What is Water Polo?
Water polo is a sport played in water between two teams of seven players, including one goalkeeper, all wearing matching coloured caps.
Players attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal, and the team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the match.
The sport is typically played in a 3m deep pool measuring 30,6m by 20m for men and 25,6m by 20m for women, so that players cannot touch the bottom.
The key skills of water polo include strategy, strength, speed, endurance, and physicality.
By whom, where and when was Water Polo invented?
Water polo is a tough sport, but when it first began, it was even tougher. It is said that the game originated from Great Britain, where people played rugby in rivers and lakes in the mid-19th Century. Fighting between players was common, if not the norm.
In 1897, New Yorker Harold Reeder formulated the first American rules for discipline, which were aimed at curbing the sport’s more violent tendencies.
In the early days, the players rode on floating barrels that resembled mock horses, and swung at the ball with mallet-like sticks. This made it similar to equestrian polo, hence its name. In the United States, it was termed "softball water polo" due to the use of an unfilled bladder as a ball.
Water polo was developed in Europe and the United States as two differing sports. Ultimately, the faster, less-dangerous European style predominated, and today this is the form of the game practised universally. It consists of seven-person teams playing four eight-minute periods.
What are the rules of Water Polo?
Teams are made up of seven players (including one goalkeeper) and have 30 seconds of ball possession to score a goal; if the team does not attack the goal within that time, possession passes to the opposition.
The team with the most goals at the end of the match is the winner.
Either team may substitute players after a goal is scored, during a time-out, or between periods. During actual play, substitutions must occur through the team's re-entry area (the corner of the pool in front of the team's bench).
The referees whistle two different kinds of fouls: minor (ordinary) fouls and major (personal) fouls. There is no limit to the number of minor fouls a player may commit and if the foul is committed outside the 5m line, the player may take the free throw as a "direct shot" at the goal. Typical minor fouls include impeding free movement of a player who isn’t holding the ball, time wasting in possession of the ball, touching the ball with two hands, letting the shot clock expire, and holding the ball underwater.
However, players can be excluded for 20 seconds if they commit a major foul, and if they are penalised for three major fouls, that player must leave the game and may not return. Major fouls include, holding, sinking, or pulling back a player who doesn’t have the ball, violence, or disrespect.
How long is a Water Polo game?
The game consists of four eight-minute periods.
Can Water Polo be played in the ocean?
Olympic water polo is traditionally played in a pool, while beach water polo is played in open water.
Water Polo and the Olympics
Water polo has been part of the Olympic programme since Paris 1900, making it one of the oldest team sports to feature at the Games. The women’s competition was added to the programme at Sydney 2000.
The earliest editions of the men’s Olympic tournament took place in the Seine river in Paris, with London 1908 the first edition of the Games where water polo took place in a pool.
Hungary has been the most successful nation in the men’s tournament, while the USA has dominated the women’s side.
Italy was the first nation to win both a men’s and women’s Olympic gold medal in water polo.
Best Water Polo players to watch
Francesco di Fulvio of Italy is the man of the moment in men’s water polo, after some ultra-consistent goal-scoring displays.
His 14 goals took the Italian team to the final of the 2022 Worlds where they were pipped by Spain. He was also the heartbeat of the Italian team at the European Championships with 15 goals and 12 assists, while his speed in the swim-offs is unmatched.
Elsewhere, keep an eye out for Spanish star Felipe Perrone, and Gergo Zalanki of Hungary.
On the women’s side, Maddie Musselman has been the stand-out star in recent seasons. In 2022, the USA player scored five goals and was named most valuable player of the World Championships final after helping her team defeat Hungary. Already considered one of the greatest wingers of all time, she is also a two-time Olympic gold medallist from Rio and Tokyo, having been named MVP and top scorer in the latter.
The USA’s dominance has also been down to the stunning goalkeeping efforts of Ashleigh Johnson, while Rita Keszthelyi of Hungary has built a reputation as one of the most exciting attacking players in the world.
Water Polo Competition Rules at Paris 2024
As in Tokyo 2020, there were 10 teams in the women’s tournament and 12 in the men’s.
The 12 participating men’s teams were divided into two groups of six. Both groups played a round-robin-style preliminary stage, so each team played all five other teams in its group.
Once all matchups had taken place, the top four teams in each group’s standings advanced to the knockout round, while the bottom two teams per group were eliminated.
The women’s tournament was limited to 10 teams, divided into two groups of five. Each group played a round-robin, and the last-place team in each group after all games had taken place was eliminated. The remaining eight teams contested the knockout stage in the same format as the men’s tournament.
