Water Polo Canada Alumni and 4-time Olympian David Hart has launched the second volume of his History of Canadian Water Polo series “Volume 2 (1930-1967) – Hamilton emerges from a municipal pool” . Three years after the release of “ Volume 1 (1886-1929) – Montreal first outside the United Kingdom”, the second volume of the series sheds light on the emergence of water polo in Hamilton, Ontario.
Once again, this fantastic sport story is the culmination of years of research, through newspaper reports and the author’s own personal archives. Volume 2 picks up the story in 1930, at a pivotal moment; the building of a municipal pool in Hamilton for the British Empire Games and the subsequent hiring of 1928 Olympic swimming medalist, Jimmy Thompson. Thompson would go on to create one of the most successful water polo clubs of its era, the Hamilton Aquatic Club. In this second book, author David Hart, focuses his attention on three major threads in Canadian water polo history: the dynasty of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of Montreal in the 1930s; the rise of the Hamilton Aquatic Water Polo Club, who would challenge Montreal’s supremacy by the end of the 1930s; and the impact of the Hungarian revolution and creation of the Hungarian Water Polo Club in Toronto in the late 1950s.
“I’m excited to release the second part of my history series. As a young swimmer and water polo player whose career began in 1961, I had a unique opportunity to see, meet and speak to many of the athletes, coaches and officials who competed in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. A lot of the historical material, including photographs used in this second book, were obtained personally from these legends, a couple of whom were my earliest coaches. I sincerely hope people will enjoy this second volume.” commented David Hart.
Volume one and Volume two of the History of Canadian Water Polo series are available for purchase on the Water Polo Canada Online Store.