Water polo in the United States is governed by different organizations. The USA Water Polo (USAWP) governs most levels of water polo in the country, including the national teams and amateur tournaments. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governs colleges, and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) governs high schools. No professional water polo leagues run in the United States.

National water polo teams The United States men's and women's national water polo teams represent the United States in international tournaments, including the Olympic Games, World Aquatics Championships, FINA Water Polo World Cup, FINA Water Polo World League, and Pan American Games.

Men's national team

The United States men's national water polo team has won multiple medals in international tournaments. In 1988 and 2009, the United States rose to World No. 2 in the FINA Water Polo World Rankings, their highest ranking to date.

Olympic Games

Men's water polo tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1900. The United States has participated in 22 of 27 tournaments.

The United States men's national water polo team is the only non-European squad to win medals in the men's Olympic water polo tournament. At the 1904 Olympic Games, The U.S. squad won the gold, silver and bronze medals in the men's water polo tournament (demonstration event). Since 1904 the team has won three silver medals at the 1984, 1988, and 2008 Olympic Games, and three bronze medals at the 1924, 1932, and 1972 Olympic Games. The team also finished fourth at the 1920, 1952 and 1992 Olympic Games.

Other international tournaments Men's water polo tournaments have been staged at the FINA World Aquatics Championships since 1973. The United States has participated in every tournament, but the team has not won any medals. The best finish is fourth place (1986, 1991 and 2009). (Note: European squads have won all medals in the men's water polo tournaments.)

The FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was established in 1979. The United States has participated in 15 of 16 tournaments. The team has won the 1991 and 1997 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup, becoming the only non-European squad to win the FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup. The team also finished as runners-up in 1979 and 1985. In addition, the team finished in fourth place 7 times (1981, 1983, 1987, 1993, 1995, 2010 and 2014).

The FINA Men's Water Polo World League began in 2002. The United States has participated in 17 of 18 tournaments. The team finished in second place twice (2008 and 2016), third place once (2003), and fourth place 7 times (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017).

Men's water polo tournaments have been staged at the Pan American Games since 1951. The United States team has participated and medaled in all eighteen tournaments. Since 1995, the team has won seven gold medals in a row (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019).

Competitive record Updated after the 2019 Pan American Games.

Tournament Appearances Finishes Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Total Olympic Games 22 0 (1) 3 (4) 3 (4) 3 9 (12) World Aquatics Championships 18 0 0 0 3 3 FINA Water Polo World Cup 15 2 2 0 7 11 FINA Water Polo World League 17 0 2 1 7 10 Pan American Games 18 13 4 1 0 18 Total 90 15 (16) 11 (12) 5 (6) 20 51 (54)

Women's national team

The United States fielded a women's national water polo team in the 1970s. Two decades later, the women's team became one of the leading teams in the world. Since 2014, the team has consecutively been ranked as World No. 1 team in the FINA Water Polo World Rankings.

Olympic Games A women's water polo tournament was introduced for the 2000 Olympic Games. Since then, the United States has participated in every tournament.

The United States women's national water polo team is the only team to have medaled in all five Olympic tournaments, and the only team to have won two gold medals (2012, 2016). In addition, the team has won two silver medals at the 2000 and 2008 Olympic Games.

Other international tournaments Women's water polo tournaments have been staged at the FINA World Aquatics Championships since 1986. The United States has participated in every tournament, and captured six world championship titles (2003, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2017, and 2019). The team also finished as runners-up in 2005.

The FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup was established in 1979. The United States has participated in every tournament. The team has won the 1979, 2010, 2014 and 2018 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup. In addition, the team finished in second place 5 times (1980, 1983, 1984, 1989 and 2002).

The FINA Women's Water Polo World League began in 2004. The United States has participated in every tournament. The team has finished in first place 13 times. As of today, there are only three tournaments in which the United States participated but did not receive a gold medal.

Women's water polo tournaments have been staged at the Pan American Games since 1999. The United States team has participated and medaled in all six tournaments. Since 2003, the team has won five gold medals in a row (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019).

Competitive record Updated after the 2019 Pan American Games.

Tournament Appearances Finishes Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Total Olympic Games 5 2 2 1 0 5 World Aquatics Championships 14 6 1 2 2 11 FINA Water Polo World Cup 17 4 5 1 3 13 FINA Water Polo World League 16 13 1 1 0 15 Pan American Games 6 5 1 0 0 6 Total 58 30 10 5 5 50

College water polo Water polo does not have a professional tournament in the United States, so the highest level of annual competition is at the college level. As a varsity sport for both men and women, the NCAA sanctions water polo is popular in the United States along the west coast, and parts of the east coast.

Men's college water polo In the 2017–18 school year, 48 NCAA member schools sponsored men's water polo at the varsity level, with 1,047 participants across all three divisions.

