WATER POLO: AS Commonwealth Games fever begins to kick in, water polo player Tim Marshall can sit back and relax having already returned from the championships in Australia.

As a warm-up to the main event, Water Polo, which is not represented in Melbourne, held its own version of the Games in Perth, with seven countries taking part.

Former Dorcan School pupil, Marshall , was goalkeeper for Wales and despite just the one win from six games he has returned full of enthusiasm for the experience.

He said: "It is something I will never forget. To represent your country is something you always dream of doing and it does not come true for many.

"The best feeling was when we beat Singapore 6-5. We were all buzzing afterwards. To be honest we did as well as we could have expected with the budget we have.

"It is fair to say the other teams in the competition have more support than the Welsh side do."

The 24-year-old Bridgend School teacher has been playing water polo for the past nine years and qualified for Wales having gained residency after more than four years of living there.

"I lived in Dorcan until I started University in Cardiff," he said. "It was while I was a member of Wroughton Swimming Club that I first started playing water polo.

"A match consists of four quarters each eight minutes long. After the warm-up and the warm-down you probably spend two and a half hours in the pool and it is physically and mentally exhausting.

"One of our guys broke his nose during the championships so it is a tough sport to compete in."