Water Polo

If fencing is Hungary's most traditional Olympic sport, water polo is its most beloved. Hungary is the most successful nation in the men's Olympic tournament, with a long run of golds, and the sport is followed in Hungary with something close to the passion given to football. This chapter covers the sport, the golds, the famous match of 1956, the players and coaches, and the sport's place in the national culture. Names, dates and results are from general knowledge and flagged for checking.

The Sport

Water polo is a team game played in a deep pool, in which two teams of seven try to put a ball in the other's goal. It is physical and tactical, with a good deal of the contest hidden beneath the surface (check the rules, which have changed). It began in Britain in the nineteenth century as a form of water rugby, and spread to Europe, where Hungary took it up with enthusiasm (check the history). The sport has been in the Olympic Games since 1900 for men and since 2000 for women (check).

The Golds

Hungary's men have won a large number of Olympic titles, more than any other nation (check the exact figure, which is usually given as nine). The pattern, in broad terms (check each):

In the years between, other nations, especially Italy, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and later Croatia, Serbia and Spain, took titles, and Hungary won many silver and bronze medals (check). The picture is of continuity at the top level more than of unbroken victory.

Melbourne, 1956

The best-known match in Hungarian sport history is the semi-final of the 1956 Games in Melbourne between Hungary and the Soviet Union, played in December 1956, only weeks after the Hungarian Revolution had been crushed by Soviet forces (check the date and the political context, which Chapter 7 covers). The match was fiercely contested and became violent. Hungary won (check the score, often given as 4–0), and the image of a Hungarian player, Ervin Zádor, with blood streaming from a cut over his eye, gave the match its name in the press: the "Blood in the Water" match (check the details and who struck whom, which accounts present differently). Hungary then won the final and took the gold medal (check).

Players and Coaches

• Dezső Gyarmati. A player who won Olympic medals at five successive Games from 1948 to 1964, including golds in 1952, 1956 and 1964 (check). His wife, the swimmer Éva Székely, and their daughter Andrea Gyarmati, also an Olympic swimmer, made it a sporting family (Chapter 5, check).
• György Kárpáti. A star of the 1950s and 1960s teams (check).
• Later players and coaches. The 2000s teams included players such as Tamás Kásás and Tibor Benedek, and their coach, Dénes Kemény, is credited with the successive golds (check the names and roles).

The Sport in Hungarian Culture

• Following. Large television audiences and crowds for important matches, and the sport's results are national news (check).
• The pools. Water polo is played in the city's pools, many of them linked to the baths of Thermal Baths & Budapest Spa Culture 4 and 5, and at clubs across the country (check).
• The clubs. Budapest and provincial clubs have supplied players for generations, and the national league is a major competition (check).
• The women's game. A women's team has won Olympic medals since the sport was added in 2000 (check), though not on the men's scale.

Exercises