Water Polo in Singapore

Water polo was introduced to Singapore in the early twenties by an Englishman, J.W.Jefferson who was then a Director at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) at Fort Canning. The sport, which was initially evolved around a few exclusive clubs like Singapore Swimming Club, Chinese Swimming Club and Tiger Swimming Club, has now become synonymous with glory and success for Singapore sports.

Initially regarded as an elite sport played only by a few exclusive swimming clubs, the sport’s popularity grew significantly over the years. Today, water polo is enjoyed by the masses and as a means of reaching out to the heartlands and neighbourhood schools, many of which started their own water polo training programme to cater to the increased interest of our youths.

Singapore participation in water polo at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games has been supreme since its inauguration in 1965. The national water polo team has continued its domination in the region, winning the gold medal on every occasion. The winning streak has extended to the latest SEA Games, hosted by Singapore this year, bringing Singapore’s total tally to 26 consecutive gold medals, commendably setting a SEA Games record for one of the longest winning streaks in our sporting history.

Singapore’s best performance at Asian Games level was in 1954 when the team managed to beat Japan 4-2 in the finals. In addition, two silver and four bronze medals make up the total medal haul for the national water polo teams at Asian Games level with the most recent 3rd finish in 1986 in South Korea. By virtue of being Asian Games Champion in 1954, Singapore qualified for the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 which was the only occasion that our water polo took part in the Olympics