Nickname | ‘‘Εmperor’’ |
---|---|
Founded | 21 November 1923 |
League | A1 Ethniki Water Polo |
Based in | Piraeus, Greece |
Arena | Papastrateio Pool, Pireaus |
Colors | Blue, White |
President | Ioannis Patlakas |
Head coach | Men Fanis Kountoudios Women Stefanos Leandros |
Championships | Men's team 38 Greek Championships 12 Greek Cups 11 Central Greece Water Polo Championship Women's team 2 Women's LEN Trophy 3 Greek Championships 1 Greek Cup |
Website | ethnikoswaterpolo.gr |
Active departments of Ethnikos Piraeus | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ethnikos Piraeus Water Polo Club is the professional water polo team of Ethnikos OFPF (meaning: National Club of Fans of Piraeus and Phalerum, in Greek: Εθνικός Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς Φαλήρου).
Ethnikos is one of the most successful and traditional water polo clubs in Greece. They hold (since 1957) the record for the most Greek water polo championships with 38. They have alson won 12 Greek water polo cups (eight of them are consecutive, which is a record) achieving 9 times the Double and 11 times the Central Greece Championship. Ethnikos has the record of 9 unbeaten doubles and the unique record of winning 18 championships in a row (from 1953 to 1970) and the second most with 14 in a row (from 1972 to 1985). Ethnikos holds the unique record for the most unbeaten championships with 29[1] (from which 11 are consecutive, which is also a record) and the record for consecutive years staying unbeaten in a domestic match (13 years, from September 1951 to August 1964). Also, the club holds the record for most championships won exclusively with wins (19, 10 of which are consecutive, also a record).
The dominance of Ethnikos along with his longstanding records led to his given nickname, the “Emperor”.
The men's team was the first Greek club to reach the eight (1966) and four (1980) best teams in Europe. The team has been in the top-8 teams in Europe another eight times (1970, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1995).
The women's team won the LEN Trophy in 2010 and repeated its triumph in 2022 to become the Greek team with the most LEN Trophies.
Many great players have played for Ethnikos throughout the years. The Greece men's national water polo team for many years consisted of Ethnikos players that have participated in the Olympics. The greatest personality in the history of the club is Andreas Garifallos, player, coach and president. In the Kastella neighborhood of Piraeus, the swimming pool bears his name in honour of his contribution to Piraeus and Greece water polo. Other great players that have played for Ethnikos are Ioannis Garifallos, Giannis Karalogos, Thomas Karalogos, Nondas Samartzidis, Kyriakos Iosifidis, Markellos Sitarenios, Sotirios Stathakis, Evangelos Patras, Konstantinos Kokkinakis, Filippos Kaiafas, Theodoros Kalakonas, Dimitrios Mazis, Christos Afroudakis, Antonios Aronis, Dimitrios Konstas, Dimitrios Kougevetopoulos, Antonios Vlontakis, Gerasimos Voltirakis, Anastasios Schizas, Chris Humbert, Wolf Wigo, Ashleigh Johnson, Iefke van Belkum, Stephania Haralabidis, Ioanna Haralabidis, Maria Tsouri, Aikaterini Oikonomopoulou, Sofia Iosifidou, Marina Canetti