History of water polo

History of water polo

The history of water polo as a team sport began as a demonstration of strength and swimming skill in late 19th century England and Scotland, where water sports and racing exhibitions were a feature of county fairs and festivals. [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition (1911): [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Water_Polo "Water Polo"] Retrieved 7 August 2006] [cite book | last = Barr | first = David | title = A Guide to Water Polo | publisher = Sterling Publishing (London) | date = 1981 | id = ISBN 0-8069-9164-X ] Men's water polo was the among the first team sports introduced at the modern Olympic games in 1900. Water polo is now popular in many countries around the world, notably Europe (particularly in Hungary, Greece, Italy, Russia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro), the United States, Canada and Australia. The present-day game involves teams of seven players (plus up to six substitutes), with a water polo ball similar in size to a soccer ball but constructed of waterproof nylon.

Development of the game

] [ [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polo polo. (n.d.).] Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved September 20, 2007, from Dictionary.com website] Early play allowed brute strength, wrestling and holding opposing players underwater to recover the ball; the goalie stood outside the playing area and defended the goal by jumping in on any opponent attempting to score by placing the ball on the deck.

By the 1880s, the game evolved to include fast-paced team play with a soccer-sized ball that emphasized swimming, passing, and scoring by shooting into a goal net; players could only be tackled when holding the ball and could not be taken under water. To deal with variations in regional rules, in 1888, the London Water Polo League was founded and approved a set of rules to allow team competition, forming the basis of the present game. The first English championships were played in 1888. In 1890, the first international water polo game was played; Scotland defeated England, 4-0. [Pro Water Polo.com: [http://www.prowaterpolo.com/articles/history-and-development-of-game.htm History and Development of Water Polo, by Yiannis Giannouris] Retrieved 4 September 2006]

). Rules were developed for international matches and put into effect in 1930; FINA has been the international governing body for the sport since that time.

Over the years, both technical and rule changes affected the character of the game. In 1928, Hungarian water polo coach Béla Komjádi invented the "air pass," or "dry pass", a technique in which a player directly passes the ball through the air to another player, who receives it without the ball hitting the water. Previously, players would let the ball drop in the water first and then reach out for it, but the dry pass made the offensive game more dynamic, and contributed to Hungarian dominance of water polo for 60 years. [International Swimming Hall of Fame: [http://www.ishof.org/95bkomjadi.html Bela Komjadi] ] In 1936, James R. ("Jimmy") Smith, California water polo coach and author of several books on water polo mechanics, developed a water polo ball made with an inflatable bladder and a rubber fabric cover, which improved performance. The previous leather ball absorbed water and became heavier during the game. In 1949, rule changes allowed play to continue uninterrupted after a referee whistled an ordinary foul, speeding up play. In the 1970s, the exclusion foul replaced a point system for major fouls; players guilty of this foul were excluded for a 1 minute penalty and their team forced to play with fewer players. Possession of the ball was limited to 45 seconds before a scoring attempt. Time of penalties and possession have been reduced since then. The direct shot on goal from the seven (7) meter line after a free throw was allowed in 1994, and changed to a five meter throw in 2005.

Local rule variations

;United StatesIn 2006, revisions were made to the NFHS 2006-2007 swimming/diving and water polo rulebook (USWP and NCAA rules still vary). The four and seven meter lines were merged to a five meter line. Under the revised rules, a goalkeeper may use two hands and stand on the bottom of the pool (if shallow) until the 5 meter line, and go beyond the 5 meter line according to the field rules (one hand on the ball no standing), but still not not pass the half line. The goalie may strike the ball with a clenched fist, although this is not recommended.

New cap rules were also enacted. A goalie cap must now be in quarters alternating red/dark for home and red/white for away. The goalie must be number 1, 1a, or 1b. For women, a red swim cap must be worn under the goalie cap. A team's dark swim cap is no longer acceptable as it is hard to distinguish a goalie from field players if official cap is off.

Olympic competition

after political protests from the Australian women's team. Such protests were rewarded when Australia won the gold medal match against the United States with a "buzzer-beater" last-minute goal, taken from outside the seven meter line.

Some of the best ever include Spain's Manuel Estiarte who played in a record six Olympics and led in scoring for four of them. Dezső Gyarmati of Hungary won water polo medals at five successive Olympic Games (gold 1952, 1956, 1964; silver 1948; bronze 1960), a record in water polo. [ [http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/profiles/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=10176 International Olympic Committee Athlete Profile: Deszo Gyarmati] ] Another major figure in the sport was Tamás Faragó, [ [http://www.ishof.org/93tfarago.html Tamas Farago Biography at International Swimming Hall of Fame] ] who led Hungary to Olympic Medals in 1972, 1976 and 1980. The play of American Terry Schroeder [ [http://www.ishof.org/02tschroeder.html Terry Schroeder Biography at International Swimming Hall of Fame] ] led the United States to its first Olympic silver medals in 1984 and 1988.

