Water polo is a team sport played in a swimming pool, seven players a side, six field players and one goalkeeper, who pass and drive a ball by hand across four quarters, attempting to throw it into the opposing goal in water too deep for players to touch bottom. The game grew out of Victorian swimming exhibitions in Scotland and England in the 1870s: William Wilson, the first Baths Master at the Arlington Baths Club in Glasgow (founded 1870), is credited with developing an early set of rules for a rough, rugby-like contest played with an india rubber ball, which came to be called water polo from the English pronunciation of the Balti word pulu, ball. It was among the first team sports on the modern Olympic program, contested at the Paris 1900 Games alongside football and rugby. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearWater polo grew informally out of Victorian swimming-club exhibitions in Scotland and England during the 1870s, credited to William Wilson at the Arlington Baths Club in Glasgow (founded 1870); no single written codification date is as sharply documented as for sports with a known rules congress, so 1870 marks the club's founding rather than a fixed codification date, and the game's early rules varied by club until national and international federations later standardized them. Originating Region International Governing BodyWorld Aquatics (known as FINA, Federation Internationale de Natation, until 2023) governs water polo internationally alongside swimming, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming and high diving. 1 Water Polo
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Why this is disputed. Source says the origin is thought to be a sort of water rugby, not settled
Source Wikipedia, Water Polo
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Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1904 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia, 1980 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia, 1984 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia, 1988 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Olympic sports
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Source Wikipedia, Water Polo
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Source Wikipedia, Tony Azevedo
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1. Wikipedia, Water Polo
WikipediaQuote
William Wilson is thought to have developed it in the 1870s as a sort of water rugby
History section
This 'water rugby' came to be called 'water polo' based on the English pronunciation of the Balti word for ball, pulu.
Derived From: Rugby Union, Lead
William Wilson is thought to have developed it in the 1870s as a sort of
View the Source Wikipedia, Tony Azevedo
WikipediaPlayed By: Tony Azevedo, Lead paragraph, first sentence (discipline)Quote, Played By: Tony Azevedo, Lead paragraph, first sentence (discipline)
Anthony Lawrence Azevedo is a Brazilian-born American water polo player who competed for Stanford University.
Wikipedia: Olympic sports
Featured In: Olympic Games, Olympic sports definitionsQuote, Featured In: Olympic Games, Olympic sports definitions
aquatics is a summer Olympic sport that includes six disciplines: swimming, artistic swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1900 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1900 Summer Olympics, Lead section
A water polo tournament was held on the Seine (near Asnières) on 11 and 12 August 1900 as part of the 1900 Summer Olympics.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1904 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1904 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1904 Summer Olympics, Lead section
At the 1904 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested, with three club teams of seven players each.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1908 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1908 Summer Olympics, Lead section
At the 1908 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1912 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1912 Summer Olympics, Lead section
The 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm saw the fourth water polo tournament at Olympics.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1924 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1924 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Final results for the water polo tournament at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1928 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1928 Summer Olympics, Lead section
The 1928 Summer Olympics Water Polo event was held between the fourth and eleventh of August.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1936 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1936 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Final results for the water polo tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics:
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1948 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1948 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Final results for the water polo tournament at the 1948 Summer Olympics played at Finchley Lido.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1956 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1956 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Ten nations competed in water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1960 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1960 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Final results for the water polo tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1968 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1968 Summer Olympics, Lead section
The water polo tournament at the 1968 Summer Olympics was held from 14 to 25 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico.
Wikipedia: Water polo at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1972 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1972 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Final results for the water polo competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich.
Wikipedia, 1980 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1980 Summer Olympics, Article textQuote, Featured In: 1980 Summer Olympics, Article text
bronze medal in water polo
Wikipedia, 1984 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1984 Summer Olympics, Venues list, Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CaliforniaQuote, Featured In: 1984 Summer Olympics, Venues list, Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California
water polo
Wikipedia, 1988 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1988 Summer Olympics, Article textQuote, Featured In: 1988 Summer Olympics, Article text
synchronized swimming, swimming, water polo
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