Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

Women's water polo
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad

Tournament details
Host country	United Kingdom
City	London
Venue(s)	Water Polo Arena
Dates	30 July – 9 August 2012
Teams	8 (from 4 confederations)
Competitors	102
Final positions
Champions	United States (1st title)
Runners-up	Spain
Third place	Australia
Fourth place	Hungary
Tournament statistics
Matches	24
Goals scored	468 (19.5 per match)
Multiple appearances	4-time Olympian(s): 3 3-time Olympian(s): 6
Multiple medalists	4-time medalist(s): 2
Top scorer(s)	Maggie Steffens (21 goals in 6 matches)
Most saves	Elena Gigli (56 saves in 6 matches)
Top sprinter(s)	Kate Gynther Jennifer Pareja (21 sprints won in 6 matches)
MVP	Maggie Steffens

The women's water polo tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was held from 30 July to 9 August at the Water Polo Arena.^[1]

Teams from eight nations competed in the tournament and have been seeded into two groups for the preliminary round. A total of 24 games were played, 12 of them in the preliminary round.

Format

The tournament featured eight teams, separated into two groups of four teams.^[2] Each team played the other three teams in its pool once in a round-robin format. All eight teams advanced to the quarterfinal stage where they were seeded and played against a team from the other group.^[3]

The winners of the quarterfinal games moved on to the semifinals, while the quarterfinal losers played a series of classification games. The semifinal winners played in the gold medal game, while the losers played each other for the bronze.

Preliminary round

All times are BST (UTC+1).

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	3	2	1	0	33	26	+7	5
United States	3	2	1	0	30	28	+2	5
Hungary	3	1	0	2	35	37	−2	2
China	3	0	0	3	22	29	−7	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

30 July 2012 14:10	Report	Spain	11–6	China	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Alan Balfanbayev (KAZ), Cory Williams (NZL)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 4–2, 4–2, 1–0
		Espar 3	Goals	Ma Huanhuan 3

30 July 2012 19:40	Report	Hungary	13–14	United States	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Brian Littlejohn (GBR), Denis Danelon (BRA)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 4–4, 2–3, 4–3
		Bujka 4	Goals	Steffens 7

---

1 August 2012 14:10	Report	Hungary	11–10	China	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Svetlana Dreval (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 4–4, 4–3, 2–0
		Szűcs 4	Goals	four players 2

1 August 2012 18:20	Report	Spain	9–9	United States	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Marie Deslieres (CAN), Anton Bervoets (NED)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 2–2, 1–4, 3–2
		Pareja 4	Goals	Craig 4

---

3 August 2012 14:10	Report	Spain	13–11	Hungary	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Massimiliano Caputi (ITA), Svetlana Dreval (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 4–3, 3–2, 3–2, 3–4
		Espar 3	Goals	Antal 4

3 August 2012 19:40	Report	China	6–7	United States	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Marijo Brguljan (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 1–0, 2–2, 0–3, 3–2
		Sun Yating, Ma Huanhuan 2	Goals	Steffens 3

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Australia	3	3	0	0	37	19	+18	6
Russia	3	2	0	1	22	21	+1	4
Italy	3	1	0	2	22	22	0	2
Great Britain	3	0	0	3	14	33	−19	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

30 July 2012 15:30	Report	Italy	8–10	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Steven Rotsart (USA), Gyorgy Juhasz (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 3–2, 0–4, 4–2
		Di Mario, Radicchi 2	Goals	Gynther 3

30 July 2012 18:20	Report	Great Britain	6–7	Russia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Marie Deslieres (CAN), Ni Shiwei (CHN)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 3–2, 0–1, 1–1
		Winstanley-Smith 3	Goals	Beliaeva, Prokofyeva 2

---

1 August 2012 15:30	Report	Italy	4–7	Russia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Sergi Sanchez (ESP), German Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 0–1, 1–1, 1–4, 2–1
		Di Mario 2	Goals	Lisunova 3

1 August 2012 19:40	Report	Great Britain	3–16	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Gus Pinker (RSA), Denis Danelon (BRA)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 1–3, 1–5, 0–5
		Wilcox 2	Goals	Webster 5

