12 May: Water Polo

On this date in 1870 The London Swimming Association drafted the rules of water polo. 10 things you might not know about water polo.

1. It originated as a form of rugby played in rivers and lakes in England and Scotland.
2. The rules were devised in the 19^th century by William Wilson, a swimming coach.
3. The balls were made of India rubber and the name of the game changed from water rugby to water polo based on the Balti word for a ball – pulu.
4. It was the first team game to be introduced at the 1900 Olympic Games. The men's game, at any rate. It was 100 years before women's water polo became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Sydney games and then mainly because the Australian women's team staged a protest.
5. Each team can have seven players in the Water at a time including the goalkeeper.
6. Players are not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool so must tread water the whole time if they are not actively swimming about. This makes it a physically demanding game. However, there's a variation called inner tube water polo in which the players (apart from the goalkeeper) float in inner tubes and so expend less energy, so it's suitable for casual players.
7. A team can only hold the ball for 30 seconds without shooting for the goal. If they don't shoot for the goal within that time, possession goes to the other team. They can only hold the ball with one hand (although the goalkeeper can use two).
8. A match is divided into four quarters which are 8 minutes long although the clock stops whenever the ball is not in play so in real time they are longer, usually about 12 minutes.
9. In its early days the game was intended to be a test of strength as well as skill, and holding another player underwater in order to get possession of the ball was perfectly permissible. Today, of course, doing so would be deemed a major foul.
10. Famous players include Prince William, who was captain of his university team, and musician Sean Paul who used to be a member of Jamaica's national team. A fictional player was Star Trek: Enterprise's Captain Jonathan Archer who played for Stanford University.

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