| Date | 4 – 12 August 1932 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Olympic Park Swimming Stadium, Los Angeles, California | |
| Participants | 41 from 5 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin tournament. | |
There were only five teams in the tournament because of the lengthy travel to Los Angeles, but it included the two strongest teams in the world, Hungary and Germany. Germany was the defending Olympic Champion, while Hungary was second in 1928. But Hungary had been European Champion in 1926, 1927, and 1931, and was favored in LA.
The gold medal came down to the match between the two favorites, with Hungary winning the match 6-2, and going undefeated in the round-robin to win gold. Germany and the United States tied with two wins, one tie, and one loss, but Germany was awarded the silver on goal differential. From 1932-1964, Hungary would win water polo gold in five of seven Olympic Games.
Brazil lost its first two matches, the second 7-3 against Germany. After the match, the players attacked the Hungarian referee Béla Komjádi, which had to be broken up by the police. Brazil was suspended and forfeited their final two games.
United States’ player Phil Daubenspeck scored 14 goals during the tournament, which stood as an Olympic water polo record for one Games until 1968, when the Netherlands’ Nico van der Voet scored 33 goals in Mexico City.
| Pos | Number | Team | NOC | Matches Played | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Hungary |  HUN | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 31-2 | Gold | ||||
| – | István Barta | 1 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | György Bródy | 2 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Olivér Halassy | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Márton Homonnai | 2 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Sándor Ivády | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Alajos Keserű | 1 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Ferenc Keserű | 2 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | János Németh | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Miklós Sárkány | 1 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | József Vértesy | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 11 | Mihály Bozsi DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| Coach | Béla Komjádi | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Germany |  GER | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 23-13 | Silver | ||||
| – | Emil Benecke | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Otto Cordes | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Hans Eckstein | 1 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Itze Gunst | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Erich Rademacher | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Joachim Rademacher | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Hans Schulze | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Heiko Schwartz | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 7 | Gerd Pohl DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 9 | Albert Schumburg DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 3 | – | United States |  USA | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 20-12 | Bronze | ||||
| – | Austin Clapp | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Phil Daubenspeck | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Charley Finn | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Harold McCallister | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Wally O'Connor | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Cal Strong | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Herb Wildman | 4 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 9 | Frank Graham DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 2 | Ray Ruddy DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 5 | William O'Connor DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 11 | Fred Lauer DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| Coach | Frank Rivas | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Japan |  JPN | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0-38 | |||||
| – | Shuji Doi | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Akira Fujita | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Seibei Kimura | 1 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Takashige Matsumoto | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Yasutaro Sakagami | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Tosuke Sawami | 2 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Takaji Takebayashi | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Iwao Tokito | 3 | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 4 | Kiyoshi Murai DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| Coach | Akira Fujita | |||||||||||||
| – | Brazil |  BRA | [2] | [0] | [0] | [2] | [0] | [4]-[13] | 1 | |||||
| – | Salvador Amendola | [2] | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Carlos Branco | [1] | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Luiz da Silva | [2] | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Mario de Lorenzo | [2] | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Antônio Jacobina Filho | [2] | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Adhemar Serpa | [2] | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Jefferson Souza | [2] | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| – | Pedro Theberge | [1] | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 3 | Jorge Pessoa DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 4 | Abrahão Saliture DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– | |||||||
| 10 | Alfredo Di Blasio DNS | – | – | – | – | – | –-– |
| Date | 4 – 12 August 1932 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug 10:10 | Hungary | HUN | 6 – 2 | Germany | GER | |
| Match #2 | 06 Aug 15:40 | United States | USA | 6 – 1 | Brazil | BRA | |
| Match #3 | 07 Aug 16:50 | United States | USA | 10 – 0 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #4 | 04 Aug 16:10 | Germany | GER | 7 – 3 | Brazil | BRA | |
| Match #5 | 08 Aug 16:45 | Hungary 2 | HUN | 18 – 0 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #6 | 09 Aug 11:00 | Germany | GER | 4 – 4 | United States | USA | |
| Match #7 | 11 Aug 16:45 | Hungary | HUN | 7 – 0 | United States | USA | |
| Match #8 | 12 Aug 16:55 | Germany | GER | 10 – 0 | Japan | JPN |
