Body Composition Profile of World-Class Male Water Polo Players in Relation to Position

Background and Objectives: Water polo (WP) is a high-intensity, intermittent aquatic team sport that has been extensively investigated within sports science. While contemporary literature has examined the body composition and morphological characteristics of elite and international WP players, this study aimed to define the general body composition profile of world-class WP players and determine position-specific differences. Methods: The study involved 72 national team players from Serbia, Croatia, Greece, and Italy who participated in the Olympic Games, World Championships, or European Championships. Participants' body composition was measured using the InBody 720 multichannel bioimpedance method. Ten different variables were examined to assess body structure regarding contractile and ballast components. Results: MANOVA revealed statistically significant differences in body composition across playing positions (Wilks' lambda = 0.239, p < 0.000, η²_p = 0.402). The variables that had the greatest impact on the difference were: body mass, body fat and body mass index with the 47.0, 44.4, and 43.7% of explained total variance of the impact on the differences (p = 0.000), respectively. Conclusions: world-class WP players assigned to different playing positions differ significantly in body composition. These positional profiles should be considered in talent identification, selection procedures, training, and nutritional strategies to optimize performance models, considering the future evolution of the game at the highest competitive level. Coaches could use this information to initially select players for different specific positions based on anthropometric and body composition criteria.