Panathinaikos Water Polo Club

Panathinaikos AC Water Polo, founded in 1930, is the water polo department of Panathinaikos A.C., the Athens-based Greek multi-sport club. Despite its early establishment it doesn't have any particular honours so far. The best result it has achieved in the A1 Ethniki Water Polo is the second place.[1]

Panathinaikos Water Polo
NicknamesThe Trifolium
Founded1928 (1928)
LeagueA1 Ethniki Water Polo
Based inAthens, Greece
ArenaGoudi Aquatic Center
ColoursGreen and White
   
PresidentPanagiotis Malakates
Head coachMichalis Lazaridis
Websitepao1908.com

History in the Greek Championship

Panathinaikos AC Water Polo was initially established in 1930, but three years later it was forced to close because of the lack of a swimming pool. The club was re-established in 1959. Without facing any particular difficulties it won the tournaments of the lower divisions and managed to qualify for the first division 3 years later, in 1962. In the years 1963, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 Panathinaikos WPC reached the third position. In 1993 PAO WPC returned for another time to second division. Until now PAO WPC have never won a national title.

In 2011 the club took the third place, along with the participation ticket for the first time in its history in the LEN Euroleague. The club ended up in the third place once again in the season 2013-2014. The team finished second for the first time in its history in the season 2014-15.

Greek Cup

In the Greek Water Polo Cup Panathinaikos participated in the final in the season 2014-15.

The team had previously reached the semi-finals in the seasons: 1983-84, 1984-85, 2001-02, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

European Honours

In its first participation in the LEN Euroleague (2011–12), Panathinaikos succeeded in advancing from the preliminary round to the first group stage. The club succeeded in winning against Kharkiv and VK Primorac Kotor (8-11) but it was eventually eliminated from the second group stage.
Following its elimination from the Euroleague, PAO went on to compete in the LEN Trophy, where it advanced until the round of "16" after winning against Le Ben and eventually having a draw 7-7 against Galatasaray.[2] Finally Panathinaikos did not advance to the quarter finals after being eliminated by Panionios 6-8 in OAKA, and 13-14 (10-12) in Nea Smirni.[3]

Current roster

Season 2021–22[4]

No. Nat. Player Birth
Goalkeepers
Thomas Gavalas 1984
Spyros Trichas 2003
Defense
Charalampos Rompopoulos 1999
Stathis Chatzistefanou 1997
Giannis Egnatiadis 2004
Nikos Flampouras 2004
Center
Stergios Papavasiliou 1996
Dimitris Papadimitriou 1998
Panagiotis Siamas 2004
Offense
Giannis Kourliaftis 1987
Michalis Vekkos 1996
Giannis Pantazopoulos 1997
Antonis Xenakis 1992
Nikos Karakasis 1995
Michalis Danourdis 1992
Fanouris Deutereos 2004
Coach
Michalis Lazaridis
Assistant Coach
Tasos Pirpiris

Notable players

  • Nikos Anagnostopoulos
  • Georgios Afroudakis
  • Zachos Afroudakis
  • Giannis Bostantzoglou
  • Petros Egogiannis
  • Kostas Dandolos
  • Makis Georgaras
  • Kostas Kasidokostas
  • Grigoris Kasidokostas

References

  1. Panathinaikos, the Greek Sports Master :: Departments : Water Polo Club
  2. http://www.gazzetta.gr/article/item/231078-prokrise-gia-panathenaiko
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ΠΟΛΟ ΑΝΔΡΩΝ ΡΟΣΤΕΡ. pao1908.com (in Greek). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
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