Water Polo at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games

Unlike almost all recent Olympics, water polo was not contested at the same venue as swimming. Water polo was contested at the Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu, an outdoor facility, while the 1984 swimming events took place outdoors at the Olympic Swim Stadium on the campus of the University of Southern California, now called the McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

The format was similar to 1980. Twelve teams competed in three preliminary round-robin pools of four teams each, with the leading two teams in each pool advancing to a round-robin medal round, and the others competing in a round-robin consolation pool for places 7-12. However, unlike in 1980, group play match results were carried over to the final pools.