The Exhausting Thrills of Water Polo

The easy part of water polo, Merrill Balassone writes in the Los Angeles Times, is about wear and tear on the joints.  Everything else is murder. Balassone, a masters athlete who came from a family of competitive swimmers and polo players and recenly played her first water polo game, reports that the game is fast, competitive, exhaustive, and terrific fun. “The next day,” she writes,  “there wasn’t a single muscle group that didn’t ache from
the workout. My quadriceps and hamstrings were sore from treading water
and sprinting up and down the length of the pool. My back and sides
hurt from reaching to catch the ball and passing. My biceps were tired
from the swimming, and even my hands were giving me trouble.”
Mike Lewis, director of sport development for USA Water Polo, told Balassone that the
masters level (for players 20 and older) is one of the fastest-growing
segments of the organization, attracting former college players and
swimmers who want to take up the sport. And he told her why.
“I think water polo
offers the benefits of swimming with the social aspect of, say
basketball or soccer,” Lewis said. “So you have the cardiovascular
benefits of swimming but then you get the technical, tactical and
social aspects of a team sport, which makes it extremely unique.” Read more.