USA Water Polo is the governing body of the sport of

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 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and is a member of the

United States Aquatic Sports United States Aquatic Sports (USAS) is the national federation for aquatic sports which represents the United States in FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation). Since by U.S. law and FINA regulations, the United States must have only one na ...

. USA Water Polo is responsible for fielding national teams and hosts 20 annual tournaments. The Organization has its headquarters in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

History

1970s

USA Water Polo was formed in 1978 after a new law designated the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

as the governing body for all Olympic activity in the United States. Water polo in the United States had previously been controlled by the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

. The organization is now responsible for Olympic development. The US has fielded a women's national team since the 1970s. Tina Bejarano, Lara Ruiz, Carmen Bejarano, Debbie Powell, Desiree Zepeda and Anabel Barragon played on a team from

Commerce, California Commerce is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 12,823 at the 2010 census, up from 12,568 at the 2000 census. It is usually referred to as the City of Commerce to distinguish it from the ...

during this era. The team has participated in every Olympic Games since the inaugural women's competition in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, and have medalled in all five tournaments.

2020s

In June 2021, USA Water Polo and a California club settled a lawsuit that had been filed against them by a dozen female water polo players who accused their coach Bahram Hojreh of

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

, for almost $14 million. USA Water Polo said it suspended the coach when it first got reports about his alleged abuse in January 2018 from the

United States Center for SafeSport The United States Center for SafeSport is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2017 under the auspices of the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. SafeSport is tasked with ad ...

, but USA Water Polo was accused of failing to inform law enforcement at the time as required under California law and the SafeSport code.

National teams

The United States men's team has participated in Olympic water polo since the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, the second Olympic Games to host a water polo tournament. The 1904 squad won the gold medal, the only gold the US has earned in water polo. Since 1904 the US has won another six Olympic medals (1924, 1932, 1972, 1984, 1988, 2008). The United States women's team has competed in every tournament since the inaugural 2000 edition, winning a medal in each, including three consecutive victories in 2012–2021. USA Water Polo also oversees junior, 18U, and 16U national teams.

Racial Equity & Reform Task Force

In June 2020 USA Water Polo announced it was forming a task force to work on racial justice issues as well as expanding access to the spor

4 time olympic champion

Brenda Villa Brenda Villa (born April 18, 1980) is an accomplished American water polo player. She is the most decorated athlete in the world of women’s water polo. Villa was named Female Water Polo Player of the Decade for 2000-2009 by the FINA Aquatics Wo ...

was selected alongside executive John Abdou.

Washington Wetskins

The

Washington Wetskins Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, an organization affiliated with USA Water Polo, is the oldest LGBT friendly water polo team in the United States. The Washington Wetskins welcomed women as well as men on their team. As of 2018, the organization had over 80 members. In 2020, the team changed their name to the

Washington DSeahorses Water Polo Club Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. DSeahorse members have to be USA Water Polo members in order to play on the team.

Notable athletes

Brenda Villa - Olympic Medal winner at ALMA Awards (cropped)

Tony Azevedo Anthony Lawrence Azevedo (born November 21, 1981) is a Brazilian-born American water polo player. He is a 2008 Olympic silver medalist and a five-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016). Azevedo ranks fourth on the all-time scoring list ...

* Tina Bejarano *

Ben Hallock Ben Hallock (born November 22, 1997) is an American water polo player. He was a member of the United States men's national water polo team The United States men's national water polo team is the representative for the United States of America ...

Ashleigh Johnson Ashleigh Elizabeth Johnson (born September 12, 1994) is an American water polo player considered by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world. She was part of the American team that won the gold medal at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships. I ...

Maddie Musselman Madeline Musselman (born June 16, 1998) is an American water polo player. Maddie was named Woman's water polo MVP after her USA Team won gold in Tokyo at the 2020ne Summer Olympics. She was one of the highest leading scorers with 18 goals. It i ...

Heather Petri Heather Danielle Petri (born June 13, 1978) is an American water polo player, who won the silver medal with the US women's national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, a silver medal in Beijing in 2008 ...

Melissa Seidemann Melissa Jon Seidemann (born June 26, 1990) is an American water polo player. She won the National Championship with Stanford University in 2011. She also won the gold medal with the United States national team in the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2 ...

* Jesse Smith *

Maggie Steffens Margaret Ann Steffens (born June 4, 1993) is an American water polo player. She won the gold medal with the United States at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Steffens set a new Olympic record for the most numb ...

References

External links

{{United States men's national water polo team 1978 establishments in the United States Sports organizations established in 1978

Water polo in the United States