On the surface, water polo does not seem to be an extremely physical sport. It certainly does not offer the same visuals as sports like football, hockey, or basketball, where there are constant collisions and players hitting the floor, field or ice. Perhaps it is the fact that the sport is played in the water that does not make it look as rough. But ask any water polo player, and they’ll tell you that their sport is a lot more physical than you might think.

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Alex Oppenheimer

Heather West and the women's water polo team do not have it that easy in the pool. Water polo is a much more physical game than viewers are led to believe.

“Water polo is an extremely demanding sport,” said Stanford head coach John Tanner. “Players have to sprint end-to-end, never touch the bottom, jostle for position, and can only touch the ball with one hand.”

Because the players are not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool, they have to constantly keep themselves afloat while they are in the water. The most commonly used technique for treading water is called “egg-beating”, because the player’s legs move in a circular motion that resembles that of an egg-beater. So, unlike in most other sports, there is no time to rest when you are in a water polo game.

On top of the constant movement is one of the most important elements in the game: Fighting for position.

“Water polo is a mentally and physically tough sport that places a huge emphasis on positioning — a player’s whereabouts in relation to the ball, the goal, and their own player,” said junior Heather West. “I strive to be completely conscious of my positioning in the water wherever I am in the pool, a skill that all athletes at our level focus on.

“If a player forgets to keep their hips up or loses track of the ball, the best players in collegiate water polo will make you pay — usually with a goal or a kick-out [man-up situation].”

Positioning is especially important when close to the goal, where players on offense need to work to get into goal-scoring positions, while players on defense try not to let them get into these positions. It is in these situations where water polo becomes a definite physical battle between opponents.

Junior Koree Blyleven emphasized that this physicality is usually not excessive or violent — it’s just part of the game.

“[The sport] is about positioning, creating an advantage, and execution of skill — not cheap shots or grabbing,” said Blyleven. “There is an element of physical roughness, but it is merely a product of these goals.”

Coach Tanner actually compared this aspect of the sport to basketball. “Gaining position in front of the goal requires balance, anticipation and strength,” he said. “Just as is the case in basketball.”

Anyone who has seen basketball players battle for position in the post can instantly recognize the physical nature of the game. Why then, if water polo players are doing basically the same thing, is it often difficult for people unfamiliar with the sport to recognize that same nature?

The answer probably has something to do with the fact that most of the players’ bodies’ are submerged under water. This can make it almost impossible to see all the contact between players, so that even when two players are jockeying with each other for position, to someone in the stands it may look like they are hardly even touching each other. That is unfortunate, because it obscures the amount of work that the players are doing and the effort they are putting in.

Of course, the more experience you get in watching the sport, the more you can pick up on what is going on under the water, and the easier you can see how physically demanding it really is. In the end, it is actually similar to so many things in life: you have to go beneath the surface to gain a true appreciation of what is going on.