It was therefore disappointing when one of the six teams dropped out at the last minute. However, after a bit of ringing round, tournament organiser Tim Mather managed to put together a scratch team made up of substitutes from the other clubs.

Lakeland Canoe Club’s first team (the hosts, based at Kendal) had deliberately split themselves up around the other club teams to provide some guidance. It appeared to have worked, as there were no dominant teams and all matches were closely fought.

They also won canoe guidebooks for various white water venues around the world from Tournament sponsor Pete Knowles of Rivers Publishing in Keswick.

Thanks also go to Pete for timekeeping, scoring and generally ensuring the smooth running of the tournament.

The aim of encouraging others to start up the sport seems to have worked, as there was considerable interest in starting up a rival canoe polo club in the north of the county. Watch this space!