Water Polo

With the 2012 London Games just around the corner, everyone's attention is focusing on what Americans will make an impact in the pool, which Americans will join LeBron James and others on the basketball court and whether Tyson Gay can overtake Usain Bolt.

However, there is much more to the Summer Olympics than just swimming, basketball and track and field. What are some lesser known sports that should grab your attention once the torch is lit?

Water polo certainly isn't sexy, but it's a very fun sport to watch.

It's a little bit like lacrosse, if lacrosse was played in water. These players are tremendous athletes, having to tread water for the entire game, as well as swim back and forth. It's fast moving and high scoring. The US men's team just beat Hungary 12-9, in a game that featured six goals by star player Tony Azevedo.

The Americans won silver at the 2008 Beijing Games, losing to Hungary in the gold medal game. Sunday's game should give the Americans hope for the London games, and they are a top contender for the gold medal.

There's also women's water polo, and the Americans won silver in 2008, losing to the Netherlands in the gold medal game.

The 2012 team was announced on May 17th. The women have a good shot at gold; they have won six of the last seven international tournaments, and the defending gold medalists, the Netherlands, did not qualify for the London games.

Water polo hasn't taken off in the United States, but with two top teams with legitimate chances for gold, it just might this summer.

While women's beach volleyball gets all the attention, it's the women's indoor volleyball team that should be getting noticed.

They won the 2008 silver medal in Beijing, losing to Brazil. This time, however, they are the favorites, as they are ranked number one in the world. According to David Wharton of the Sacramento Bee, the women are confident:

"We've earned the right to be confident," middle blocker Danielle Scott-Arruda said. "But we can't rest here. It just makes us want to keep fighting." 

The head coach is Hugh McCutcheon, who was the head coach of the 2008 men’s team, which won the gold in Beijing. According to Wharton, McCutcheon is quick to praise the team:

"Our ability to read the game, to see the game, to link good play after good play is so much better than it used to be," McCutcheon says. "We can do a lot of different things."

The women's team has never won a gold medal, but that could change in 2012. They might also bring some of the attention indoors, instead of on the beach.

If there's a sport that gets less attention than archery, it would be hard to name. However, this year, the US features an archer that could win gold. Brady Ellison, 23, is the number one ranked archer in the world. He did not medal in the 2008 games, but is one of the favorites for gold.

The US men's team has not won a medal since winning silver at the 2000 Sydney games and last won gold in the 1996 Atlanta games. 

Ellison gives them a chance to recapture their archery glory. From 1972-1988 (excluding the 1980 Moscow games, where the United States did not participate), the US men's archery team won gold every time. Ellison won the 2010 and 2011 Archery World Cup, and is the heavy favorite to win the 2012 Archery World Cup.

He won the bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships. 

Ellison will participate in the individual and team events for the US team. To determine which archer wins, archers have to hit targets 70 meters away. The highest score wins. For the team events, each country picks three archers. Once again, the highest score wins, with the three archers scores combined.

Ellison finished 27th at the Beijing games, but he has put that in the rear view mirror and is ready to bring back the gold for the Americans.

The Olympics are usually focused on the big sports, like swimming, track and field, basketball and gymnastics. But there are 26 sports at the 2012 games, and the Americans are contenders in many of them.

Whether it's water polo, where both the men's and women's team could take gold, indoor volleyball, where the women are the favorites, or archery, where Brady Ellison is the number one archer in the world, there are some lesser known sports that should have your attention when the London Games get started.

[Note: This interview was originally conducted back on September 10, 2008.]

Now, you may be asking yourself, who is Gery Kiss?

But after doing some research you may find that Kiss is one of the top water polo—yes, water polo—players in the world. So what does that have to do with this post? Well, Kiss was part of the gold medal winning Hungary water polo team at the 2008 Beijing Games, and I had the opportunity to talk to one of the star players on that team.

