Although modern water polo was invented in the late nineteenth century in Great Britain by William Wilson, the game resembles an early African rite of passage into manhood played in rivers. Evidence suggests similar water-ball games developed independently in flooded rice paddies in western China sometime after 500 BC during the Zhou Dynasty.
The modern game originated as a form of rugby football played in rivers and lakes in England and Scotland with a ball made of Indian rubber.
Water polo is now played in many countries around the world, notably in the former Yugoslavia and in Hungary. Deszo Gyarmati of Hungary won water polo medals at five successive Olympic Games (gold 1952, 1956, 1964; silver 1948; bronze 1960), a record that has never been matched. Men's water polo at the Olympics was one of the first team sports introduced at the 1900 games.
