The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship has existed since the 2001 season. Seven conferences have teams competing in women's water polo: the Big West Conference, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the single-sport Golden Coast Conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). Some teams compete at Division III either as members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or independently. Teams qualify by either winning their respective conference tournament or receiving one of the few at large bids available. Unlike most NCAA sports, only one National Collegiate championship is held each season with teams from Division I, Division II, and Division III competing together.
Australia competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece from 13 to 29 August 2004. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era. The Australian Olympic Committee sent a total of 470 athletes to the Games to compete in 29 sports.
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisional Collegiate Water Polo Association. Team colors are maize and blue, though these are different shades of "maize" and "blue" from those used by the university at large. The winged helmet is a recognized icon of Michigan Athletics.
The Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving program has both a men's and women's team. The University of Michigan swimming program is one of the most highly respected college swimming programs in the country. The men's and women's teams, which had been coached separately, were combined in August 2012 by the University of Michigan Athletic Department under the leadership of head coach Mike Bottom.
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I. UCLA is second to only Stanford University as the school with the most NCAA team championships at 121 NCAA team championships. UCLA offers 11 varsity sports programs for men and 14 for women.
Heather Moody is an American water polo player, who won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She was team captain of the US Women's National Team that captured the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and the only member of the team not from California. Her position is center forward.
Bernice Jane Orwig is an American water polo goalkeeper who won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white. The university participates in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision for football. The Spartans participate as members of the Big Ten Conference in all varsity sports. Michigan State offers 11 varsity sports for men and 12 for women.
The Collegiate Water Polo Association is a conference of colleges and universities in the Eastern United States that sponsor 19 men's teams and 17 women's teams that compete in varsity water polo. The winners of the conference tournaments earn one of the four spots in the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship and one of the eight spots in the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship. The CWPA sponsors club team competition in 17 men's divisions and 13 women's divisions across the United States.
The United States women's national water polo team represents the United States in international women's water polo competitions and friendly matches. It is one of the leading teams in the world since the late 1990s.
The Russia women's national water polo team represents Russia in international women's water polo competitions and friendly matches.
Elizabeth Anne "Betsey" Armstrong is an American water polo goalkeeper, who won gold medals with the United States women's national water polo team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2007 and 2011 Pan American Games, and 2007 and 2009 world championships. She is a leading goalkeeper in Olympic water polo history, with 102 saves. Armstrong attended Huron High School in Ann Arbor and was a three-year letterwinner on her water polo team. She then went on to graduate from the University of Michigan in 2005, where she was the goalkeeper for the women's water polo team. Betsey graduated with a bachelor's degree in English language and Literature. She is currently the record holder at University of Michigan with 350 saves.
The Brazil men's national water polo team represents Brazil in international men's water polo competitions and friendly matches.
The St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers were the 21 teams that represented St. Francis College in athletics. The Terriers were members of NCAA Division I and participated in the Northeast Conference (NEC) except in two sports that the NEC does not sponsor—men's and women's water polo. The water polo teams respectively competed in the Collegiate Water Polo Association and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Gregory James McFadden is an Australian water polo coach and former player. He represented Australia as a member of the 1992 Summer Olympics Australia men's national water polo team. He was head coach of the Australia women's national water polo team from 2005 to 2016.
The South Africa women's national water polo team represents the South Africa in international women's water polo competitions and friendly matches.
Makenzie Fischer is an American water polo player. She was part of the gold medal-winning American team at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, where she played in the centre back position. She was also part of the gold medal-winning American team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Jovan Vavic is the former head coach of both the University of Southern California (USC) men's and women's water polo teams. In 2012, he was interim head coach of the United States men's national water polo team. While coaching USC he won the National Coach of the Year award 15 times, and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year award 13 times. He was fired by USC in March 2019 in the wake of his indictment in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. After his indictment, Vavic was arrested on charges of accepting at least $250,000 in bribes. In April 2022, he was convicted of fraud and bribery. However, the conviction was later overturned and a new trial ordered.
Irene González López is a Spanish water polo player who won the silver medal with the women's national water polo team at the 2020 Summer Olympics celebrated in Tokyo, Japan.
Attila Bíró is a former Hungarian water polo player. In 2015 he was named Head Coach of Hungary women's national water polo team winning the gold medal at the 2016 Women's European Water Polo Championship in Belgrade, Serbia.