Nick Barnowski:  You have won three Olympic gold medals in a row for the Hungarian national team. What is it like being a part of those teams?

Gery Kiss:  Three gold medals, 21 players. All of them are extraordinary talents and athletes. In Sydney I was the 2nd youngest on the team, but I felt as if I had always been with these great teammates.

NB:  In the United States water polo is not followed by many people regularly. If someone asked you, “Why should I follow water polo?”, what would you say to them?

GK:  It is a beautiful sport, just for standing in the deep water, you have to practice for years. It is an interesting mixture of swimming, football (soccer) and ice hockey: goals, fights, nice movements in a very healthy atmosphere, like the clean water.

NB:  You are known for your domination during the 2004 Athens games, where you scored the game winning goal for your team in the gold medal match. Is there any greater feeling than winning the gold medal for your country?

GK:  My four goals out of Hungary's eight remains always a big memory in my mind. But to make a nation of 15 million happy, you can't beat the feeling.

NB:  How much of an affect does your coach, Denes Kemeny have on you and your play?

GK:  He has a very good gift of teaching. He knows when to say "well done" or "you have to improve a lot in this or that". He always has something in his mind to surprise the other team. He knows when to work you hard and when we need an extra break.

NB:  Most people reference to you when talking about the greatest left handed players of all-time. How much of a difference does being left or right handed make in water polo?

GK:  Thanks for the kind words! I believe that being a lefty is a big advantage in water polo. Every team needs lefties to play at the right wing, and every goalkeeper is used to seeing shots from the right handed players, because (generally) only 1 out of 10 players are left handed. We often have a special shot, a kind of unexpected, unusual style, and maybe our brain works differently, so we can serve the ball, and preview the situation a little bit better.

NB:  What is the atmosphere like before a big game against rivals like Serbia or Montenegro?

GK:  You have to be prepared like a mixture of an ancient warrior and a university student: brave, heroic, clever and calm. You and your teammates have to feel the same brotherhood, that special feeling that you are able to suffer, bleeding etc. for the others. This is maybe the only way to beat these very good teams.

Personally I loved his last answer, and I also realized again that what may not be popular here in the United States is very popular in countries like Hungary.

It's not often that you get to talk with a three-time gold medalist, but I enjoyed the experience (although it happened back in September) and I'd like to thank Mr. Kiss once again.

Football players are tough. Swimmers are in amazing shape. Basketball players are among the most athletic. Water Polo players? They’re all three.

Before you go off the deep end and tell me how wrong I am, hear me out. If water polo players are such good athletes (they are), then why does Water Polo get no love? I’ve seen gymnastics on T.V. more than water polo during the Olympics.

Here’s one reason why I don’t think the sport gets any love. The following is an exchange I am sure no one has ever heard.

Guy No. 1: Hey man, tough day at work? What are you doing this weekend?

Guy No. 2: Oh, you know, I’m going to hang out with the guys, play some pick-up games of water polo at the Y.

Water polo is such a tough sport to play that not any average Joe can go play a pick up game like basketball, softball, or even football.

If you aren’t up-to-date with water polo allow me to inform you. Water polo is a combination of swimming, basketball and football and it’s played in about 20 feet of water.

For anyone to say these athletes aren’t some of the best, and for the sport to get little coverage is a shame. Water Polo may be one of the few sports where you have to be an athlete to even compete.

Look at baseball, not many would consider Prince Fielder an athlete yet he is one of the top players in the game. In the NFL would you consider a 300 plus pound lineman an athlete, or is he just strong? Even in the NBA, not all are athletes (Robert “Tractor” Taylor anyone?)

Water polo is completely different. The athletes are swimming in 20 feet of water, when they aren’t swimming they are staying afloat by egg-beating (kicking their legs in the motion of an egg-beater) and they toss a ball around.

Next, add getting kicked repeatedly, a clouded field of vision with water splashing everywhere and some other person hanging on top of you trying to dunk you under water if they can get away with it.

