Water polo may resemble a game of football played in the water, but it actually began life as an aquatic version of rugby. Today, water polo combines elements of both games —
the skill and tactical approach of football and the aggression and physical contest of rugby.Resort owners in England created the water-based game in the mid-1800s to attract guests, and it quickly became popular. Played in rivers and lakes, water polo then was quite different to today's game. A favourite tactic was for players to hide the ball in their swimming trunks and then dive under the murky water to reappear unnoticed near the goals.
The sport was, if anything, even more rugged than rugby, with robust tackling and general roughhousing part and parcel of the game. Players were known to come to the surface barely conscious after long wrestling bouts underwater. Water polo at that time was so brutal, in fact, that universities in the United States banned it from their campuses.
The modern game emerged in the 1880s when rule changes introduced in Scotland led to a faster game more dependant on skill than on brute strength. The rule changes increased water polo's popularity and saw it spread to Europe, and throughout the British Empire. In 1900, it made its first appearance at the Olympic Games, and has been contested at every Games since.
In that time, Hungary has been the standout water polo nation. From 1932 through to 1956 it won four of a possible five gold medals, adding two more in 1964 and 1976. Notable Hungarian players included five-time medallist Dezso Gyarmati and Oliver Halassy, a three-time Olympian with one leg amputated below the knee from a childhood accident.
As a new century beckons, defending gold medallist's Spain, the powerful Italy, and, yes, Hungary and Russia, are the teams to beat.
Meanwhile a new chapter in the history of the sport will open in Sydney, when women's water polo makes it's Olympic debut. Russia, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia rank as the leading contenders. By reputation, the women's game is no tamer than the men's!!!.
