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Illustrated History of Olympic Water Polo

By Mat Luebbers, About.com

3 of 10

1900 - 1904 Water Polo Becomes an Olympic Sport - Sort Of

US Water Polo Matches Were Rough

Some US water polo games were more like fights in the water with a ball somehow involved.

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Water polo was contested at the 1900 and 1904 Olympics, but not by everyone. The games used the US rules, and that was too violent for some countries, so many did not take part in the event.
  • 1900 - Men's water polo was added to the Olympics and it has been an Olympic event ever since.
  • 1904 - Only US teams played as the matches used US rules. Other teams refused to play that violent form of the game.

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