+ Men's college water polo (1956–2018) School year Total memberinstitutions Total teams % of memberinstitutions Total athletes Averagesquad size 1956–1957 395 11 2.8% 272 24.7 1961–1962 536 30 5.6% 675 22.5 1966–1967 577 31 5.4% 755 24.4 1971–1972 663 52 7.8% 1,162 22.3 1976–1977 722 48 6.6% 975 20.3 1981–1982 753 49 6.5% 1,002 20.4 1982–1983 788 51 6.5% 1,181 23.2 1983–1984 786 52 6.6% 1,101 21.2 1984–1985 791 52 6.6% 1,114 21.4 1985–1986 794 53 6.7% 1,128 21.3 1986–1987 792 56 7.1% 1,121 20.0 1987–1988 793 58 7.3% 1,170 20.2 1988–1989 800 58 7.3% 1,189 20.5 1989–1990 802 55 6.9% 1,106 20.1 1990–1991 828 54 6.5% 1,151 21.3 1991–1992 847 48 5.7% 996 20.8 1992–1993 864 47 5.4% 978 20.8 1993–1994 892 39 4.4% 841 21.6 1994–1995 947 37 3.9% 747 20.2 1995–1996 998 44 4.4% 862 19.6 1996–1997 994 42 4.2% 892 21.2 1997–1998 985 43 4.4% 970 22.6 1998–1999 1,031 43 4.2% 908 21.1 1999–2000 1,041 42 4.0% 825 19.7 2000–2001 1,039 46 4.4% 911 19.8 2001–2002 1,036 48 4.6% 891 18.6 2002–2003 1,033 46 4.5% 855 18.6 2003–2004 1,039 46 4.4% 865 18.8 2004–2005 1,045 46 4.4% 939 20.4 2005–2006 1,062 45 4.2% 942 20.9 2006–2007 1,064 41 3.9% 893 21.8 2007–2008 1,070 42 3.9% 919 21.9 2008–2009 1,069 42 3.9% 914 21.8 2009–2010 1,073 41 3.8% 925 22.6 2010–2011 1,087 43 4.0% 1,018 23.7 2011–2012 1,096 43 3.9% 1,015 23.6 2012–2013 1,106 43 3.9% 999 23.2 2013–2014 1,113 44 4.0% 1,051 23.9 2014–2015 1,119 44 3.9% 1,044 23.7 2015–2016 1,119 45 4.0% 1,014 22.5 2016–2017 1,116 47 4.2% 1,013 21.6 2017–2018 1,114 48 4.3% 1,047 21.8 School year Total memberinstitutions Total teams % of memberinstitutions Total athletes Averagesquad size

NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

The NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship is an annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. It has been held every year since 1969. All men's teams, whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III, are eligible to compete each year.

+ NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship (1969–2018) College Team Champions Runners-up Total University of California, Berkeley California Golden Bears 14 8 22 University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Bruins 11 9 20 University of Southern California USC Trojans 10 12 22 Stanford University Stanford Cardinal 10 11 21 University of California, Irvine UC Irvine Anteaters 3 6 9 Pepperdine University Pepperdine Waves 1 0 1 University of California, Santa Barbara UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 1 0 1 California State University, Long Beach Long Beach State 49ers 0 1 1 San Jose State University San Jose State Spartans 0 1 1 University of California, San Diego UC San Diego Tritons 0 1 1 University of the Pacific Pacific Tigers 0 1 1 Total 11 50 50 100

Women's college water polo In the 2017–18 school year, 62 NCAA member schools sponsored women's water polo at the varsity level, with 1,216 participants across all three divisions.

+ Women's college water polo (1995–2018) School year Total memberinstitutions Total teams % of memberinstitutions Total athletes Averagesquad size 1995–1996 998 20 2.0% 374 18.7 1996–1997 994 23 2.3% 451 19.6 1997–1998 985 32 3.2% 661 20.7 1998–1999 1,031 37 3.6% 746 20.2 1999–2000 1,041 40 3.8% 833 20.8 2000–2001 1,039 50 4.8% 1,057 21.1 2001–2002 1,036 55 5.3% 1,055 19.2 2002–2003 1,033 56 5.4% 1,051 18.8 2003–2004 1,039 59 5.7% 1,126 19.1 2004–2005 1,045 61 5.8% 1,193 19.6 2005–2006 1,062 61 5.8% 1,173 19.2 2006–2007 1,064 61 5.7% 1,148 18.8 2007–2008 1,070 60 5.6% 1,155 19.3 2008–2009 1,069 60 5.6% 1,156 19.3 2009–2010 1,073 59 5.5% 1,164 19.7 2010–2011 1,087 60 5.5% 1,193 19.9 2011–2012 1,096 64 5.8% 1,219 19.0 2012–2013 1,106 61 5.5% 1,173 19.2 2013–2014 1,113 61 5.5% 1,201 19.7 2014–2015 1,119 60 5.4% 1,152 19.2 2015–2016 1,119 59 5.3% 1,136 19.3 2016–2017 1,116 61 5.5% 1,159 19.0 2017–2018 1,114 62 5.6% 1,216 19.6 School year Total memberinstitutions Total teams % of memberinstitutions Total athletes Averagesquad size

NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship

The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship is an annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA women's collegiate water polo. It has been held every year since 2001. All women's teams, whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III, are eligible to compete each year.

+ NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship (2001–2019) College Team Champions Runners-up Total Stanford University Stanford Cardinal 7 8 15 University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Bruins 7 4 11 University of Southern California USC Trojans 5 5 10 Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount Lions 0 1 1 University of California, Berkeley California Golden Bears 0 1 1 Total 5 19 19 38

High school water polo High school water polo is popular in some states, including California, Florida and Illinois.

Boys' high school water polo The National Federation of State High School Associations featured 22,475 boys in water polo teams in the 2018–19 school year.