For the first time the rules of the team ball game in the pool were formulated by the Englishman William Wilson. In doing so, he tried to simulate the water analogue of rugby. The rules of water polo took their modern form by the 80s of the XIX century, and with the revival of the tradition of regularly holding the Olympic Games, they quickly took a permanent place in their program for a new sport.
The goal of each of the two teams of eight players is to score more goals into the opponents' goal than to let into their own. The three-meter long gates float in opposite sides of the pool at a distance of no more than 30 meters from each other and rise almost a meter above the water. The rules also strictly regulate the methods of taking the ball away from the opponent, and for their violation there are 20-second removals - swimmers wait in the water, in a specially designated corner of the pool. The total playing time - 32 minutes - is divided into four halves, and the referee who counts it stops the stopwatch when the ball is not in play (preparing for free throws, taking positions after a goal, etc.).
This sport appeared in the Olympic program a long time ago - already in the second summer games 7 teams took part in the water polo tournament. True, then the principle of "one country - one team" was not observed, therefore, for example, bronze medals were awarded to two French teams at once. And the first Olympic champions were representatives of the parent country of this sport - the British beat the Belgians in the final.
At the III Summer Olympics, the water polo tournament was considered an exhibition one - several American teams took part in it. And starting with the next games, held in 1908 in London, such competitions are held regularly. Women won the right to participate in the summer games and in this sport only a hundred years after the debut of water polo at the Olympics - the first women's tournament was held in 2000 in Sydney.
That year, both Russian teams won medals - women won bronze medals, and men lost to the Hungarian team in the final match. At the next Olympiad, our men also did not go to the podium - they won bronze medals. We have no other awards in this sport yet, but the USSR men's national team has 7 of them. The Hungarian Olympians dominate in this sport - they became the first nine times and three times occupied the other two steps of the Olympic podium.
