Water polo. Arkonia's toughest season

The water polo players of Szczecin's Arkonia Waterpolo, although they were unable to use the Floating Arena, which was undergoing renovations, fought for a place on the podium until the last round of the Ekstraklasa, ultimately finishing the competition in 5th place, and won a bronze medal in the Polish Cup, while the youth team of the Szczecin club also achieved many successes.

This was Arkonia Waterpolo's most challenging season in years, as the players had to cope without their own pool for six months, with emergency training, and an away season in which they played literally "everywhere but Szczecin." But it was also a season in which they showed character, built a new identity, and won more than points and medals.

As a reminder, the Ekstraklasa seniors were just two points shy of the medal zone, ultimately finishing 5th and 3rd in the Polish Cup final. Another positive is the debut of numerous junior players and the spectacular transfers from Lithuania and Serbia. We're also pleased with the long-awaited return to the Floating Arena and the victories in front of an increasingly large home crowd.

The U13s won silver at the Polish Championships, losing the gold medal by a mere goal difference. They also won silver at the Jerzy Szwarc Memorial and gold at the Warsaw Cup. The U15s won silver at the 31st National Youth Olympics, gold at the Jerzy Szwarc Memorial, and silver at the Warsaw Cup. The U17s finished 5th in the Polish Championships, a performance similar to that of their older club counterparts from the Ekstraklasa. This generation of Szczecin teenagers is already knocking on the door of the senior team, and they're doing so increasingly loudly.

"It was good, although it could have been better," says club president and first-team coach Andrzej Zabdyr. "In my opinion, the seniors didn't live up to expectations, but our youth players performed better. The juniors performed very well, as did the younger juniors, and if it weren't for one match that didn't go well, it could have been even better. It was a season of unfinished success, but also a solid foundation for something greater. There's a bit of dissatisfaction in my heart, but also medals and immense pride! For last season, we thank our loyal fans who returned to the stands, the city of Szczecin for their unwavering support of the sport, Democo, our sponsor during this challenging season, and everyone who supported us. Initially, our top-league team included two Lithuanians, whom we were pleased with, but when the competition started in their country, they decided to play at home, and in water polo, you can't combine games in two leagues, so we had to part ways. In their place, we signed two Serbs." We're currently conducting preliminary transfer talks ahead of the new season, but there's a big unknown, as the technical committee of the Autonomous Water Polo Committee at the Polish Swimming Federation intends to reduce the number of foreign players in the Ekstraklasa from two to one, and we're waiting for a resolution on this matter. We still have some time, as training doesn't resume until early September, and the Ekstraklasa starts in mid-October.

(mij)