Water polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics

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Men's water polo
at the Games of the II Olympiad
VenueRiver Seine (near Asnières)
DatesAugust 11 (quarterfinals)
August 12 (semifinals and final)
Competitors58 from 5 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester
 Mixed team
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club
 Belgium
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Libellule de Paris
 Mixed team
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pupilles de Neptune de Lille
 France
1904 →

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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] A second squad from the Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester was entered, but did not participate.[4]

Team composition

John Arthur Jarvis is listed on a roster contemporary to the Games as having competed for the Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester.
Fernand Feyaerts, pictured in 1916, was a member of the Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club.
Bill Burgess, pictured in 1911, was British, but competed for the French club Libellule de Paris.
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.[5] Their squad also included Bill Burgess, a Briton who would later become the second man to swim across the English Channel.[6] The first Pupilles de Neptune de Lille team contained a Belgian national, Philippe Houben.[7] 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.[5]

German sources do not list

Thomas Coe, John Henry Derbyshire, Peter Kemp, William Lister, Arthur G. Robertson, Eric Robinson, and George Wilkinson. Lister, however, had died two weeks prior to the Games,[4] while Derbyshire, Robinson, and Wilkinson all played water polo matches in England either during the tournament or too soon after it to have traveled back from Paris in time. A list of players contemporary to the match does not include Robertson, but does list Coe and Kemp in addition to Robert Crawshaw, William Henry, John Arthur Jarvis, Victor Lindberg, and Frederick Stapleton.[4] Lindberg has been considered the first New Zealand Olympian,[8] 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."[4]

Full rosters

All entries are listed as per Mallon's "The 1900 Olympic Games" unless otherwise noted:[9]

Rank Team Nation Players
1st place, gold medalist(s) Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester[10]  Mixed team[11]  
Thomas Coe
  • Robert Crawshaw
  • William Henry
  • John Arthur Jarvis
  • Peter Kemp
  • Frederick Stapleton
    •  New Zealand:
    2nd place, silver medalist(s) Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club  Belgium
  • A. R. Upton
    • 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Libellule de Paris  Mixed team[11]  France:
     Great Britain:
    Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #2[11]  France
    5 Berliner Swimming Club  Germany
    Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #1  Mixed team[11]  Belgium:
     France:
    Tritons Lillois  France

    Tournament results

    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,[16] 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.[3] The semi-finals took place on 12 August, with Osborne defeating the remaining Pupilles de Neptune de Lille squad 10–1 (with Martin scoring the lone goal for the French team) and Brussels winning against Libellule de Paris 5–1.[4] The final was held on the same day, with Osborne overcoming Brussels 7–2. Osborne, with the medal later credited to Great Britain,[3] became the first Olympic water polo champions and "descriptions of the matches make it appear that they won as they wished, and the margins could have been larger, had they pressed the matter".[4] Belgium has been retroactively credited with silver (medals were not handed out for many events at the 1900 Summer Olympics),[8] while the two French semi-finalists have been seen as the bronze medalists.[4]

    Summary

     
    		First round
    11 August    		Semi-finals
    12 August    		Finals
    12 August
     
    		          
     
    		 
     
     
    		 Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester (ZZX)12
     
    		 
     
    		 Tritons Lillois (FRA)0
     
    		Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester10
     
    		 
     
    		Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #21
     
    		 Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #2 (FRA)3
     
    		 
     
    		 Berliner Swimming Club (GER)2
     
    		Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester7
     
    		 
     
    		Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club2
     
    		 Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club (BEL)2
     
    		 
     
    		 Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #1 (ZZX)0
     
    		Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club5
     
    		 
     
    		Libellule de Paris1
     
    		 Libellule de Paris (ZZX)
     
     
    		Bye
     

    References

    1. FINA. September 2019. p. 4. Archived
      (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
    2. ISBN 978-1477780886
      .
    3. ^
      ISBN 0786489529
      .
    4. ^ a b c d e f g Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "Water Polo at the 1900 Paris Summer Games". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
    5. ^ a b c d Mallon 227
    6. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "Bill Burgess Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
    7. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "Philippe Houben Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
    8. ^ a b Munro, Bruce (2 August 2016). "A nation strikes gold". Otago Daily Times. Allied Press. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
    9. ^ Mallon 225
    10. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "Water Polo at the 1900 Paris Summer Games". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
    11. ^ a b c d "Paris 1900 water polo men Results". International Olympic Committee. 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
    12. ^ a b c d e f "L'Amicale des Internationaux Français de Natation" (in French). French Swimming Federation. 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
    13. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "J. Bertrand Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
    14. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "Victor Cadet Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
    15. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "Jules Verbecke Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
    16. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "Water Polo at the 1900 Paris Summer Games". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.

    Sources

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