5th season of the BIWPAcademy is underway

Season 19/20 kicked off with 18 athletes, half of them from abroad.

A new season has started at the BIWPAcademy with a group of student-athletes ready to perform to their full potential. The core service of Barcelona International Water Polo Academy (BIWPA), running from September to June, has started its fifth season with plenty of new features and a new agreement with Club Natació Sant Feliu, a Barcelona-based club team where all international athletes are playing and competing.

The Academy is formed by a group of 9 Spanish athletes playing in different local club teams mixed with a group of 9 athletes from abroad: 7 from the US, one from Mexico, and one from Romania. The coaching staff, led by our Sports Director Quim Colet, is made up of the usual coaches Ferran Pascual and Yuri Colet, and a new addition, Fran Torres.

Three of the athletes, all from the US, are doing the gap year program, aimed at players older than 18 looking for training and competition opportunities abroad. In the next months, other international athletes will join the Academy for a short program or the second semester, which will start in January.

Services

Three new services that were added last season to the program have been extended to this season. The Academy athletes have a physical therapist coming over every Monday, as well as nutrition counseling and a mental coach.

Additionally, the coaches hold Watlicam sessions with small group of athletes once a week to focus on the individual technique and give personalized feedback to every player.

Ambassadors

The Olympians Anni Espar and Adrià Delgado will be the two BIWPA brand ambassadors for season 19/20. The Spain's national team player Espar will commit for third year in a row to the brand, while Delgado, one of the most decisive players of the Spanish league, has agreed to represent BIWPA's values.

Additionally, the Academy will keep the masterclasses as a key part of the sports program. So far, Anni Espar and Felipe Perrone have joined a practice with our athletes.

CN Sant Feliu

This season the BIWPAcademy announced a partnership with CN Sant Feliu. All the international athletes train in the evening and compete in the local league with Sant Feliu, so it is easier for the BIWPA coaches to keep track of the international athletes' progression.