ABSTRACT
Water polo is a non-contact sport consisting of 4 periods of 8 minutes actual playing time, separated by 2 minutes interval between periods and 5 minutes at half time. The intermittent nature of the game involves a combination of high and lower intensity bouts of activity and poses high physiological demands (Smith, 1998). More specifically, intense movements last between 7 and 14 seconds (Hohmann and Frase, 1992) and players’ heart rate exceeds 80% of maximum for the majority of the game (Hollander et al., 1994). However, recent implementation of new rules has changed the duration of playing and rest, thus potentially altering the demands of the game.
