Picture any pirate movie’s final battle- water splashing, waves crashing, cannonballs flying, people drowning- an exciting and invigorating scene with suspense, sadness, soaring heroes saving the day. Throw on some choking caps and restricting suits, and you have the real life equivalent: a water polo game. As girls crash into each other, sweat and chlorine sprays. The ball flies through the air. You catch snarls and glares from your enemies as they boot you in the stomach, wrenching your legs down, down, and into the aquatic abyss. Water engulfs your face as you gasp for air, yearning for a break. You tread as hard as you can against the push of a defender and launch yourself away, screaming for the ball, searching for an open trail to the goal. You feel fingers wrap around your ankle and you take one final gulp of air before winding up beneath someone. You learn to breathe when you can because you never know when you won’t be able to.

The whistle blows after a goal and the tumult pauses as the teams position themselves for the next drive. The lul lasts only seconds as the shrill tweet signals battle. You hope you make it through without injury. A couple of bruises or claw marks is worth the avoidance of a broken finger, a punctured lip, a throbbing bite mark, or having the wind knocked out of you by a well-placed blow1. The only breaks are timeouts or goals, each giving only momentary relief. For the worst of offenses, the officials will penalize, calling a foul or a kick-out, but the chaos underwater is almost invisible. Occasionally, some blatant offense occurs, but the best players have tricks up their suits; they know exactly what to do to avoid being caught2. The girls opposite you are your enemy, and your goals: win the game, score a goal, don’t die. At times you wonder if it would be worth it to just give up. You play for your team, but it takes everything you have to not stop for your safety. Water polo is called the most dangerous sport by some- the rest are just ignorant.

1.Injuries happen frequently. I have seen the red indentations of human teeth, felt the pangs of a broken finger, witnessed a stitch-worthy kick to the mouth, and have felt and seen the panic in a girl’s eyes when her lungs momentarily seem empty or- even worse- full of water. 

2.  Nail checks are a regular, as some teams have been known to sharpen their nails, but I once encountered a girl who had learned to dig the blunt ends of her freshly chopped nails into my forearms they turned purple and raw for a week, but the refs did nothing, so she continues her tactics still.