Panathinaikos Water Polo Club

Panathinaikos Water Polo
NicknamesThe Trifolium
Founded1928; 96 years ago (1928)
LeagueA1 Ethniki Water Polo
LEN Euro Cup
Based inAthens, Greece
ArenaGoudi Aquatic Center
ColoursGreen and White
   
PresidentPanagiotis Malakates
Head coachDimitris Mazis
Websitepao1908.com

Panathinaikos AC Water Polo, founded in 1930, is the water polo department of Panathinaikos A.C., the Athens-based Greek multi-sport club. Despite its early establishment it doesn't have any particular honours so far. The best result it has achieved in the A1 Ethniki Water Polo is the second place.[1]

History in the Greek Championship

Panathinaikos AC Water Polo was initially established in 1930, but three years later it was forced to close because of the lack of a swimming pool. The club was re-established in 1959. Without facing any particular difficulties it won the tournaments of the lower divisions and managed to qualify for the first division 3 years later, in 1962. In the years 1963, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 Panathinaikos WPC reached the third position. In 1993 PAO WPC returned for another time to second division. Until now PAO WPC have never won a national title.

In 2011 the club took the third place, along with the participation ticket for the first time in its history in the LEN Euroleague. The club ended up in the third place once again in the season 2013-2014. The team finished second for the first time in its history in the season 2014-15.

Greek Cup

In the Greek Water Polo Cup Panathinaikos participated in the final in the seasons 2014-15 and 2022-23.

The team had previously reached the semi-finals in the seasons: 1983-84, 1984-85, 2001-02, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

European Honours

Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre

In its first participation in the LEN Euroleague (2011–12), Panathinaikos succeeded in advancing from the preliminary round to the first group stage. The club succeeded in winning against Kharkiv and VK Primorac Kotor (8-11) but it was eventually eliminated from the second group stage.
Following its elimination from the Euroleague, PAO went on to compete in the LEN Trophy, where it advanced until the round of "16" after winning against Le Ben and eventually having a draw 7-7 against Galatasaray.[2] Finally Panathinaikos did not advance to the quarter-finals after being eliminated by Panionios 6-8 in OAKA, and 13-14 (10-12) in Nea Smirni.[3]

Current roster

Season 2024–25[4]

No. Nat. Player Birth
Goalkeepers
1 Serbia Dimitrije Rističević 07/11/1992
13 Greece Christos Asvestis 28/05/2001
Defense
3 Greece Giorgos Nikolaidis 17/02/2005
11 Greece Giannis Agkortsas 06/08/1997
12 Serbia Viktor Rašović 13/08/1993
Center
4 Greece Nikos Papanikolaou (C) 31/08/2000
8 Greece Dimitris Sgouridis 16/03/2002
Offense
2 Greece Ioannis Skliras 08/09/2007
5 Greece Apostolos Georgaras 04/08/2005
6 Greece Nikolas Alvertis 14/01/1995
7 Greece Nikolaos Kourouvanis 26/10/2000
9 Greece Marios Chatzigoulas 07/04/1995
10 Greece Nikolas Papasifakis 01/04/1998
15 Greece Perseas Portokalis 20/11/2008

Technical and managerial staff

Staff
Head coach Greece Dimitris Mazis
Assistant coach Greece Nasos Ireiotis
Trainer Greece Michalis Vlachos
Team manager Greece Andreas Papadimitrakopoulos

Notable players

References

  1. ^ Panathinaikos, the Greek Sports Master :: Departments : Water Polo Club
  2. ^ "Πρόκριση για Παναθηναϊκό! | Gazzetta".
  3. ^ "Πανιώνιος - Παναθηναϊκός 13-14 (10-12 (κ.α.) - Πράσινα νέα - Ενημέρωση, παρασκήνιο και άποψη για τον Παναθηναϊκό". Archived from the original on 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  4. ^ ΡΟΣΤΕΡ 2024-25. pao1908.com (in Greek). Retrieved 9 October 2021.