Panathinaikos AC Water Polo, founded in 1930, is the

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

department of Panathinaikos A.C., the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

-based Greek multi-sport club. Despite its early establishment it doesn't have any particular honours so far. The best result it has achieved in the

A1 Ethniki Water Polo The A1 Ethniki ( el, Α1 Εθνική Κατηγορία), often referred to as the Greek Water Polo League, is the highest professional water polo league in Greece. It is run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation. It is considered one of the top na ...

is the second place.

History in the Greek Championship

Panathinaikos AC Water Polo was initially established in 1930, but three years later it was forced to close because of the lack of a swimming pool. The club was re-established in 1959. Without facing any particular difficulties it won the tournaments of the lower divisions and managed to qualify for the first division 3 years later, in 1962. In the years 1963, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 Panathinaikos WPC reached the third position. In 1993 PAO WPC returned for another time to second division. Until now PAO WPC have never won a national title. In 2011 the club took the third place, along with the participation ticket for the first time in its history in the

LEN Euroleague The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A change of nam ...

. The club ended up in the third place once again in the season 2013-2014. The team finished second for the first time in its history in the season 2014-15.

Greek Cup

In the

Greek Water Polo Cup The Greek Water Polo cup is the second most important competition of Greece, Greek men's waterpolo and is organised by Hellenic Swimming Federation, KOE (Hellenic Swimming Federation). It was first held in 1953. Initially started as a competition ...

Panathinaikos participated in the final in the season 2014-15. The team had previously reached the semi-finals in the seasons: 1983-84, 1984-85, 2001-02, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

European Honours

In its first participation in the

(2011–12), Panathinaikos succeeded in advancing from the preliminary round to the first group stage. The club succeeded in winning against

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.VK Primorac Kotor VK Primorac Kotor is a professional water polo club based in Kotor, Montenegro. As of 2021–22 season, it competes in the Montenegrin League and Regional League A1. History In 2009, Primorac won the EuroLeague after defeating Pro Recco. In 20 ...

(8-11) but it was eventually eliminated from the second group stage.
Following its elimination from the Euroleague, PAO went on to compete in the

LEN Trophy The LEN Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the Ligue Européenne de Natation for those clubs who did not qualify for the LEN Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. History Names of the competitio ...

, where it advanced until the round of "16" after winning against Le Ben and eventually having a draw 7-7 against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. Finally Panathinaikos did not advance to the quarter finals after being eliminated by

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

6-8 in OAKA, and 13-14 (10-12) in Nea Smirni.

Current roster

''Season 2022–23''

Notable players

References

External links

Official website
Panathinaikos A.O. Water polo clubs in Greece Sports clubs established in 1930 Sports clubs in Athens {{Greece-waterpolo-team-stub