Where it all begins. (Source)

Objective one: score points. Objective two: don't drown.

For those of you who aren't familiar with water polo, it's not exactly a casual dip in the pool. Your job as a water polo athlete is to tread water for thirty-two minutes…while getting attacked by other athletes. Their goal? To annihilate you.

Most of us can hardly tread water for two minutes if our lives depended on it, much less with people laying into us under the surface. It really doesn't get much tougher than water polo. Of course, you water polo players out there have been telling your moms that for years.

Water polo is a pretty big deal worldwide, especially in European countries like Serbia, Italy, Croatia, and Hungary. Speaking of Hungary, their men's national team is the most successful in history. They've won an absurd fifteen Olympic medals (source). Dude.

The most prominent professional leagues are located in Europe, and the world's top water polo athletes most commonly choose to play there when not on national team duty. There has been a lot of talk about growing American water polo pro teams, but there hasn't been too much movement yet (source).

Added in 2000, women's water polo is a recent addition to the Olympic summer games. And while the U.S. women's national team has won more medals than any other country in this time frame, the men's team has never won a gold medal...in over one hundred years of competition (source).

Like most niche sports and pop artists, there's a rabid fan base for some water polo teams. Okay, maybe not in the United States, but definitely in Europe. Like, sold-out-swimming-arena status (source).

This surge in popularity led to the formation of a yearly World Championship between national teams in 2002 (source). Day after day, water polo teams battle until there's only one left bobbing. Exciting, huh? Don't expect it to be televised on a major network, but it might be found at 3:00AM on ESPN "El Ocho."

Although water polo continues to grow in popularity in the U.S., most colleges still don't have water polo teams. There are 58 women's programs in the NCAA (source) and only 39 men's programs (source). At the Division-I level, there are only 33 women's teams (source), and a paltry 22 men's (source).

We'd hate to be on the receiving end here. (Source)

To boot, most of the colleges that have water polo teams are located either on the West Coast or in the Northeast. Come on, America. Get on the aquatic adventure train.

If you want to win at water polo (or run for governor), California is the place to be. No joke. Every single men's and women's Division-I National Championship team has come from that state (source, source). Creepy.

What's the good news? Well, there aren't exactly as many high school water polo players around as there are, say, football players. Your odds of moving from a high school team to an NCAA team are slightly better for water polo than for some other sports. About 7.6% of male high school athletes and 9.5% of female high school athletes will make it onto an NCAA team (source). 

Now, we've got to ask: are you one of the flippered few that have their hearts set on playing water polo in college? Well, keep your bathing cap on. There are a few things to do and consider first. For one, start attending summer camps and showcases. That's where you can make the biggest splash (like, cannonball-sized) to get on coaches' radars. Then, follow up with those coaches and let them know who you are and what you're capable of (source). Just don't bug them too much.

The college recruiting process is no swim in the kiddie pool—an athlete has to take initiative and establish relationships. It's also probably a good idea to, you know, actually get into college.

Water polo is pretty much where football meets basketball, so you better be willing to put in the reps. This sport is about as physically and emotionally demanding as it gets. (Luckily, you can disguise your tears as pool water.) College polo will be like high school polo, but on Mentos and soda. Are you prepared to devote enough time to your studies, in addition to your water polo wizardry?

More importantly, how's your hair? Water polo players are known on campus for their hair first, then their athletic ability, so you'll have to get that quintessential, permanently wet, heavily chlorinated, just-stepped-out-of-the-pool-and-I-don't-care look down to a T.

Calling all line backers who can swim: there is, in fact, a place where your webbed toes will come to an advantage.