In the final test event for the aquatics portion of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a local junior water polo tournament took place in the Olympic Aquatics Stadium from April 25th-29th.
In the four-team tournament, comprised of teams of mostly-junior players from local Rio teams, was of significantly smaller scale that the Maria Lenk Championships that took place there earlier this month and determined Brazil’s Olympic Team.
This event, instead, was the most barebones (read: inexpensive) of events designed to test the basic functions that separate the facility’s use as a water polo pool from its use as a competitive swimming pool.
Specifically, organizers were interested in testing, among other things, the awards ceremony and the Omega scoreboard. Much like the Maria Lenk Trophy, the meet was not open to the public, and was instead a limited-audience “friends and family event.”
Two matches were played every evening, and the club Flamengo, famous for its swim team that included Cesar Cielo for much of his career, took gold, followed by Botafogo, Tijuca Tênis Clube and Escola Naval.
Khosrow Amini, the Vice President of water polo for FINA, approved the operations of the event, and said he was”pleased.”
The Olympic water polo tournament will take place from August 6th-20th, beginning in the outdoor Maria Lenk Aquatic Center before moving inside when the pool swimming is concluded.
