LATVIJAS ŪDENSPOLO FEDERĀCIJA
WATER POLO LATVIA
Latvijā vienīgais LPF licencēts ūdenspolo klubs
HISTORY OF WATER POLO IN LATVIA
1900
THE BIRTH OF WATER POLO
The origins of water polo can be traced back to the 19th century in England and Scotland. At that time, people demonstrated their strength and swimming skills with its help.
Water polo became an Olympic sport already in 1900 at the Paris Olympics and was one of the first Olympic team sports. Women's water polo debuted in the Olympic tournament exactly 100 years later - in 2000. Today, water polo is a popular sport in the world, especially in Europe (Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Montenegro, Greece, Russia), USA and Australia.
IN THE YEARS 1930-1940
IN LATVIA
The history of Latvian water polo begins in the 1930s, when there were several water polo clubs operating in Latvia, which trained in the open waters of Lake Ķeizarmežs and the river Daugava, as evidenced by historical pictures from the private collection of Aivars Kalnakārklis.
"WATER POLO IN DAUGAVA"
JĀNIS ALSBERGS
At that time, a work of art by a Latvian author dedicated to Latvian water polo was even created "Water Polo in the Daugava", Jānis Alsbergs, 1934.
IN THE YEARS 1950-1960
IN LATVIA
In the 1950s and 1960s, Latvian water polo players played in USSR and international competitions. The owner of these historical pictures, second-generation water polo player Aivars Kalnakārklis took part in the teams.
The last testimony about Latvian water polo activities at that time refers to the year 1967. It is considered that since then water polo did not exist in Latvia until 2011.
2011 - 2014
REVIVAL IN LATVIA
In 2011, the first modern Latvian water polo team was actually re-established and started training in Riga. Basically it consisted of active and former swimmers of various ages. The team trained in the RTU Ķipsala swimming pool in Riga, in the summer in the open water of Ādažu Vējupe. The team played its first competition in Lithuania, in a friendly match in Alytus against the ASRC youth team of that city. In the following 3 years, several friendly tournaments were played with the teams of neighboring countries Lithuania, Estonia and Belarus.
YEARS 2014 - 2015
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
In 2014, Latvia was officially entered for the first time for the qualification tournament of the 2016 European Championship, which took place in two rounds - in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and Astrakhan, Russia. With a devastating sports result, Latvian athletes gained their first experience in the European arena. This can be considered a turning point, with which the purposeful many years of work on the establishment and development of children's and youth water polo in Latvia began.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Men%27s_European_Water_Polo_Championship_Qualifiers
YEAR 2015
JUNIOR TEAM U17
In 2015, the first junior team was formed. It participated in several regional tournaments, as well as competed in the 2015 European Games qualification tournament in Malta.
https://www.flashscoreusa.com/water-polo/europe/european-games/results/
2016-2020 IN THE YEARS
CHILDREN, JUNIORS, ADULTS
After the establishment of junior and children's water polo, Latvian teams actively participate in various regional and friendly tournaments in Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Belarus, and also hold competitions in Latvia - in the Riga and Inčukalns swimming pools. The first open Latvian championships are held.
YEAR 2017
NORDIC CHAMPIONSHIP U15
In 2017, in Alitos, Lithuania, the Latvian U15 national team debuted at the Nordic Championship.
YEAR 2021
INTERNATIONAL REFEREES
As of the beginning of 2021, water polo referees of three international categories - 3 World Aquatics (FINA) and 1 European Aquatics (LEN) - have been trained and certified, who represent Latvia as referees in international tournaments.
YEAR 2021
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP U15
In 2015, the Latvian U15 men's national team was drawn in Group B of the European Championship qualification tournament and fought for a ticket to the final tournament in the Polish city of Ostroviec against teams from Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
YEAR 2021
NORDIC CHAMPIONSHIP U15
In November 2021, the Nordic Championship was held in Kuopi, Finland, with the participation of the Latvian team. In it, the Latvian team won over the debutants of the tournament - the Estonian national team, winning 5th place in the overall ranking. This was the first game won in the history of Latvian water polo national teams.
https://swimming.lv/latvijas-udenspolo-izlase-u15-spele-gust-vesturisku-uzvaru/
THE YEAR 2022
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP U16
In 2022, World Aquatics (FINA) hosted the Cadet (U16) World Championships in Greece. According to the rules of the tournament, teams of any country could participate in it without qualification criteria. In the course of the tournament, the teams were divided into "leagues" and continued the fight in the competition of teams of their own level. In this World Championship, the Latvian U16 national team was able to defeat the Azerbaijani team and compete closely in the game against the Danish national team.
https://www.worldaquatics.com/competitions/3007/fina-world-men-s-u16-water-polo-championships-2022
THE YEAR 2022
NORDIC CHAMPIONSHIP U15, U17
At the 2022 Nordic Championship in Alytus, Lithuania, Latvia was simultaneously represented by teams of two ages - in the U15 and U17 categories.
THE YEAR 2023
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP U17
In group D of the 2023 European Championship qualification in Malta, the Latvian U17 national team met with the national teams of Malta, Slovakia, Great Britain and Poland.
THE YEAR 2024
FIRST PROFESSIONAL TRANSFER
In September 2024, the first historical transfer of a Latvian water polo player to a professional club of another country took place. 17-year-old young Latvian water polo player Nikita Paško, who before the transfer trained in Riga and represented the Latvian club Riga Sharks (Latvian Water Polo Federation), was accepted by one of the leading Romanian sports clubs Bucharest Dinamo .
