16 Water Polo Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: A swim off

A swim off occurs at the begining of each quarter. Each team lines up at their respective 2 metre mark (goal line). When the referee blows the whistle each swimmer sprints up the pool to the half distance line where the referee has thrown or released the ball. The player that reaches the ball first passes it back to one of their teammates for the first possesion. A coin is tossed before the game by the captains in the prescence of the referees, and the winner to have the choice of ends. A jump ball can occur when the during the swim off the throw or released ball gives one team the advantage over the other or when the referee cannot decide which team should have possesion. This occurs for the same reasons a jump ball in basketball would or a toss up in netball.

Answer: 6

There 6 players from each team in the field at a time. The goalie is not part of the field. If you counted the goalie then there would be 7.

Answer: Yellow

It is the same colour for men and women. The only thing that is different is the size. Men play with a larger ball. The ball orginally was a solid yellow but in early 2005, FINA approved of an ammendment to the standard water polo balls used in official games. This change permitted a coloured middle stripe (blue, green, red, black, or yellow) with the normal yellow stripes flanking the coloured.

Answer: Set

'Set' is another name for position 6, besides 'whole.' This position roughly equates to a centre in basketball.

Answer: 7

Any number of players can be ejected at any time for major fouls, so you can have less players on the field, but never more than 7 in total. There are six field player positions, however unlike most common team sports there is no positional play, players often will play several positions throughout the game as situations demand. These positions are centre forward, point, two drivers and two wings. In offense, teams set up a "mushroom" in front of the goals. The centre forward sits on the 2 metre line in the middle of the goals. The point is directly in front of the centre forward usually around the 5 - 7 metre line. On either side of the point are the drivers. Their job is to drive towards the goals in the hopes of getting free and scoring a goal or to make the defense move positions and leave another player free to take a shot. Lastly, the wings sit on the 2 metre line also, one on each side of the goals. When this is set up properly it should look like a horseshoe or mushroom shape.

Answer: By throwing the ball into a netted goal

You score points by throwing the ball into a netted goal. Hopefully you will have a good goalie and the other team won't be able to score any points.

Answer: Egg beater

Egg beater allows players to expend minimum energy but still allows players to jump and move about easily in the pool when they are not swimming.

Answer: They are ejected for the rest of the game

It does not matter whether the game has just started or is about to finish, three major fouls means that a player may not enter the water again that game. An example of a major foul is where the defensive player comes from behind over the top of a player, pushing them under while they are trying to pick the ball up and shoot. This usually happens in the centre-forward position. Another way to get a major is to swim over the top of a person while they have the ball in their possession.

Answer: Blue and White

Historically, a team cap was either blue or white. In more recent times, teams wore caps that were patterned with their team logo or colours, and may not actually be either blue or white. Each team has two sets of hats and if they are not blue and white they have dark and light versions. If wearing the dark cap the team is referred to as blue and the light cap as white.

Answer: They are out ejected for the remainder of the game

On a player's third foul, they cannot play in the rest of the game. Players can get penalized for grabbing the opponents swimsuit or keeping the opponent from driving through, just to name a few.

Answer: All of these

All of the options results in a change of possesion. There can also be a change from the shot clock running out of time, the ball being "stolen" by the other team, or an offensive foul is committed to name just a few.

Answer: White

They wear white clothing so coaches and players know who they are and at night they are able to see them in the dark.

Answer: Number

Just like in all sports, players must have a number on them somewhere so that the referee's can distinguish one player from another. In water polo, there is no place to put a number except on the cap that players have to wear.

Answer: 1

All goals are worth one point no matter whether they are scored during normal play or as a result of a penalty, or penalty shoot out.
A penalty shot is awarded when a foul is committed by a defensive player inside the five-metre line directly aimed at preventing a goal. The penalty shot is taken at the five-metre line, and the goalie must be sitting on the goal line. The player must take their shot on the referee's whistle.

Answer: Water Polo ball

Water polo is played with, of course, a water polo ball. (It's about the size of a soccerball or volleyball though)

Answer: Australia

The 2000 Olympics was the first time that women's water polo was included. Australia beat the USA for the gold and Russia got the bronze. In the men's tournament, Hungary took the gold, Russia the silver, and the Yugoslavia Federation the bronze.