# 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

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.
German sources do not list Hans Aniol, Max Hainle, or Herbert von Petersdorff as members of the Berliner Swimming Club, mentioning Gustav Erpf, Asmus Simonsen, and Max Schöne instead, but Mallon notes that there is proof contemporary to the tournament for the participation of only the former trio. Three members of the Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club, Georges Romer, Guillaume Séron, and A. R. Upton, are also left off of some lists despite evidence that they participated in the first round. The roster for the Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester as listed by the International Olympic Committee is 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, 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. Lindberg has been considered the first New Zealand Olympian, 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."

### Full rosters

All entries are listed as per Mallon's "The 1900 Olympic Games" unless otherwise noted:
| Rank | Team | Nation | Players |
| | Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester | Mixed team | Great Britain: Thomas CoeRobert CrawshawWilliam HenryJohn Arthur JarvisPeter KempFrederick Stapleton New Zealand: Victor Lindberg |
| | Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club | Belgium | Jean de BackerVictor de BehrHenri CohenFernand FeyaertsOscar GrégoireAlbert MichantGeorges RomerGuillaume SéronVictor SonnemansA. R. Upton |
| | Libellule de Paris | Mixed team | France: Jules ClévenotAlphonse DecuyperLouis LaufrayHenri PeslierAuguste PesloyPaul Vasseur Great Britain: Bill Burgess |
| | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #2 | France | Auguste CamelinEugène CoulonJean FardelleAntoine FioletPierre GelléLouis MarcLouis MartinDésiré Mérchez(Eugène FavierRené LéricheCharles Treffel) |
| 5 | Berliner Swimming Club | Germany | Hans AniolPaul GebauerMax HainleGeorg HaxGustav LexauHerbert von PetersdorffFritz Scheider |
| 5 | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #1 | Mixed team | Belgium: Philippe Houben France: Eugène FavierRené LéricheGeorges LeuillieuxErnest MartinRené TartaraCharles Treffel |
| 5 | Tritons Lillois | France | Joseph BertrandVictor CadetMaurice HochepiedJean LeclerqLéon TisserandCharles DevendevilleJules Verbecke |

## Tournament results

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. 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. The final was held on the same day, with Osborne overcoming Brussels 7–2. Osborne, with the medal later credited to Great Britain, 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". Belgium has been retroactively credited with silver (medals were not handed out for many events at the 1900 Summer Olympics), while the two French semi-finalists have been seen as the bronze medalists.

### Summary

| First round 11 August | First round 11 August | Semi-finals 12 August | Semi-finals 12 August | Finals 12 August | Finals 12 August |
| Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester (ZZX) | 12 | | |
| Tritons Lillois (FRA) | 0 | | |
| Tritons Lillois (FRA) | 0 | Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester | 10 |
| | | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #2 | 1 |
| Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #2 (FRA) | 3 | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #2 | 1 |
| Berliner Swimming Club (GER) | 2 | | | | |
| Berliner Swimming Club (GER) | 2 | | | Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester | 7 |
| | | | | Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club | 2 |
| Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club (BEL) | 2 | | | Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club | 2 |
| Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #1 (ZZX) | 0 | | | | |
| Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #1 (ZZX) | 0 | Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club | 5 | | |
| | | Libellule de Paris | 1 |
| Libellule de Paris (ZZX) | | Libellule de Paris | 1 |
| Bye | | | |