Water polo was founded by Englishman, William Wilson, in 1844. Known as “football in the water” it was played in rivers and lakes (we try to keep it to heated indoor pools as far as possible these days!). The first official game was played in the Crystal Palace Plunge in London. Forty years later in 1885, William Henry, of the Royal Life Saving Society of England, standardised the game. The English Amateur Swimming Association formulated rules and recognised the game.

The first international match was played at Kensington, England in 1890 between England and Scotland. Only a few countries played matches until the Olympic Federation included water polo. Water polo is played by both men and women and is the longest-standing team sport in the Olympic Games, being first introduced in Paris in 1900. Initially for the men’s competition only, women finally competed at Olympic level in 2000 at the Sydney, Australia Olympic Games.

Did you know? GB won Gold at the first 4 Olympic competitions in 1900, 1908, 1912 and 1920.

The sport is governed by FINA, Federation Internationale De Natation – the world aquatic body, and is played in more than 100 countries.