Water Polo – Overview

Training: Halo Hereford Leisure Pool – Saturdays 0730-0830

City of Hereford Swimming Club re-started water polo section in 2014. Water Polo had not been played at Hereford for 20 years, before that, Hereford had a thriving senior team, and rumour has it that a game of water polo was played in the river Wye to celebrate the opening of the Victoria foot bridge.

The sport originated in England and Scotland in the 1870’s and is now the longest running Olympic Team Sport, first being included in the 1900 games in Paris.

Water Polo is an incredibly physical sport, and it is regarded as one of the most demanding of all team games. A top water polo player can cover up to three kilometres in a game, so they need to train very regularly to maintain their fitness. However, at Hereford we cater for all levels of fitness, so everyone can find their level. We help signpost keen and talented players and are proud that we have one Great Britain and 4 Welsh Internationals who started their playing careers at Hereford in recent years. We are equally proud of players who turn up week in week out, sometimes encouraging their parents to get in, who do it because they just love the sport and the friendly atmosphere we have.

If you can swim 100 metres and have a reasonable grasp of freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke then that’s all you need! Our youngest player is currently 8 years old, and someone with a Senior Persons Railcard has been known to get in occasionally!

If you haven’t seen the game before, here’s a brief explanation of what to expect:

There are goals at each end of the pool and the winner is the team that scores most goals by getting the ball between the posts.

Each team is allowed to have seven players in the water at any one time (six outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other than the goalkeeper, you will see the other players moving continuously around the pool playing in both attack and defence. Players are not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool and must tread water the entire time- they use a movement called eggbeater which is more efficient than the normal action of treading water and it allows them to jump up out of deep water without touching the bottom.

Players can move the ball by throwing it to a teammate or swimming while pushing the ball in front of them. They can only hold the ball with one hand, other than the goalkeeper who is allowed to use both hands.

Water polo players need remarkable stamina because of the considerable amount of holding and pushing that occurs during the game. Because it’s such a fast game and can be exhausting, each team is allowed a maximum of six substitutes and players can return to the pool after a time on the substitute bench.

Under World Aquatics rules a water polo match is divided into quarters. Each of the four quarters is eight minutes long but because the clock is stopped when the ball is not ‘in play’ the average quarter in fact lasts around 12 minutes.

Each team is only allowed to hold onto the ball for a maximum of 30 seconds before shooting for the goal. Timers on the side of the pool show the players how much longer they may have possession, and a hooter will sound if 30 seconds elapses and possession passes to the other team.

And there you have it! There are a few more rules than that, but if it’s got you interested, then come and join us on a Saturday morning at Hereford.

If you are interested, then fees and joining instructions are under the Club Info tab, and contactor the membership secretary, membership@herefordswimming.club to arrange a free trial.