THE UNITED STATES, “ETERNAL” WATER POLO CHAMPION

The North American team is champion of the last seven editions of the Pan American Games. Canada and Brazil will want to maintain their presence on the podium, as they have done during the last five editions.

A total of eight teams will participate in the water polo competition in Santiago 2023, which begins this Monday, October 30. The men's and women's branches will compete in two groups of four members, playing round-robin matches. The two teams with the most points will advance to the semifinals, while the four teams not qualified for the medal race will define the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth places.

This sport will be played at the Aquatics Center of the Santiago Stadium National Park, and grants the champion a direct place in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In addition, it gives places in the next World Aquatics Championships in Doha 2024.

The big favorite, both for men and women, is the United States delegation, which won gold from Buenos Aires in 1995 until the last Games in Lima. And they have made the final of the last 17 Games, winning 13 times. In the case of the women's team, they are the current Pan American champions, consecutively since Santo Domingo 2003; and also Olympic, since they are currently triple champions and four consecutive world champions.

Obviously, the historical medal table is dominated by the Americans with 18 gold medals, five silvers and one bronze. A record which adds to the fact that they have never left the Pan American podium. They are followed by Argentina, who despite winning two gold medals at the Buenos Aires 1951 and Mexico 1955 games, no one has yet managed to win more gold medals.

Mexico, Brazil and Cuba are the other gold medal winning teams in this discipline, all having won first place in their respective countries. While Canada is the team with the most third places (6).

The other two obvious candidates for the podium are Brazil and Canada, who have shared second and third place for five consecutive editions. On the other side, appears Argentina, whose performance was comparable to that of the Canadians and Brazilians.

The groups are completed by Chile, host men's team and fourth place at the South American Games in Asunción. There will also be the top three places at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The men's group stage looked like this:

Group A: United States, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Group B: Canada, Argentina, Cuba and Chile.

The women's group stage looked like this:

Group A: Canada, Mexico, Cuba and Argentina. Group B: United States, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Chile.

Written by Alfredo Albornoz