---

3 August 2012 15:30	Report	Russia	8–11	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Dragan Stampalja (CRO), Marie Deslieres (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 4–6, 1–2, 1–0, 2–3
		Lisunova 3	Goals	Gynther 2

3 August 2012 18:20	Report	Great Britain	5–10	Italy	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: German Moller (ARG), Kazuhiko Makita (JPN)
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 1–2, 1–2, 1–2
		Gibson-Byrne 2	Goals	Emmolo, Di Mario 3

Final round

Final bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Gold medal match

A1

Spain

9

B4

Great Britain

7

A1

Spain

10

A3

Hungary

9

A3

Hungary

11

B2

Russia

10

Spain

5

United States

8

A2

United States

9

B3

Italy

6

A2

United States

11

Bronze medal match

B1

Australia

9

A4

China

18

Australia

13

B1

Australia

20

4

Hungary

11

5th place bracket

	5th–8th place classification				5th place match
	Russia	11
	Great Britain	9
					China	16
					Russia	15
	Italy	10
	China	14
					7th place match
					Italy	11
					Great Britain	7

Quarterfinals

All times are BST (UTC+1).

5 August 2012 14:50	Report	Hungary	11–10	Russia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Massimiliano Caputi (ITA), Marijo Mrguljan (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 4–2, 1–3, 3–2
		four players 2	Goals	Ivanova 4

5 August 2012 16:10	Report	China	18–20	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Dragan Stampalija (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 5–5, 3–3, 4–2, 2–4  OT: 1–2, 1–0  PSO: 2–4
		Ma Huanhuan 4	Goals	Ralph, Zagame 3

5 August 2012 19:00	Report	United States	9–6	Italy	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Mihajlo Ćirić (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–0, 0–1, 3–2
		Seidemann 3	Goals	Di Mario 3

5 August 2012 20:20	Report	Spain	9–7	Great Britain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Cory Williams (NZL), Gus Pinker (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 3–0, 2–3, 1–2
		Miranda, Espar 2	Goals	Painter-Snell 3

5th–8th place classification

All times are BST (UTC+1).

7 August 2012 14:10	Report	Italy	10–14	China	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Svetlana Dreval (RUS), Anton Bervoets (NED)
		Score by quarters: 2–5, 2–5, 2–2, 4–2
		Di Mario 4	Goals	six players 2

7 August 2012 18:20	Report	Russia	11–9	Great Britain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Denis Danelon (BRA), German Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 1–2, 4–2, 3–2
		Prokofyeva 4	Goals	Wilcox, Painter-Snell 3

Semifinals

All times are BST (UTC+1).

7 August 2012 15:30	Report	United States	11–9	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Ulrich Spiegel (GER), Marie Deslieres (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–2, 1–1, 2–3  OT: 2–0, 0–0
		Steffens 4	Goals	Southern 4

7 August 2012 19:40	Report	Hungary	9–10	Spain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Dragan Stampalija (CRO), Massimiliano Caputi (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 4–5, 2–2, 2–1
		three players 2	Goals	Espar 4

7th place match

All times are BST (UTC+1).

9 August 2012 14:30	Report	Italy	11–7	Great Britain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Gyorgy Juhasz (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 4–0, 3–2, 2–2
		Di Mario 4	Goals	McCann, Clayton 2

5th place match

All times are BST (UTC+1).

9 August 2012 15:50	Report	China	16–15	Russia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Brian Littlejohn (GBR), Steven Rotsart (USA)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 5–6, 3–2, 3–3  OT: 1–0, 1–1
		Ma Huanhuan 6	Goals	Fedotova, Antonova 4

Bronze medal match

All times are BST (UTC+1).

9 August 2012 18:40	Report	Australia	13–11	Hungary	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Dragan Stampalija (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 2–1, 5–3, 3–4, 1–3  OT: 1–0, 1–0
		Beadsworth 4	Goals	Keszthelyi 3

Gold medal match

All times are BST (UTC+1).

