Water Polo Demonstration at the Olympics
Water Polo is an official sport at the Olympic Games, it has been on the official program in 1900 and all the years since 1908. There was a water polo tournament in 1904 which has been deemed unofficial as no international teams took part, and in 1906 there was a demonstration of water polo in Greece between two Swedish teams.
1906 Exhibition water polo match played in the Bay of Neo Phaleron 1904 Olympic Games
The water polo tournament at the 1904 Olympic Games in Saint Louis, consisted of only teams from the USA. The European countries did not accept the American variant of the game (which was more brutal and used a much softer ball) and the poor condition of the pool, a pond in Forest Park. The tournament is considered unofficial by the IOC.
1906 'Intercalated' Games
An exhibition match was played during the 1906 'Intercalated' Games, as mentioned in the official report. The match was played as part of an aquatics display taking place at the Bay of Neo Phaleron. The match was played between two Swedish teams, wearing red or white caps, over 15 minutes. The team wearing white caps won the match.
References
- Official report of the 1906 Olympic Games
- 'Sweden' by Ove Karlsson, JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14 (DECEMBER 2006) NUMBER 3
Related Pages
- Water Polo at the Olympic Games
- About the 1906 Exhibition Sports
- All about Olympic Demonstration Sports
- About the sport of Water Polo
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