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A Short History of Water Polo

by Lalin Fernando

On two consecutive Saturdays of October, Royalists and Thomians, the pioneers in schools water polo, and their supporters converge on the Sugathadasa Indoor Swimming Pool for their annual Hayman Trophy Water Polo contest. This year S Thomas’ College rinsed Royal by 37 – 17, after a two year Covid break. They scored a record breaking 23- 10 and 14- 7 wins in the two games to regain the trophy. It more than made up for their defeats in 2018 and 2019.

The interest in the game has grown a lot since the two schools began playing each other. The trophy series began in 1992. There are about 12 including girls’ schools playing the game. As to be expected they are all from Colombo.

In the 1950-1960s there were three water polo leagues in the country unlike today. Westerners also took part, like at rugby. It raised challenges and playing standards among the committed. The RAF at Katunayake joined in. Otters, Kinross, Colombo Swimming Club and Old Thomians were the prominent clubs. SL teams toured India, Thailand and Malaysia then.

In SL, matches are played today in an Olympic size Indoor swimming pool built in 1991 at the Sugathadasa Stadium on land alloted by former Mayor of Colombo VA Sugathadasa. It has a 2,500 seating capacity. Earlier club and school pools were found adequate for tournaments. FINA rules allow for a length of 20 -30 m between goals (15-25 m for women and teenagers) and width of 10-20m, according to the size of the pool. The pool must be 1.8 meters deep throughout. It also had under water cameras at the inception.

Unlike in the pre 1960s there is no three foot shallow end for players to rest, especially the goalie. Players must tread water all the time they play four quarters of eight minutes each of nonstop speed swimming , attacking the opponents goal and defending theirs, a terrific demand on the players strength, fitness, speed, stamina and playing skills and a thrilling delight to both players and spectators.There are no injury or drinks breaks, DRS, TV replays to slow the action but there is VAR (Video Assistant Referee) to assist but not overturn the referee’s decision. American football coincidentally has four quarters too!

The Hayman trophy was donated in 1992 by S Thomas’ College in memory of Dr RL Hayman, Mphil, MBE (Sherborne College and Oxford) its Sub Warden (1925-1956) who donated two swimming pools to te school. The one at Mt Lavinia in 1933 was the first ever and for a very long time the only swimming pool in any school.The second at the branch school in Gurutalawa (Sri Lanka’s Gordonstoun) on 350 acres of land donated by Mr. Leslie de Saram, a cousin of Canon RS de Saram, Warden of S Thomas’. Hayman was head master at Gurutalawa during the war years and up to 1956.

Most of the buildings that came up then were paid for with his own funds. According to Canon RS de Saram, Oxford boxing blue, Dr Hayman did not care to know how much he spent on S Thomas’. They included making payments for the Thalassa (Greek for sea) building for the school office and Fives courts now converted to basketball courts.

He believed that “to spend and be spent in the service of others” was his greatest privilege. He loved the school, the people and the country that he had chosen against the concerns and advice of his parents. He thrice refused (like Caesar at Lupacal) offers by Vice Chancellor Sir Ivor Jennings who came to Gurutalawa to ask him to join the new University of Peradeniya. When he died in Bournemouth, England in 1983, Bishop Lakdasa Wickremasinghe, (Gurutalawa and Oxford) conducted the service.

Royal College started swimming in 1934 using the Thomian swimming pool and started playing water polo in 1958. When St Joseph’s opened their swimming pool in 1952 Royal shifted to the Josephian and later to the SSC pool. The Royal pool was fittingly opened by a Thomian, Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in 1968

History of International water polo

To many spectators very little is known about water polo, let alone the rules or even the size of the pool. There are 13 nominated players of whom seven being the goalie, center forward, center back, two wing players and two will be actually treading water all the time. The numbers not surprisingly are similar to rugby sevens, American football and handball.

The game needs tactical thinking, team work and awareness. It is highly physical, demanding and difficult to play. It is probably the toughest and hardest sport in the world similar to handball (an Olympic team game since the 1936 games in Berlin and resumed in 1972) and gymnastics.