Michael Phelps is considered one of the top athletes in the world, and deservedly so. I am in no way taking away what he did because it was simply amazing, but he only does 1/3 of what water polo players do.

Sunday afternoon the men’s water polo team, who came into the Olympic games ranked number nine in the world, goes for the gold against the two time defending world champion Hungary. If the men’s team captures gold, will it propel the sport in the United States? That remains to be seen, but fans of the sport can only hope it will.

If they happen to only capture silver, that will still be quite an accomplishment for the team. Who knows maybe in the 2012 games Phelps will switch sports and help add one more gold medal to his resume.

In 1991, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began to disband during a series of violent wars. Croatia, which would become a water polo super power, became an independent state during this time, but two republics stayed unified as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In 2003, Yugoslavia was renamed the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. In early June of 2006, Montenegro and Serbia declared their independence from one another.

But just over a week later, Serbia and Montenegro, still a unified team despite the recent political division in their country, would compete in the FINA Water Polo World Cup in Budapest.

The team would win the gold medal in a 10-9 overtime match against the Hungarians, who were playing at home. A year earlier, they had defeated Hungary 8-7 in Montreal to claim the FINA Men’s World Water Polo Championship. In 2004, the team won the silver medal at the Olympics.

On Sunday, the Serbians and the Montenegrins will again play for water polo hardware, this time in the 2008 Olympic men’s water polo bronze game. But they will not fly their unified Serbia and Montenegro flag, pictured above. In this match, they will meet as opponents.

Serbia has outscored their opponents 64-53 in seven Olympic matches, while Montenegro has only allowed 44 goals while scoring 65.

Montenegro lacks depth in their rotation, but they have given solid performances such as their 10-10 tie with Hungary in the preliminaries. The Montenegrins beat Croatia by one goal in the quarterfinals before losing to Hungary in the semifinals.

Serbia lost to Croatia 8-11, one of the two team’s common opponents, in the preliminaries. Montenegro and Serbia's other common opponent was Spain, whom Montenegro beat 12-6 in the preliminaries. The Serbs beat the Spaniards 9-5 in the quarterfinals, but lost to the U.S. 10-5 in the semis despite winning the preliminary match with the U.S. 4-2.

The United States will face Hungary for the gold medal. The Hungarians have won the last two Olympic Games, while the U.S. was ranked ninth in the world coming into Beijing.

Croatia came into today's quarterfinal match as the top ranked men's water polo team in the world. Montenegro entered as European champions and first-time Olympic competitors. Their country became an independent state only two years ago when they separated from another water polo power, Serbia.

Croatia had the advantage of depth on the bench and a high-powered offense. Including their one loss to the United States in preliminary play, the Croatians had outscored their opponents by an average of five goals (6.75 goals if the loss to the U.S. is not counted).

Montenegro's advantage was psychological. They had defeated the Croatians in the European championship one month prior and had tied the 2000 and 2004 Olympic champions, Hungary, in preliminary play.

The Croatians were outscored 3-1 in the first quarter. In the second, Croatia blocked a five-meter penalty shot blocked to give them some momentum.

Montenegro scored first in the second period, followed by a Croatian goal on a power play. But Montenegro's Nikola Janovic scored to put his side up 5-2.

Then Croatia's two-meter man, Igor Hinic, took over. The 6'6", 238-pound Hinic scored two goals in 80 seconds from in front of the goal, both without the help of a power play. The half ended with Montenegro up by one.

Montenegro scored in the early part of the third quarter. But as the number of Montenegran players earning two exclusion fouls grew (three is the limit), Croatia tried to get the ball back into Hinic at two-meters. The Croatians hoped Hinic would draw some more exclusion fouls from Montenegro, causing ejections from their thin squad.

But Montenegro held off the Croatians for the entire third period, which included three Croatian power play opportunities.

Montenegro entered the fourth quarter with four players having two exclusion fouls. Milan Ticic quickly received his third foul and was ejected.

