We won't blame funding for 2012 failure, insists British water polo captain

By James Toney, Sportsbeat

LATE night and an early morning? Tough session in the gym before work? Stop moaning and spare a thought for Rosalind Griffiths.

LOOKING FORWARD: Despite a funding setback, British water polo captain Rosalind Griffiths is refusing to be deflected from her London 2012 ambition (GBswimstars.com)

She gets up just after five and cycles to the pool, where she then trains for three hours.

A quick shower and change and she's back on the bike, arriving at her Manchester Grammar School day job just in time for assembly and double French.

When the final bell rings, she back on the pool deck, coaching the school's successful water polo team before heading to the gym for a 75-minute weights session.

By seven, she's in the water again for another two-hours training before collapsing in bed, exhausted and probably a little wrinkled, sometime after nine.

Just typing that was exhausting, imagine actually doing it.

But you won't find Griffiths - the captain of Great Britain's women's water polo team - questioning her lot, she's not the type.

Earlier this month she led her team to victory in the European Nations Trophy in Manchester, the premier event for the continent's second-tier nations.

It was a breakthrough win that underlined potential and only fuelled frustrations.

Water polo saw their UK Sport funding cut by half last year - from the £3.15 million that funded the Beijing Olympic cycle to a mere £1.4m towards London 2012.

London mayor Boris Johnson might waffle on about whiff-whaff coming home but while arguments still rage about the origin of table tennis, water polo's history is firmly rooted in the British Isles - Victorian visionary William Wilson is the undisputed founding father of the sport.

British Swimming have already been forced to make some tough choices - prioritising their more successful women's programme, which is based at the high performance centre in Manchester.

However, the centralised men's squad has been disbanded and leading players will now be farmed out to clubs across Europe in order to gain experience - an arrangement of necessity that few privately believe will assist their 2012 ambitions.

"We were obviously extremely frustrated when the funding was cut," admitted Griffiths, who now receives only £300 per month towards her Olympic ambition.

"It puts a strain on the girls but the sacrifices we make are worth it, if we can be successful.

"However, we can't blame the situation with funding for not being competitive or bad results - it's not going to be an excuse for this team.

"Yes, we were disappointed but we've had to move on and we've had to get a different mindset.

"If we get downhearted about out situation and start to dwell on it, we only have to think about the problems the men are having.

"There is a sense of gritting our teeth and making the most out of it.

"Friends, family and supporters have shown such faith in us and the whole water polo community is behind us - there is even a website, Friends of Water Polo, that is doing all it can to assist."

CAPTAIN'S ROLE: Rosalind Griffiths played a major part in Great Britain's recent victory at the LEN European Nations Trophy in Manchester (GBswimstars.com)

As hosts Great Britain will get an invite to the 2012 water polo event, if world governing body Fina deem their performances have reached the required international standard.

Britain has never qualified a women's team before and the last men's team to play was in 1956 - although they won four gold medals between 1900 and 1916, admittedly in the days where swim suits were made of wool rather than polyurethane.

Griffiths is aware though that taking part is not enough - 2012 is an opportunity to inspire a new generation of players and give water polo the exposure it so desperately needs to attract talent to clubs.

Getting duffed up by the best nations in the world in front of expectant home crowd does not sound like fun or a very inspired piece of sports marketing.

And there are cautionary tales in recent Olympic history.

When Greece was allowed to field a men's baseball team in the 2004 Athens Games, they trawled the world for prospective players with Greek heritage.

At one point it seemed a taste for taramosalata and your own bat would have been enough to get you on the team at second base.

They duly turned up and were hammered, only beating the baseball powerhouse of Italy.

The Greek public laughed at their failures and they became curiosities of the Games, filed alongside Erik the Eel or Eddie the Eagle.

The baseball diamond, a planned home for the sport in the years after the Games, now holds a weekly flee market.

But the Games can also have a positive impact.

Korea had no handball tradition before being awarded the 1988 Games in Seoul but have rarely been out of the women's medals since.

China only just missed out on a women's water polo podium in Beijing last year despite only starting their elite programme a few years earlier.

LOFTY AIM: Rosalind Griffiths took up water polo aged 13 in Coventry, now 27, she wants a 2012 campaign to inspire a new generation (GBswimstars.com)

Britain's success in Manchester confirms their place in next January's European play-offs, where they'll take on seven others teams with the top five advancing to the European ‘A' Championship in 2011.

It's a competition that could make or break Olympic dreams and Griffiths is up for the fight.

"We're on the brink of cracking that next level and we've got high expectations," added Griffiths, a talented club swimmer who was introduced to the sport aged 13 in Coventry.

"We've been getting competitive results against the top teams in the world but we can't just be competitive anymore - we've got to start winning games.

"All the girls are effectively training full-time now and our conditioning is really starting to show.

"We can keep up with the top teams now because we are training day in, day out but tactically there is still lots of room to improve.

"It would be a disgrace to turn up at the Olympics and not be at the same standard as the other teams in the world who have qualified.

"There is a determination that we must hold our own."