Water polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics

A water polo tournament was held on the Seine (near Asnières) on 11 and 12 August 1900 as part of the 1900 Summer Olympics. Eight teams from four countries, all European, entered the event, although only seven ended up playing. The Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester, England, which has been listed with two rosters that are nearly entirely different, became the first Olympic water polo champions by defeating the Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club of Belgium. Third place went to the two French-based semi-finalists, Libellule de Paris and Pupilles de Neptune de Lille, the latter of whom entered two teams, but merged them together after the first round.

Background

Water polo, and team sport in general, made its Olympic debut at the 1900 Summer Games held in Paris, France. The tournament was to be played by the less violent and more restrictive "English rules", which, along with the cost of traveling to Paris, deterred any American teams from participating. Seven teams, representing at least four countries, took part in the competition. Four squads were based in the host nation: two from Pupilles de Neptune de Lille and one each from Libellule de Paris and Tritons Lillois. The Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club, Berliner Swimming Club, and Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester were based in Belgium, Germany, and Manchester, Great Britain respectively. A second squad from the Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester was entered, but did not participate.

Team composition

thumb|right|upright|[[John Arthur Jarvis is listed on a roster contemporary to the Games as having competed for the Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester.]]

thumb|right|upright|[[Fernand Feyaerts, pictured in 1916, was a member of the Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club.]]

thumb|right|upright|[[Bill Burgess, pictured in 1911, was British, but competed for the French club Libellule de Paris.]]

thumb|right|upright|[[Paul Vasseur, pictured in 1920, was also on the Libellule de Paris squad.]]

The composition of several of the teams in Paris differs across sources and not all teams were composed solely of members who were nationals of the countries in which their clubs were based. Libellule de Paris has been listed as having a player by the name of "Devenot", but Olympic historian Bill Mallon identifies this player as Jules Clévenot, who also competed in swimming events at the Games. Their squad also included Bill Burgess, a Briton who would later become the second man to swim across the English Channel. The first Pupilles de Neptune de Lille team contained a Belgian national, Philippe Houben. Three members of this squad, Eugène Favier, René Lériche, and Charles Treffel, joined the second Pupilles de Neptune de Lille team after the first was eliminated from the tournament. They seem to have replaced four players, Auguste Camelin, Antoine Fiolet, Pierre Gellé, and Louis Marc, who competed for the second Pupilles de Neptune de Lille lineup only in the first round. although he "was born in Fiji to Swedish and Irish parents, lived in New Zealand from a young age and, in Paris, represented a British club."

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank || Team || Nation || Players

| ||align=left| Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester ||align=left| ||align=left| : :

| ||align=left| Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club ||align=left| ||align=left|

|rowspan=2| ||align=left| Libellule de Paris ||align=left| |Paul Vasseur :

Tournament results

thumb|right|180px|The [[Seine, pictured in 2010, was the venue for the water polo tournament at the 1900 Summer Olympics.]]

The water polo tournament was held at the river Seine, with the first round taking place on 11 August. Osborne defeated Tritons Lillois in a 12–0 shutout, with Jarvis scoring at least six of the goals. Brussels also shutout the first Pupilles de Neptune de Lille squad 2–0, while the latter's second team defeated Berliner 3–2. Libellule de Paris received a bye and the losing teams were eliminated from the tournament.