Croatia scored on the ensuing power play to put them within one, but Vladimir Gojkovic scored his second goal on a counter attack a few minutes later to put Montenegro up 7-5.

Croatia scored on another power play, and attempted to isolate Hinic to draw fouls on ensuing offensive sets. Another Montenegro player received his third exclusion and was ejected.

Montenegro played solid defense in the closing minutes and the Olympic newcomers were able to stop a Croatian pass into two-meters in the closing seconds to win the match.

Montenegro will advance to play Hungary, who had a bye in the quarterfinals, again in the semifinals. The two teams tied at 10 when they met in the preliminaries. Montenegro was three of eight on their power plays.

In the other men's quarterfinals, Serbia handled Spain 9-5 and will play the United States in the semifinal. The United States was defeated by Serbia 2-4 in the preliminaries, but still managed to win their group over the Serbs and receive a bye for the quarterfinals.

If Serbia and Montenegro win their semifinal games, the two countries that were formerly one nation would face off each other in the gold medal match.

For those who want more action in the pool, look no further than Team USA men's water polo squad, currently in the semifinals and guaranteed, at worst, a shot at the bronze.

The United States is not a world powerhouse in water polo, at least on the men's side. The sport is typically dominated by Eastern European teams, such as Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, and Montenegro, all who are participating in the Beijing games.  Water polo is the second or third most popular sport in these countries behind soccer and sometimes basketball.

The brief history of USA men's water polo is that they have been terribly inconsistent and just plain not good.  To make a comparison so that the general sports fan can get a grasp of how Team USA has performed historically, think of the Seattle Mariners from Major League Baseball or the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League.

Both teams have had a few seasons in which they were as good as any team in their league and players who were well known stars, like Ken Griffey, Jr. or Ichiro of Seattle or Boomer Esiasion and Corey Dillion of the Bengals.

The men's water polo team has not taken a medal at the World Championships in the event's history, which started back in 1973.  The best finish ever for the men's team was fourth in 1991 and their last Olympic medal was a silver at the 1988 Seoul games.

A side note here is that the current US coach, Terry Schroeder, was on that 1988 runner up team. He was also on the 1984 silver medalist team in Los Angeles and competed in an amazing total of four Olympics.  

In the last world championships the US team managed only a ninth place finish, and to some it would be considered a success in Beijing.  In the 2000 games the men's team finished eighth, and then in the 2004 Olympics the men finished fifth.

Another hurdle that has made this Olympics a success even before the games are done is that since the 2004 Athens games the US team has had three head coaches, which is quite rare.

One coach was Ratko Rudic, an Eastern European coach who was to bring success to the US.  Shortly after Athens, however, he left the team and is now Serbia's head coach.  Then there was Ricardo Azevedo who was the head coach at Long Beach State and is the father of current US standout Tony Azevedo. His work with Team USA was short-lived.

That leaves us with current head coach Schroeder.  He has been on the job for just over a year.

This US team does have star power and it starts with three-time Olympian Tony Azevedo who is only 27 and has been on the national team since he was a junior in high school.   Azevedo is one of the top feared shooters internationally and must be taken into account wherever he is in the pool.

Azevedo has been a star since high school where he won player of the year four times. His team won the state championship for four years straight in the toughest high school classification in the United States.

He then went on to Stanford where he won two national titles, but what is most impressive is that he won the Peter J. Cutino award for four straight years.  That award is the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, so this was quite a feat.

The US team made progress by finishing second in the FINA Super League. This is the equivalent to the World Championships, but with a format like a short season in any other sport with playoffs at the end.  Even after finishing second, the team still had skeptics.

The team is ranked ninth in the world going into the Olympics, and optimists had the team making the medal rounds to get at least a sixth place finish.  In Game One USA came out strong and defeated host country China 8-4 in a game that saw the US allow China to hang around. 

