Varsity water polo turns nasty as UWE student brutally attacks UOB opponent

Bristol Uni’s Varsity water polo match against UWE ended in violence as a UWE student attacked one of his opponents in the pool.

Following sexist and aggressive chants at the Varsity rugby yesterday, this event adds further suggestion that the rivalry between the two universities may be getting too brutal.

Tristan Bradshaw, President of the University of Bristol Water Polo Club, was the victim of the assault. The Bristol student had to got to A&E with a 2-3cm split in the skin on his scalp, a broken nose and a cracked orbit.

We spoke to some spectators who had seen the carnage:

“I saw Tristan and Blue 3 struggling under water. Once they came up above the water it was evident that Blue 3 was holding Tristan. He screamed before having his head held back by the hat strings for a few seconds. Blue 3 then began to punch Tristan in the head at least 3 times as hard as he could. It was honestly the most brutal example of poor sportsmanship that I have ever seen in waterpolo or any other sport!”

“The UWE student grabbed Tristan and held him under the water, whilst doing what appeared to be kneeing him in the face or kicking him, he followed this with at least three punches to his head whilst still holding him under, and was only stopped by the intervention of other players”

After the attack Tristan reportedly managed to pull himself out of the water. He was then treated with a first aid kit by the lifeguards while play continued.

Once the match had ended the only UWE swimmer to check if Tristan was alright was the goalkeeper.  As the UWE team leader walked past Tristan the wounded student made to shake hands with his opponent in a show of goodwill.

Sadly, “The UWE leader turned away and carried on walking without acknowledging that he was there.”

The police were called once the match had finished and the UWE student was apprehended shortly after.