9 August 2012 20:25	Report	United States	8–5	Spain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Marie Deslieres (CAN), Georgios Stavridis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 4–1, 2–0, 1–3
		Steffens 5	Goals	Pareja 3

Ranking and statistics

Main article: List of women's Olympic water polo tournament records and statistics

See also: National team appearances in the women's Olympic water polo tournament

Final ranking

Rank[1] Team  United States  Spain  Australia 4  Hungary 5  China 6  Russia 7  Italy 8  Great Britain

2012 Women's Olympic champions  United States First title

Multi-time Olympians

Main article: List of players who have appeared in multiple women's Olympic water polo tournaments

Four-time Olympian(s): 3 players

•  Russia: Sofia Konukh^[4]
•  United States: Heather Petri,^[5] Brenda Villa^[6]

Three-time Olympian(s): 6 players

•  Australia: Kate Gynther,^[7] Melissa Rippon^[8]
•  Hungary: Rita Drávucz^[9]
•  Italy: Tania Di Mario,^[10] Elena Gigli (GK),^[11] Anikó Pelle^[12]

Multiple medalists

Main article: List of Olympic medalists in water polo

Four-time Olympic medalist(s): 2 players

•  United States: Heather Petri,^[5] Brenda Villa^[6]

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Shots	%
1	Maggie Steffens	21	27	78
2	Ma Huanhuan	19	53	36
3	Tania Di Mario	18	45	40
4	Anni Espar	15	41	37
5	Nicola Zagame	12	16	75
	Barbara Bujka	12	26	46
	Dóra Antal	12	32	37
	Ashleigh Southern	12	32	37
	Gabriella Szűcs	12	32	37
	Jennifer Pareja	12	34	35
	Rowie Webster	12	42	29

Medallists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
United States (USA)[1] Elizabeth Armstrong Heather Petri Melissa Seidemann Brenda Villa Lauren Wenger Maggie Steffens Courtney Mathewson Jessica Steffens Elsie Windes Kelly Rulon Annika Dries Kami Craig Tumuaialii Anae Head coach: Adam Krikorian	Spain (ESP) Laura Ester Marta Bach Anni Espar Roser Tarragó Matilde Ortiz Jennifer Pareja Lorena Miranda Pilar Peña Andrea Blas Ona Meseguer Maica García Laura López Ana Copado Head coach: Miki Oca	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 Head coach: Greg McFadden

Awards

The women's all-star team was announced on 9 August 2012.^[13][14]

Most Valuable Player

• Maggie Steffens^[15] (21 goals)

Media All-Star Team

• Goalkeeper
  • Elizabeth Armstrong (53 saves)
• Field players
  • Barbara Bujka (centre forward, left-handed, 12 goals)
  • Anni Espar (15 goals)
  • Holly Lincoln-Smith (centre back, 5 goals)
  • Jennifer Pareja (12 goals, 21 sprints won)
  • Maggie Steffens (21 goals)
  • Nicola Zagame (12 goals, 4 sprints won)

See also

• Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

References

1. "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 56. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
2. "Draw announced for Olympic Water Polo competition". Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
3. "London 2012 – Water Polo Competition Schedule". FINA. Archived from the original on 2012-06-27. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
4. "Sofia Konukh". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
5. "Heather Petri". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
6. "Brenda Villa". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
7. "Kate Gynther". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
8. "Melissa Rippon". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
9. "Rita Drávucz". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
10. "Tania Di Mario". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
11. "Elena Gigli". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
12. "Anikó Pelle". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
13. "2012 London Olympics, Water Polo: Women's All Star Team Named". swimmingworldmagazine.com. Swimming World. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
14. "USA Women Win GOLD! Team USA Tops Spain 8-5 In Olympic Games Final". usawaterpolo.org. USA Water Polo. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
15. "Maggie STEFFENS Steffens". fina.org. FINA. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

Sources

• PDF documents on the FINA website:
  • Official Results Book – 2012 Olympic Games – Diving, Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo (archive) (pp. 284–507)
• Water polo on the Olympedia website
  • Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics (women's tournament)
• Water polo on the Sports Reference website
  • Water polo at the 2012 Summer Games (women's tournament) (archived)