The most famous water polo match in history is probably the 1956 Summer Olympics semi-final match between Hungary and the Soviet Union. As the athletes left for the games, the Hungarian revolution began, and the Soviet army crushed the uprising. Many of the Hungarian athletes vowed never to return home, and felt their only means of fighting back was by victory in the pool. The confrontation was the most bloody and violent water polo game in history, in which the pool reputedly turned red from blood. The Hungarians defeated the Soviets 4-0 before the game was called off in the final minute to prevent angry Hungarians in the crowd reacting to Valentin Prokopov punching Ervin Zador's eye open. The Hungarians went on to win the Olympic gold medal by defeating Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final. Half of the Hungarian Olympic delegation defected after the games. A documentary by Lucy Liu, "Freedom's Fury", premiered in April 2006, recounting the events of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and climaxing with this politicized game.

International play

Every 2 to 4 years since 1973, a men's Water Polo World Championship is played together with the World Swimming Championship, under the auspices of FINA. Women's water polo was added in 1986. A second tournament series, the FINA Water Polo World Cup, has been held every other year since 1979. In 2002, FINA organized the sport's first international league, the FINA Water Polo World League, in which the best national teams compete against one another in an annual season format with nearly half a million dollar purse.

Internationally, the biggest water polo competition in the world is played in the Netherlands. Prince William of Wales was the captain of his collegiate water polo team at St Andrew's University, Scotland. The annual Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities is the sport's longest running rivalry, first played in 1891. [Oxford-Cambridge Water Polo: [http://www.cuswpc.org/polo/varsity/history.php Varsity Match History] ]

Results of the major international championships

Olympic Games

;Olympic medals in men's water polo

;Women:(Source: [http://www.fina.org/pdf/histoFina/HistoFINA_VIII_b.pdf FINA Women's Water Polo Records] )

III. FINA Water Polo World League

;Men;Women(Source: [http://www.fina.org/pdf/histoFina/HistoFINA_VIII_a.pdf FINA] )

US colleges and clubs

Today club water polo is gaining popularity in the United States. Though the majority of domestic club teams are based in California, Florida, Illinois, and Texas, New England and Missouri preparatory high schools also often field teams. Club water polo teams in the United States often compete in national championships such as Junior Olympics, National Club Championships, and the Speedo Cup. Club teams from Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Michigan were entered at the 2005 USWP Junior Olympics.

Aniko Pelle (Hungary) and Sofia Konoukh (Russia) were among the first of an increasing number of international players competing in U.S. collegiate women's water polo. Because of water polo's increased popularity globally, the influence of international coaches like USC's Jovan Vavic from the former Yugoslavia, and the perks of attending an American college, international players are attracted to the premier US colleges. The 2005 Hawaii women's water polo team, coached by Canadian Michel Roy, has nine international players, the most of any team in the nation.

Teams from California dominate at the collegiate level. In the United States, water polo players tend to have prestigious academic backgrounds as well. A number of players, including former USA team captain Wolf Wigo, who retired after Athens 2004, Jacqueline Frank DeLuca, bronze medal Olympic goalie, and international phenom Tony Azevedo attended Stanford University. The sport's most notable balancing act to date includes Omar Amr, [ [http://www.usolympicteam.com/11631_13355.htm US Olympic Team Biography of Omar Amr] ] who played on the US National Team while attending Harvard Medical School and recovering from a near career ending knee injury in 2001.

;College championshipsIn the 2008 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship, the UCLA women beat University of Southern California 6 to 3, for their fourth consecutive championship title. In the 2007 Men's NCAA Finals, the UC Berkeley Golden Bears defended their 2006 title by defeating the No. 1-ranked USC water polo men, 8-6. The most prestigious individual water polo honor, the Peter J. Cutino Award, was established in 1999 by the San Francisco Olympic Club, and is presented annually to the top American male and female collegiate water polo player. In 2008, Tim Hutten from UC Irvine and Courtney Mathewson from UCLA won the Cutinos.

Trivia

*Dancehall musician Sean Paul is a former member of Jamaica's national water polo team.
*Former Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen played the sport competitively.
*Former major league baseball commissioner and US Olympic Committee chair Peter Ueberroth was a water polo player at San Jose State.
*Captain Jonathan Archer (played by actor Scott Bakula), a fictional character in the television series , played water polo for Stanford University and competed in the 2134 North American Water Polo Regionals against Princeton University. [Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference: [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Water_polo water polo] (Retrieved 2007-10-03)]
*Spaghetti Western actor Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli) was a professional water polo player before he began his film career.

Notes

Further reading

*cite book
last = Charroin
first = Pascal
title = L'eau et la balle: Une histoire du water-polo
publisher = Harmattan
date = 1998
pages = 248 pages
language = French
id = ISBN 2-7384-6397-5

*cite book
last = Norris (Ed.)
first = Jim
title = The World Encyclopedia of Water Polo by James Roy Smith
publisher = Olive Press
date = April 1990
pages = 513 pages
id = ISBN 0-933380-05-4

ee also

*Glossary of Water Polo
*List of water polo organizations
*Water polo

External links

* [http://www.vilacom.net/waterpolo/ Waterpolo Competitions and Winners Worldwide]
* [http://fina.org/news/media_room/index.php FINA Media Room]


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