# Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics

The water polo tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the London 2012 Water Polo Arena in the Olympic Park from 29 July to 12 August. The venue's capacity held 5,000 spectators. Twelve teams competed in the men's tournament and eight teams in the women's tournament.

## Qualification

Both of Great Britain's teams automatically qualified, while the African qualification tournament was cancelled due as no teams entered, increasing the available spots at each final qualification tournament to four.

### Men

| Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Number of berths | Nation(s) qualified |
| Host nation | – | – | 1 | Great Britain |
| 2011 World League Super-Final | 21–26 June 2011 | Florence, Italy | 1 | Serbia |
| 2011 FINA World Championships | 16–31 July 2011 | Shanghai, China | 3 | Italy Croatia Hungary |
| 2011 Pan American Games | 23–29 October 2011 | Guadalajara, Mexico | 1 | United States |
| 2012 Asian Water Polo Championship | 23–29 January 2012 | Chiba City, Japan | 1 | Kazakhstan |
| Oceania | – | – | 1 | Australia |
| World Qualification Tournament | 1–8 April 2012 | Edmonton, Canada | 4 | Montenegro Spain Greece Romania |
| Total | | | 12 | |

### Women

| Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Number of berths | Nation(s) qualified |
| Host nation | – | – | 1 | Great Britain |
| 2011 Pan American Games | 23–28 October 2011 | Guadalajara, Mexico | 1 | United States |
| 2012 Asian Water Polo Championship | 23–29 January 2012 | Chiba City, Japan | 1 | China |
| Oceania | – | – | 1 | Australia |
| World Qualification Tournament | 15–22 April 2012 | Trieste, Italy | 4 | Spain Italy Russia Hungary |
| Total | | | 8 | |

## Draw

The draw for the Olympic tournament took place in May 2012. The men were drawn into two groups of six teams, the women were drawn into two groups of four teams.

### Men's competition

| Group A | Group B |
| Greece  Italy  Kazakhstan  Spain  Australia  Croatia | Hungary  Montenegro  Romania  Great Britain  United States  Serbia |

### Women's competition

| Group A | Group B |
| Hungary  Spain  China  United States | Italy  Great Britain  Russia  Australia |

## Medal summary
### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Croatia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Spain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Australia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Serbia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | Totals (6 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |

### Events

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men | Croatia (CRO) Josip Pavić Damir Burić Miho Bošković Nikša Dobud Maro Joković Petar Muslim Ivan Buljubašić Andro Bušlje Sandro Sukno Samir Barać Igor Hinić Paulo Obradović Frano Vićan | Italy (ITA) Stefano Tempesti Amaurys Pérez Niccolò Gitto Pietro Figlioli Alex Giorgetti Maurizio Felugo Massimo Giacoppo Valentino Gallo Christian Presciutti Deni Fiorentini Matteo Aicardi Danijel Premuš Giacomo Pastorino | Serbia (SRB) Slobodan Soro Aleksa Šaponjić Živko Gocić Vanja Udovičić Dušan Mandić Duško Pijetlović Slobodan Nikić Milan Aleksić Nikola Rađen Filip Filipović Andrija Prlainović Stefan Mitrović Gojko Pijetlović |
| Women | United States (USA) Elizabeth Armstrong Heather Petri Melissa Seidemann Brenda Villa Lauren Wenger Maggie Steffens Courtney Mathewson Jessica Steffens Elsie Windes Kelly Rulon Annika Dries Kami Craig Tumua Anae | Spain (ESP) Laura Ester Marta Bach Anni Espar Roser Tarragó Matilde Ortiz Jennifer Pareja Lorena Miranda María del Pilar Peña Andrea Blas Ona Meseguer María García Godoy Laura López Ana Copado | Australia (AUS) Victoria Brown Gemma Beadsworth Sophie Smith Holly Lincoln-Smith Jane Moran Bronwen Knox Rowena Webster Kate Gynther Glencora Ralph Ashleigh Southern Melissa Rippon Nicola Zagame Alicia McCormack |