The next test game was against fifth ranked Italy and the US played similarly: letting the Italians hang around, but ultimately winning the game 12-11 because of the many errors the Italians made.

The US lost their next game which was no surprise, defeated by Serbia.  But the shock was that the score was a low 4-2 thanks to first-time Olympian goalie Merril Moses.

Another big shock came when USA beat No. 1 world ranked and gold medal favorite Croatia 7-5.  The game was hard-fought, and once Team USA had the lead they kept it.

The Croatians were not happy losing to the Americans, and during the last minute they took out their aggression by fouling the US very hard each time they touched the ball or attempted to drive to the goal.

That win along with a few other scenarios, including the very questionable performance that had Serbia losing to Italy and starting their back-up goalie, allowed USA to win their group and move on to the semifinals.

Other coaches noticed the same thing about Serbia. If they had defeated Italy then they would have been in the group of Montenegro and Hungary, all three of which were considered gold medal favorites.

Now with Serbia "losing" that game they get to play Spain. If they win this will be the easier path, but it shows a lack of respect for the US team.  Coach Schroeder says it best:

"They're thinking it's an easier path to the gold medal. It's a little bit of disrespect...There's motivation for us. If Serbia gets that far, we'll be ready for them."

This is one of the true underdog stories for the United States. Water polo has been around for over 100 years and the US has only one gold medal. This was won at the 1904 St. Louis games, but that was because other teams did not come due to the violent play the US engaged in.

If Team USA wins a medal in water polo it would be a remarkable story for a team that was ranked ninth in the world prior to the games.

Today the world champion U.S. women's water polo team took on the Olympic champion Italians at the Yingdong Natatorium in a Group A preliminary match.

Italy came on strong and scored two goals in the first period. After a goal from each squad in the second period, Brittany Hayes took over during the last 3+ minutes, first scoring on a power play.

Following an Italian score, Hayes had a beautiful assist to Kami Craig at the 2-meter position. Craig launched the ball under the goalie's arm and into the net. Hayes lobbed one in for her second score fifty seconds later. The teams went into half time tied 4-4.

In the third period, Silvia Bosurgi rocketed a ball into the U.S. net from the perimeter. U.S. Captain Brenda Villa scored next on a skip shot during a power play. Jessica Steffens put the U.S. ahead by one with a perimeter shot that hit the crossbar and bounced down and past the plane of the goal. Italy scored once more to tie things up at six going into the fourth quarter.

The U.S. won the fourth quarter sprint, and played two sets of solid defense, stopping Italy at the 2-meter position both times. Brenda Villa scored her second goal from the perimeter, and the U.S. was ahead 7-6. Italy was awarded a power play and called a timeout.

Following some crisp passing, Italy scored and tied things up again. Around the four-minute mark, Heather Petri put the U.S. ahead again, and 42 seconds later, an Allison Gregorka goal from the perimeter gave the U.S. a slight two-goal cushion.

But Tania di Mario was given too much free space and scored to put Italy within one. Up by one and facing an impressive offensive with 1:16 left, U.S. coach Guy Baker called a timeout.

One of Italy's 2-meter players, Elisa Casanova, was put into position, and tried to draw an exclusion fowl from her defender, Alison Gregorka. Casanova, who wore a face mask due to a broken nose sustained in an earlier match, had the size advantage on the smaller American. Gregorka fouled her and Italy was given a power play. During the power play, Tania di Mario fed the ball into Casanova who caught and shot, sending the ball past goalie Betsy Armstrong and into the U.S. goal.

All tied up at nine, Guy Baker called another timeout. On the ensuing play, the U.S. tried to set the ball into Natalie Golda at 2-meters, but they could not score as the time expired and were left with a tie.

The U.S. team have been disappointing from the defensive perspective. They have uncharacteristically allowed 20 goals in two matches. Five of Italy's nine goals came during power plays. The U.S. did, however, convert three of their four power play opportunities.

