[Previous edition: Amsterdam 1928] [Following edition: Berlin 1936]

World War I was the first tragic event to negatively affect the Olympic Games, for the 1916 edition, supposed to be staged in Berlin, was not held. However, just one year after Amsterdam 1928, a second, dramatic accident had consequences on the Olympics – the Great Depression that broke out in 1929. Consequently, many nations could not afford the expenses for travelling and this phenomenon mainly involved the European countries, since the 1932 edition of the Olympics would be hosted by Los Angeles, the only one city to make a bid.

For the first time in 28 years, the Games were staged on American soil. The United States were the second country to have their head of state not attending the event, after Queen Wilhelmina did not officiate the Olympics in Amsterdam. Something similar had also happened in 1904 under the presidence of Theodore Roosevelt, as the Mayor of Saint Louis David R. Francis refused to support that edition of the Olympics. Similarly, Herbert Hoover did not show up himself in Los Angeles, which hosted half the number of the participants at Amsterdam four years before.

The water polo tournament was seriously affected by the Great Depression. Indeed, only five national teams took part in the competition, with just Germany and Hungary representing Europe. The list of participating sides was completed by the United States, whose team was composed only by athletes belonging to the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Brazil and Japan, who made their debut in water polo at the Olympic Games. As Greek coach Yannis Giannouris states in his excellent site Waterpololegends, the Brazilian had to sell coffee beans in ports around the world in order to get sufficient funds to participate in the Olympics.

Since only five countries entered the competition, the format was necessarily changed from past editions. A round-robin was introduced, with all teams facing each other. The matches were played at the Los Angeles Swimming Stadium, located near the Olympic Stadium which would be later renamed the Memorial Colyseum. Once more, one of the referees of the tournament was former poloist Maurice Blitz.

Photo www.waterpololegends.com

The tournament began on 4 August and in the opening match Germany defeated Brazil 7-3. One goal was scored by Emil Benecke, who later died in a war-prison camp in Latvia. Another ball into the net was put by Itze Gunst, who won all but one national title from 1927 to 1938. He eventually lost one leg in World War II and later became the owner of a pub in Hannover. He was inducted into the International Hall of Fame of Swimming in 1990.

Two days later, the Germans were harshly defeated by Hungary 6-2, with a personal hat-trick both from Jószef Vértesy and János Németh, who would become Hungary’s best scorer in the 1932 tournament with 14 goals. On their part, Germany netted courtesy of Joachim Rademacher, who competed with his brother Erich, and Hans Schulze, who was the only German player to score at least one goal in every match.

On the same day the Americans smashed Brazil 6-1 with an extraordinary display by Philip Daubenspeck, who struck six times. This was the last match for the Brazilians, as they had assaulted Hungarian referee Béla Komjadi after the match against Germany (picture right). Yet, the decision to disqualify them was taken after their clash against the United States. Other sources report that Brazil firstly encountered the hosting country and then Germany.

Photo www.ujpest.hu

The hosts thrashed Japan 10-0 on the following day, with five other goals scored by Daubenspeck. The Far Easterns eventually lost to Hungary 17-0, with Németh finding the net nine times and Olivér Halassy, the youngest player of the team, seven. The United States were duelling with the Magyars for the gold medal, but something went wrong as they drawn 4-4 against Germany. The Hungarians sealed their Olympic triumph, the first of a really long series, by beating the hosting nation 7-0. Four goals were scored by Halassy, the other were provided by Márton Homonnai.

Halassy (pictured left) lost his left foot in a childhood streetcar accident, still he succeeded both as a swimmer and as a water polo player. He was the European Champion at 1,500 meters and won 25 domestic titles in swimming. Indeed, he scored two goals in Amsterdam, 11 in Los Angeles and six in Berlin. He was shot by a Soviet soldier in 1946 while returning to his home by taxi late at night.

In the last match day, Germany ensured their silver medal as they won 10-0 over Japan, who ended their tournament with 37 goals conceded and none scored. The United States were allocated on the lowest step of the podium, which was introduced for the first time in this edition of the Olympic Games.

Key player for the achievement of such a result were Charles Thornton Finn, the oldest American water polo medalist at the Olympics at the age of the 33, and goalkeeper Herb Wildman, who saved all eight free shots given against the Americans throughout the tournament.

Fixtures

Round-robin

4 August

Germany 7-3 Brazil – J. Rademacher 2, Schwartz 2, Schulze, Gunst, Benecke; Souza 2, Amendola

6 August

United States 6-1 Brazil – Daubenspeck 6; de Lorenzo

Hungary 6-2 Germany – Vértesy 3, Németh 3; J. Rademacher, Schulze

7 August

United States 10-0 Japan – Daubenspeck 5, Clapp 3, O’Connor 2

8 August

Hungary 18-0 Japan – 9 Németh, 7 Halassy, 2 A. Keserű

9 August

United States 4-4 Germany – Daubenspeck 3, Clapp; Cordes, Gunst, Schwartz, Schulze

11 August

Hungary 7-0 United States – Halassy 4, Homonnai 3

12 August

Germany 10-0 Japan – Schulze 6, J. Rademacher 3, Schwartz

Squads

Hungary: István Barta, György Bródy, Olivér Halassy, Márton Homonnai, Sándor Ivády, Alajos Keserű, Ferenc Keserű, János Németh, Miklós Sárkány, József Vértesy.

Germany: Emil Benecke, Otto Cordes, Hans Eckstein, Fritz Gunst, Erich Rademacher, Joachim Rademacher, Hans Schulze, Heiko Schwartz.

United States: Austin Clapp, Philip Daubenspeck, Charles Thornton Finn, Charles McCallister, Wallace O’Connor, Cal Strong, Herbert Wildman, Tex Robertson.

Japan: Shuji Doi, Akira Fujita, Seibei Kimura, Takashige Matsumoto, Yasutaro Sakagami, Tosuke Sawami, Takaji Takebayashi, Iwao Tokito.

Brazil: Salvador Amendola, Carlos Castello Branco, Luiz Henrique da Silva, Mario de Lorenzo, Antonio Ferreira Jacobina, Jefferson Maurity Souza, Adhemar Serpa, Pedro Theberge.

Sources

Sports Reference

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