It is recognised as one of the most difficult Olympic sports and the only ball sport in the aquatic competitions.
Water polo is one of the Olympic sports with the longest history; the men’s competition has been held at the Games since 1900, while the women’s competition debuted in Sydney in 2000.
A player’s feet cannot touch the bottom of the two-metre-deep, or 6.5-foot-deep, pool where the sport is played.
Every time a team has the ball, they have 30 seconds to shoot the ball while swimming continuously. Each team has seven players in the pool at any given moment.
The game is known for its rough play, and even when an athlete does not have the ball, contact is permitted at any time.
Olympic Pools are Much Deeper Than You Think
Contrary to popular belief, Olympic pools are substantially deeper. The Olympic Committee mandates a two-meter minimum depth.
This serves to shield swimmers from waves that could arise in a shallow pool. If you’ve ever gone swimming in the ocean.
You are aware of how much more challenging and time-consuming it is to get through turbulent waters.
Deep pools were necessary for the Olympics to prevent the risk and improve swimmer performance.
How Deep is a Water Polo Pool in the Tokyo Olympics?
The pool bottom, which is two metres deep, must not be touched by players. A depth of 1.8 to 2 metres prevents swimmers from touching or pushing off the pool’s bottom.
Swimmers are not permitted to touch or hold onto the ropes used to delineate the lanes. At any time, they cannot push off of them or any other wall.
The distance between the goals in the pool is 30 metres for men’s competitions and 25 metres for women. The pool’s width is 20 metres.
There are two floating goals available to players, one at either end of the playing area. It typically has a net and is flat on the front. It measures three by nine metres in dimension.
Conclusion
The Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center in Kt served as the venue for the water polo competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The competition featured twenty-two teams (twelve for men and ten for women), an increase of two from prior iterations. The final match played before the awards ceremony was water polo.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the Olympics to be moved from its intended 2020 date to 2021 on March 24, 2020.
