their training programme with sightseeing and other cultural activities.

Matches in Barendrecht against local team ZPB were the main events on their itinerary. The best result was obtained by the Under-15s who managed to hold ZPB's second string to a 10-10 draw.

The national team swimmers were off to Trieste for a 12-day training camp. Their preparation comprised intensive work as required at this stage of the season. Later on Angela Galea and Kyle Scerri are due to travel to Switzerland to take part in an international meet.

Until the National Pool re-opens, the top swimmers are expected to resume their build-up at the MFA Leisure Centre. A training schedule at the Ta' Qali 25-metre heated pool has been prepared.

The impending targets for our top swimmers, including Neil Agius who is currently training in Wales under coach Dave Haller, are the qualifying times set by the Malta Olympic Committee for the Commonwealth Games in March.