| Quick Facts |
- Water polo has been played at Harvard since as early as 1902,
when matches would be contested at swim meets. It existed
sporadically with official or club sport status from the early
1900s through 1979, sometimes being discontinued for years because
of a shortage of players or lack of practice facilities.
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- The first-ever Harvard men’s varsity water polo match
took place on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1980. Held in Harvard’s
Blodgett Pool, the Wildcats of the University of New Hampshire
traveled to Boston to take part in this historic contest. The
Crimson pulled out a dominating 19-1 victory.
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- On Sept 26, 1980, a significant step towards building the
Crimson program was taken when Harvard went up against UCLA, the
NCAA runner-up from the year before. UCLA won, 29-5.
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- Harvard began playing in 1980 as a Division II team.
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- From 1980 to 1992, the top-two finishers at the New England
Championships were advanced to the Eastern Championships.
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- Before the 1993 season, the New England Water Polo Association
and a number of other small associations were merged to form the
Eastern Water Polo Association, which changed its name to the
Collegiate Water Polo Association in 1996 to reflect the geography
of its member teams. The CWPA is divided into a Northern and
Southern Division, and the top four teams from each
division’s championship are advanced to the Eastern
Championships. Harvard has played in the CWPA Northern Division
from 1993 through 2010.
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- Three Harvard water polo players have earned All-American
distinctions in the history of the program: Mike Masterson
’03, Rick Offsay ’05 and Mike Zimmerman ’99.
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- 22 of the team’s 33 seasons through 2012-13 have finished
with winning records.
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- Harvard’s 100 matches played against Brown are the most
of any school in the program’s history through 2012.
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- A second-place finish at the 2004 EWPA Northern Championships
was the program’s best showing at the event.
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- Harvard’s best postseason finish was at the Eastern
Championships in 2001 where it placed third.
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