INSIDE THE OLYMPICS - WATER POLO
Blood sport
In water polo, no body part goes unpunished. It's like a street fight in which everyone is also treading water while tossing around a soccer ball.
By Tom Jones, Times Staff Writer
Published August 29, 2004
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[Times graphic — Rossie Newson and Jeff Goertzen]
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1. Face the target with left shoulder. Lift the ball from underneath (never from on top because the darn thing is slippery).
2. Raise the ball high above your head, hands slightly below and behind ball, wrist tight and elbow high.
3. Kick your legs in an egg-beater motion, then finish with three hard, quick breaststroke kicks before releasing the ball.
4. Throw the ball like you would a baseball. Use your entire body, not just your arm. As the ball is released, snap your wrist and follow through.
5. Follow through with your arm, so that your hand slaps the water in front of you after you release the ball. |
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CHECK IT OUT
What: Men’s Water Polo
Today: 9th place, 2:30 a.m., 7th place, 3:45 a.m., 5th place, 5 a.m., Bronze Medal, 9 a.m., Gold Medal, 10:30 a.m.
TV: Ch. 8 carrying final during 10 a.m.-6 p.m. slot; CNBC carrying bronze game live. |
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Water polo is one of the rare sports that might be watched more enjoyably with the sound muted on your television.
Unless you like the shrill sound of whistles.
Bleep. Bleep. Bleep. Every few seconds, it seems, whistles shatter the air, signifying a foul. And, boy, are there fouls.
There are ordinary fouls. And exclusion fouls. And penalty fouls. And personal fouls. There is even a foul called "brutality."
The whistles show just how rugged this game is. After all, it was invented by the Brits, who simply combined their two favorite sports, rugby and soccer, and added H20.
"I can't imagine there is a tougher sport out there, " said Tony Azevedo, a three-time college player of the year at Stanford and a member of the U.S. men's team.
Throughout his storied career, Azevedo, perhaps the best water polo player in the world, has broken fingers and sustained shattered ear drums. He has seen plenty of broken noses, shattered eye sockets and bashed out teeth. How many sports do you know where all the blood makes the pool look like a nasty scene from Jaws?
And consider this: All the whistles you hear are just for the fouls officials catch above the water. Below the water? You don't even want to think about it.
"There's a lot of stuff going on, "Azevedo said in an interview with the Times this year. "Punching, kicking, grabbing. It's like wrestling."
When Azevedo says wrestling, he means professional wrestling. There's eye gauging, nose punching and it's fairly common to get a hard elbow in the chops. There are kicks to the stomach and knees to groin. About the only thing missing is the infamous foreign object. And this sport isn't fake.
"You have to be tough to play this sport, not doubt about it, " said John Vargas, the water polo coach at Stanford. "You have all the rough stuff and you're treading water all at the same time."
Oh, yeah, treading water. Did we mention that? Get a cramp in the 200-meter dash and you finish last. Get a cramp in water polo and you risk drowning.
Matches are broken up into four seven-minute quarters with only two-minute breaks between quarters. The clock stops each time there is a foul but players, under no circumstances, are allowed to touch the bottom of the pool. The means there are 28 minutes of playing time, plus a few minutes extra for fouls. Add it up. Water polo players are swimming (usually about 1.5 miles a match) and treading water for about 40 out of 46 minutes, give or take.
Try it. Try treading water for 10 minutes (roughly one quarter in water polo) in your backyard pool. Then get your neighbor to jump in and punch, pinch and pound you just about everywhere on your body. Then, if you haven't drowned, try to whip a ball about the size of a soccer ball more than 50 mph.
That's water polo.
And to think the game has been toned down since its early days when it was played in England, Scotland and New England.
Back in the late 1800s, players were allowed to carry the ball under the water. Defenders often grabbed the ball and pulled players under. Usually the ball carrier gave up the ball only because he was under water so long that he was in desperate need of air. It was common for players to be pulled to the surface unconscious and given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
So the game isn't' quite as barbaric as it once was, but it still is survival of the fittest. Water polo players are considered among the most fit athletes in the world and they do it for little more than love of the game. Water polo isn't considered one of the glamor sports of the Olympics.
"I wish it was more popular, "Azevedo said. "I don't understand why it isn't. It's fast. There's lots of scoring. It's tough. I think it's the greatest game in the world. People need to just watch it and they'll be hooked."
Of course, to watch it, you might want to turn the sound down.
Source: Mike Schofield, U.S. Naval Academy
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