The U.S. faces the European champion Russian Federation on Friday.

The heavily favored U.S. Women's Water Polo team came into yesterday's preliminary match as current World Champions, and looking to start the long road to the Gold Medal game.

China's squad entered the Yingdong Natatorium excited to play their first Olympic match ever. With no one over the age of 21, the Chinese had nothing to lose.

Natalie Golda opened up the scoring for Team USA before China answered with two goals in the next two minutes. The U.S. leveled it up by blocking a shot on a Chinese power play, and by an overpowering goal from Kami Craig at the two-meter position.

In the last minute of the first quarter, Teng Fei and Natalie Gold would score for China and the U.S. respectively to head to the second quarter tied-up at three.

China scored two goals to start the second quarter. They were followed by two more goals from the U.S., the second a Natalie Golda rocket launched from the top and into the right corner of the goal.

Goalie Betsy Armstrong blocked a close-range Chinese shot from 2-meters out. On the ensuing possession, Brittany Hayes pumped faked a shot, then lobbed the ball over the goalie's far shoulder and into the net less than a minute after Golda's score.

With 3:13 left in the 2nd half and down by one, China substituted their goalie. Teng Fei then scored a minute later to even the score before Natalie Golda sent another stunner into the goal from the top.

The U.S. suffered an exclusion foul, and China scored on the power play. But with 14 seconds left in the half, Brittany Hayes scored from the right wing off of a pass from U.S. Captain, Brenda Villa, to put them up by one.

In the third quarter China's starting goalie, Yang Jun, substituted back in to guard the net. But the U.S. welcomed her back to the pool by scoring, followed by a goal from China, then the U.S. again, followed by another China score.

China's Goa Ao scored her second and third goal of the match in the beginning of the fourth quarter to give China their first lead since the first part of the second quarter. But Cami Craig quickly scored her third goal on a U.S. power play to make the match even at 11.

With 3:32 left, Lauren Wenger scored off a pass from Brenda Villa during a power play to put the U.S. up by one. Thirty seconds later, the U.S. caught a break when China missed on a 7-meter shot after a penalty, but the U.S. turned the ball over on their next possession due to a poor shot.

Brenda Villa blocked a shot from China, but they recovered the ball and shot again. The U.S. caught another break as the ball bounced off the goal post. The U.S. took another poor shot during their next possession, and China recovered and set up their offense.

With one minute on the clock, the U.S. played sharp defense, not giving the Chinese any option but to force a weak lob towards the goal with the shot clock running down.

The U.S. set up on offense and Brenda Villa kept possession calmly, not allowing her smaller opponent to come near the ball. With the shot clock running down, Villa passed the ball off and the U.S. swam back into defensive positions.

The U.S.' shot clock expired and China called time out to make the most of their last opportunity to tie the game again.

When the whistle resumed play for the last seconds, China tried to draw a foul, but the U.S. played disciplined defense, and the clock expired while the Chinese were still looking for a shot.

In the U.S.' 12-11 victory over China, there were five lead changes and the score was tied at eight different points. Natalie Golda lead all scoring with four goals, and Kami Craig scored three times.

While this made for an exciting match, it was the first time the U.S. had allowed a team to score in the double digits in eight years.

The U.S. tallied six exclusion fouls resulting in Chinese power plays. A power play occurs when a player is excluded from play for 20-seconds due to the degree of aggression of the foul. Exclusion fouls happen multiple times a game (it should not be thought of as basketball's technical foul), but on a player's third exclusion foul, they are dismissed from the match. 

The U.S. only allowed one goal while they were a man down. This either means they were playing solid defense, or that the Chinese were inexperienced in power play situations. But while their man-down defense was strong, the U.S. allowed nine goals from open play (the tenth was a penalty shot). The U.S. will have to tighten up their defense while decreasing the number of their exclusion fouls if they hope to advance all the way to the Gold Medal game.

The U.S. women face Italy on Wednesday.