Aquatics—Water Polo at 2008 Summer Games: Water polo is a water sport which combines swimming, football or soccer, rugby, basketball, ice hockey and wrestling. Water polo is a team sport. The sport originated in the late nineteenth century in England and Scotland. During the mid-1800s, water polo was played as an aquatic version of the sport, rugby in England. With time, the sport event developed as a water sport resembling with football or soccer. In the beginning of the twentieth century, the sport became very popular in countries like Hungary, Greece, Italy, Russia, the former Yugoslavia, The United States of America, Canada and Australia.
The water polo team in the present day consists of seven players, including six players and one goalkeeper. The ball used in water polo is of the same size as the soccer ball. The only difference is that the ball used in the sport is made of waterproof nylon. The other similarity between water polo and football is the method of scoring. Like football, here also a team scores by driving the ball into the opponent's goal. Each goal adds one point to the score of a team. The most basic skill needed for the sport, water polo is the skill of swimming with good reflex. Apart from these, a good water polo player needs to have various qualities. He has to be as accurate as a basketball pitcher in over arm throwing. A water polo player also has to possess the excellence of a volleyball player in the vertical leap, the robustness of a rugby player and the planning of a chess player. He also needs to have stamina of a cross-country racer. The water polo players have to acquire the skills of handling the ball and treading in water.
Water Polo in Summer Olympics: Water polo was introduced in the Olympics schedule at the 1900 Paris Summer Summer Games. It was among the pioneer team events included in the Olympics program. In the 1900 Games only men's water polo competition was held. Women's water polo was included in the schedule in the 2000 Sydney Summer Games. The water polo competition at the Summer Games is divided into two events. The events are—
• Men's water polo competition
• Women's water polo competition
In the Olympic water polo competition, eight teams participated for the women's competition and in the men's competition, twelve teams qualify. The twelve teams competing in the men's division are divided into two groups of six teams each. The teams compete in the round-robin preliminary heat. Four teams from each group move forward to the quarter finals. The teams winning in the quarter finals are qualified to compete in the medal rounds or final rounds. In the women's competition, all the eight teams compete in the round-robin preliminary heat. The top four teams from the heat round compete in the semi finals.
Rules of Water Polo: The Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur or FINA is the head of the international water polo competitions. There are many rules set by the FINA for the sport water polo. Some of the rules are as follows—
• The distance between the goal lines in both the men's and women's competitions is fixed by the FINA.
• White, red and yellow makings are used to denote various distances from the goal lines on both sides of the field.
• The shape and size of the goal posts and goal area are determined by the FINA.
• The weight of the ball used in water polo is fixed between 400 gram and 450 gram.
• Each team competing in water polo is permitted to have maximum of six reserve players.
• Water polo players are not allowed to use grease or any oily substance on their bodies.
• The total time of a water polo game is divided into four periods of eight minutes each. An interval of two minutes is given between the first two and the last two periods. The interval between the second and third period is of five minutes.
• Like football matches, water polo teams have to change sides.
• Various methods of throwing the ball during the game and scoring goals are determined by the FINA.
• In the beginning of the game, the ball is placed in the center of the pool. The players of both teams sprint for the ball starting from the goal lines on their sides. The players are allowed to pass the ball with one hand. Only the goalkeeper is permitted to use both of his hands to hold the ball.
• Defensive players are not permitted to get in the way of the opponents except when the player is holding the ball. Punishment for major fouls is one minute in the penalty box. If a player commits five fouls, he faces exclusion from the game. When fouls are committed near the goal, penalty shot is taken against the offending team from the four meter line.
• Holding or punching the ball is considered as minor foul. In such cases, free throw is taken from the spot where the foul is committed. After the free throw, the ball has to be touched by at least two players before a goal is scored.
Medal Winners in Water Polo: The field of Olympic water polo competitions is dominated by Hungary, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, Yugoslavia, the United States of America and Russia. Australia won the first women's competition at the Olympics in the 2000 Sydney Games. Some famous players in the water polo sport event are Manuel Estiarte, Deszo Gyarmati, Tamas Farago, Tibor Benedek, Peter Biros, Rajmund Fodor, Gergely Kiss, Tamas Kasas, Bud Spencer, Tony Azevedo, Natalie Golda, Margaret Dingeldein, Thalia Munro, Kelly Rulon, Brenda Villa, Sean Kern, Kate Hooper, Naomi Castle, Bridgette Gusterson, Melissa Mills, Natalia Koutouzova, Tatiana Petrova and Dmitri Douquine.
Trivia: The water polo team from the United States of America suffered from asthma during the 1988 Seoul Summer Games as a result of over exercise.
Many famous people had been involved with the game, water polo, since its birth. Some well known names to play the game are Johnny Weissmuller, Bud Spencer, Gerard Blitz, Duke Kahanamoku, Joao Havelange, Matt Biondi, Robert Lantos, Prince William, Peter Ueberroth, Sean Paul Henriques, Sir Alexander Fleming, Steve Smith, Paul Martin, Fred Deburghgraeve, Captain Jonathan Archer, Ted McGinley, Robert Langdon and Luke Ward.
The semi final match between Hungary and Soviet Union at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games is considered to be the most famous game in the history of water polo. Before the Games, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution started. A Soviet army of 200000 soldiers killed a small group of Hungarian rebels. The Hungarian athletes vowed to avenge the Russians by defeating them in the Summer Games. The match between the teams was the most aggressive water polo match in the history. The pool repeatedly turned red for blood. The Russians were beaten by Hungarians 0-4. The match was called off in the last minute when the Hungarian spectators burst into anger after Valentin Prokopov punched Ervin Zedor's eye. Hungary went on to win the final match against Yugoslavia 2-1 and won the Olympic title.
