Far away from the hype and excitement in Alice, the FNB Eastern Cape Inter-Varsity water polo and swimming took place in Newton Park, Port Elizabeth on Saturday 13 August.
Only a handful of students from Rhodes University and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) occupied the stands to support their respective universities.
Far away from the hype and excitement in Alice, the FNB Eastern Cape Inter-Varsity water polo and swimming took place in Newton Park, Port Elizabeth on Saturday 13 August.
Only a handful of students from Rhodes University and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) occupied the stands to support their respective universities.
The event started late and there were no officials at the swimming. Despite the disorganisation, the day started off with the ladies' water polo.
Ladies’ water polo
NMMU quickly dominated the game by scoring early in the first quarter. Rhodes scored once, but could not successfully defend their goal.
The final whistle brought an end to suffering of the women from Rhodes with a final score of one to six.
Claudia Dalla-Vecchia, captain of NMMU women's water polo team, said they had come in unprepared – but she thought the score reflected how well they did, despite not having enough team-members. “It just shows how good we could be if we had a full team,” she said.
Men’s water polo
NMMU’s men's water polo team ruled the first quarter, but Rhodes fought back after half time. At the end of the match, the teams had to be happy with a draw of four goals each.
Rhodes coach, Matthew Kleinenberg says the game was frustrating, but that the quality was better than he expected.
Derrick Sparks, captain of the NMMU men’s water polo team, says he thinks it’s a fair score and is looking forward to facing Rhodes again.
Swimming event
The swimming consisted only of freestyle and the medley relay.
Simon Pheasant, from the Rhodes swimming team, complained about the poor organisation of the water sports.
He said it was because all the other Intervarsity events were in Alice and he believed that because Fort Hare didn't compete in those events, they neglected them.
The men from Rhodes swam to victory in both relays and NMMU won the women’s freestyle relay. Rhodes did not have a women's team for the medley relay.
