Did you know...?
A brief look at the history of water polo.
---Did you know that water polo was originally patterned after polo played on land, with barrels
floating in the water replacing horses?
As swimming became a popular recreation in England during the 1860s and 1870s,
several water sports were developed roughly based on land sports.
Among them were water football (or soccer), water rugby, water handball, and water polo,
in which players rode on floating barrels, painted to look like horses, and struck the ball with a stick.
---Did you know that water polo as we know it was originally known as water rugby?
As played in England, the object of the game of water rugby was for a player to touch the ball,
with both hands, at the goal end of the pool.
---Did you know that "American style" water polo of the late 19th
century was perhaps the roughest game ever played?
Not only were holding and sinking legal, but so were the 'jujitsu toe hold and 'back strangle hold.'
The main attraction of this version of the sport for spectators was the violence and mayhem,
although it was a spectacular game that featured plays like the 'flying salmon,'
where the player with the ball could leap 15 feet through the air, from the backs of his teammates,
to score a goal over top of the defenders.
---Did you know that water polo originally had the goaltender standing on the pool deck?
In the original versions of water rugby/polo, the goaltender stood on the pool deck,
ready to dive on any opponent who was about to score. In its early years water rugby was also
filled with underwater fights away from the ball, and it wasn't unusual for players to
pass out for lack of air.
In 1877, the sport was tamed in Scotland by the addition of goalposts.
The Scots also replaced the original small, hard rubber ball with a soccer ball and
adopted rules that prohibited taking the ball under the surface or "tackling" a player
unless they had the ball.
---Did you know that water polo was the first team sport added to the Modern Olympic Games?
Following the original Modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, Greece,
water polo was added to the Olympic program for the second Modern Olympic Games in Paris,
France in 1900.
---Did you know that the original American version of water polo had players swimming
underwater with the ball to get to goal?
When water polo started in the United States, it was played in small indoor pools and a unique,
"softball" form of the sport developed. Different from the Scottish version, Americans used a
semi-inflated ball that could easily be held and carried below the surface,
so a player could grab the ball and make a dash toward the goal, often swimming underwater to get there.
---Did you know that not until 1914 did American water polo rules adhere to
international water polo standards?
After several years of water polo played with a softball, in 1914, most U.S.
teams agreed to conform to international rules.
---Did you know that water polo was originally considered too rough for women to play?
Women played water polo early in the century, but during the 1920s most physical
educators decided that the sport was too rough for women and it was dropped by swimming
clubs and colleges. Not until the 1950s did water polo become a popular and accepted
sport for women to play.
---Did you know that until the late 1930s a leather soccer-type ball was used for water polo?
In the late 1930s James R. Smith of the United States developed a special water polo ball
to replace the leather soccer ball. The new ball had a cotton (now nylon) bladder with a
covering of rubber fabric to keep it from absorbing water and becoming heavier and more
slippery in the course of a game.