According to Dr Naresh Rao, US Olympic and water polo team physician, water polo requires aerobic (used for endurance) and anaerobic capacity (physical, mental and technical strength).An USA Olympic player says ‘to pull yourself out of the water (presumably to take a shot at goal) takes a tremendous amount of leg strength …to improve leg strength we use these weighted belts at practice’

Water polo used to be played in rivers and lakes in the mid 19th century in England. It was an aquatic version of rugby using an inflated vulcanized rubber ball from India. The word polo came from a Tibetan Balti language of Kashmir and was known as ‘Pulo’ .It was pronounced ‘Polo’ by the British troops when stationed in Cawnpore India, they played a game on horseback that had originated in Persia (Iran). Both ball and game were known as polo.

Water polo players used to plant the ball with both hands on the end of the pool like at rugby to score. Tactics were hide, dive and appear. The goalie was on the deck of the pool and jumped on the attacker. Much of it led to gang fights in the water and under water wrestling matches. It often ended with one man floating to the surface unconscious. In 1870 the London Swimming Association framed rules for indoor swimming pools.

It was introduced to USA in 1888 with the old rugby style of play adapted to American football. Flying salmon tactics had players leaping from backs of team mates to score. Violence was the main attraction. The rest of the world followed the British rules with Hungary (1889), Australia and Germany (1894), France (1895) Belgium (1900) following.

The new rules moved water polo from rugby to soccer. There was a goal cage three meteres wide and 0.9 m above the surface of the water. A player could only be tackled when one held the ball. No longer were players allowed to take the ball under water. The small rubber ball was replaced by a leather ball. It is an orange rubber ball now. Players can only use one hand to pass, collect and shoot. The goalie can use two hands.

Trudgeon Stroke

The common swimming stroke at water polo is the Trudgeon Stroke. It consists of alternating overarm strokes and a scissors kick. It was introduced to England in 1873 by a Scot player by that name. It was copied from South American Indians in Argentina. It emphasized swimming, speed and passing like at soccer. It is also called ‘combat side stroke’ and is used by the US Navy Seals as it allows them to swim more efficiently and reduce their body profile in the water.It was the first team event in the 1900 Olympics in Paris. An airtight nylon ball was then used. The matches were played in the river Seine. The champions were Osborne Swimming Club, a British club team among eight clubs from four countries that took part.

In the 1904 Olympics in St Louis USA, only US club teams played as US rules were mandated. A German team was disallowed to play .The matches were played in a pond in Forest Park under horrid conditions with players catching typhoid in an artificial contaminated pond leaving seven dead and 12 hospitalized. The US semi finals were close to a brawl.

Today FINA (International Amateur Swimming Federation) rules are followed. In 1914 USA agreed to the more civilized international rules. Europe dominated the game which was then described as a combination of swimming, football, basketball, ice hockey, rugby and wrestling! Britain’s King Charles III captained his college team at St Andrew’s University in Scotland.

The best in the world are the Hungarians who have won the most, (six) times at the Olympics and introduced the ‘dry’ pass with the Serbs and Croats closing in and Spain threatening. The Hungarian match v Russia after the 1956 invasion of their country by the Soviet army was called ‘blood on water’. The game is played all over the world today including those far apart as Brazil and China.

Visitors to the Dalmatian coast in summer could see lots of children practicing shooting at make shift goals in the sea as in beach water polo. Will SL see young people doing the same, in Kalkudah where one can wade for a hundred yards in knee deep sea water or off Casuarina Beach in the North?

With the sea all around and an abundance of lakes and rivers, water polo could become much more popular if also helped by sponsorship. Like rugby, despite physical limitations at international level, it suits the excitable temperament of the people! It costs little to play and attracts astonishing aficionados who are willing to undergo enormously punishing, strenuous and dedicated preparation in an exceptional character building game.

However sponsorship, which is vital, is sadly wanting. The excitement of the game should be the attraction and not just monetary return for captains of industry who are lured by the magic of a Royal-Thomian, Ananda-Nalandian or Joe-Pete joust that could draw immense crowds even if the game was ‘gudu’. Fortunately swimming as in all other sports is being promoted by building pools in small towns. Water polo will soon hopefully impact on Colombo from remote places, as in all other sports.

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