As I was making the coffee his morning, I thought I would catch up with a bit of live Olympics on my laptop. Spoilt for choice, courtesy of the BBCs excellent multi-platform coverage. I thought I would indulge in a bit of men's Water Polo. Wow! I can honestly say that I think Water Polo is the most violent sport I have ever seen! (Montenegro Versus Hungary, two pretty hardcore countries).....
So, the game went like this:
Ball comes into play, every player in the pool tries to drown each other. Someone manages to avoid drowing and scores a goal. The whistle is blown every 2 seconds for an offence of some sort and every player spends some time in the 'penalty' area (ie Sin Bin) and a power play ensues which results in more players almost being drowned and an almost definite goal being scored.
This is all pretty impressive stuff and it makes excellent viewing, especially in the 5000 seat, purpose built (but temporary) Water Polo arena with its inflatable plastic roof. However, what impressed me the most is the players ability to tread water as well as swim hard (and fight each other) for a long period of time!
An Olympic water polo games consists of 4 quarters,, each lasting 8 minutes, which equals 32 minutes total. But, when the ball is not being played (between a foul and free throw, or between a goal and restart), the clock is stopped, so in reality an average quarter lasts a lot longer (usually between twice to three times the actual playing time) than 32 minutes...in fact a game can last up to 90 minutes! A lot of swimming and treading water.
Finally, I have to say that the Goal Keepers ability to rise out of the water as though they have just stood on the bottom and pushed up, beggars belief. I saw one 'keeper get out of the water up to below his waist when he was reaching up to block a shot - try that in a 7 foot deep pool someday.
It's official water polo players are hard as nail! Who'da thunk it?! London 2012 is all about watching sport you'd never normally bother with. #Ilovesit