THE HISTORY OF FEMALE WATER POLO
Water Polo in 1800s
Water “Football”

Water Polo originated in the rivers and lakes of England during the mid-nineteenth century as an aquatic version of rugby football. Early games used an inflated, rubber ball imported from India. In 1870, with a view to attract more spectators to swimming exhibitions, the London Swimming Association developed a set of water polo rules for indoor swimming pools.

At first, players scored by planting the ball on the end of the pool with both hands. A favorite trick of the players was to place the five-to-nine inch rubber ball inside their swimming suit and dive under the murky water, then appear again as near the goal as possible. If the player came up too near the goal, he was promptly jumped on by the goalie, who was permitted to stand on the pool deck. Games were often nothing more than gang fights in the water as players ignored the ball, preferring underwater wrestling matches that usually ended with one man floating to the surface unconscious.

Women’s Water Polo in Canada

Although water polo became an official sport in 1885, the earliest report of women playing water polo in Canada was in 1920, when the Toronto's Ladies' Swimming Club started a program. From then, women’s water polo grew throughout the country, gaining recognition in many provinces.

At the first Women's World Championships in 1981 Canadian women proved they were the best in the world (Titan’s mother and part time Titans coach Heather Seaman was the goalie on this World Championship team)! Currently the women are ranked in the top five in the world. Canada sent its first women's Water Polo team to the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 (Titans Head Coach David Hart (four time Olympian) was part of the Sydney coaching staff)!  In 2003, the Canadian Junior Women’s team won the world championships held in Calgary.

Canadian women are currently trying to qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens (Marianne Illing, Titans athlete is a member of this team).  Five Titans girls have recently been named to the 2004 Canadian Junior team (Virginia McConnell) and the 2004 Canadian Youth team (Erin Bickerton, Nicole Moquin, Kessia Cartier & Emma Cope) and Titans Coach Alison Davis has been named as Head Coach for the Canadian Youth team.

Ottawa Titans Water Polo

Water polo is the most physically demanding of all team games, requiring athletes to cover up to 3 - 4 kilometers in the pool over the 1 hour 15 minutes it takes to complete a game. It requires endurance, skill, teamwork and discipline. The Ottawa Titans are committed to these goals as a record number of over 100 Titans girls continue to train hard, have fun and excel in the sport of water polo.

In 2003, the Ottawa Titans Girls teams won GOLD at the Junior Provincials, SILVER at the Juvenile Provincials and GOLD at the Cadet Provincials! As well, the Junior girls placed 6th at Canadian Nationals while the Juvenile team placed 5th. 


In September 2002, Titans Water Polo launched the Titans Academy Girls program, the first all girls water polo program for girls 13 & under in Canada.  This May (thanks to the lobbying by Titans Water Polo), Ontario Water Polo will sponsor the first girls’ only Bantam provincial championship.
Thanks to ground breaking efforts by dedicated players, coaches and volunteers, the future of women’s water polo is secure and future female athletes will no doubt aspire to their leadership and success in sport!