Woman Playing Water Polo Emoji
U+1F93D U+200D U+2640 U+FE0F:woman_playing_water_polo:Skin tonesAbout Woman Playing Water Polo 🤽♀️
Woman Playing Water Polo () is part of the People & Body group in Unicode. Added in Unicode E4.0. Type on GitHub and Slack to use it. Click copy above to grab it, paste it anywhere.
Works in iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, and every app that supports Unicode. Pick a skin tone above to customize it.
Often associated with playing, polo, sport, and 4 more keywords.
Meaning varies across cultures, see cultural notes below.
Scroll down for the full story: meaning, trends, combos, and more.
How it looks
What does it mean?
The woman playing water polo emoji shows a woman in a swimming cap in the water with a ball. Most people scroll past this emoji without a second thought, which is a shame — water polo is routinely called the hardest sport in the world. Players tread water for 40+ minutes per game using the 'egg beater' kick (they cannot touch the pool floor), swim nearly two miles per match, and endure full-contact chaos: kicking, grabbing, and dunking underwater where refs can't see. The emoji represents water polo specifically, but because it's one of the few water-sport-with-ball emojis, it also gets used for general aquatic athleticism. The US women's national team dominated the sport with three consecutive Olympic golds (2012, 2016, 2020) before a shocking fourth-place finish at Paris 2024, making women's water polo one of the most compelling competitive narratives in Olympic history.
Used primarily by water polo players, teams, and fans — a relatively niche but passionate community. Peaks during the Olympics and World Aquatics Championships. College water polo accounts use it heavily during season. It occasionally gets used for general 'water sports' or 'summer pool activities' content by people who may not know the specific sport it represents. Some people use it metaphorically for 'staying afloat' or 'treading water' — describing a situation where you're working hard just to maintain your position.
It represents the sport of water polo — a full-contact team sport played in a pool where players can't touch the floor. It can also be used metaphorically for 'treading water' or 'staying afloat' in difficult situations.
Why water polo is called the hardest sport
What it means from...
Not flirty in any standard interpretation. If a water polo player sends it, they're talking about their sport — it's a huge part of their identity. Showing interest in their game is the move: 'when's your next match?'
Often schedules and logistics: 'practice tonight 🤽♀️' or sharing game results. Water polo players spend enormous time training, so this emoji frequently appears in 'can't hang out, I'm at the pool' messages.
Used within the water polo community for coordinating practices, sharing game highlights, and team bonding. Among non-players, it sometimes represents general pool or water activities, especially in summer.
Parents of water polo players use it for game announcements and score updates. 'She scored three goals today 🤽♀️🎉' is classic proud-parent content. Siblings of players often use it when describing the family's schedule revolving around pool time.
Rarely appears in professional contexts. When it does, it's usually someone using the 'treading water' metaphor: 'just keeping my head above water this week 🤽♀️.' Or it's someone who plays recreationally sharing weekend plans.
On social media, it marks water polo content: game highlights, team announcements, and Olympic coverage. During the Olympics, casual fans use it when sharing dramatic water polo clips — the sport is incredibly watchable once you understand the chaos.
Flirty or friendly?
This emoji has zero flirty connotations. It's purely athletic and sport-specific. If someone sends it, they're talking about water polo, aquatic fitness, or metaphorically treading water. It doesn't carry any romantic or suggestive subtext.
- •Athletic: always sport or fitness related
- •Competitive: game results, team content, Olympic coverage
- •Metaphorical: 'treading water' as working hard to stay afloat
- •Seasonal: more common in summer pool content
Most likely she plays water polo or is watching a water polo match. It's a sport-specific emoji without romantic or flirty connotations. If she sends it metaphorically, she's saying she's 'treading water' — working hard just to keep up.
Emoji combos
Origin story
Water polo is one of the oldest Olympic sports, having been included in the 1900 Paris Games for men. Women's water polo didn't join the Olympics until Sydney 2000 — a full century later. The US women's team quickly became dominant, winning gold at London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020, making them one of the most successful Olympic dynasties in any sport. Then came Paris 2024: the three-time defending champions and 2024 world champions were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Australia, eventually finishing fourth without a medal. Spain won their first-ever women's water polo gold. The upset shocked the sport and became one of the biggest stories of the 2024 Games. Water polo itself is brutal by design: players tread water using the 'egg beater' kick for the entire 32-minute match (40+ minutes with stoppages), swim nearly two miles per game, and engage in full-contact grappling underwater where referees can only see a fraction of what happens. It's been called 'boxing in a pool' and 'soccer played in a swimming pool where you can drown.' The emoji arrived in 2016, but the woman variant is particularly significant given that women's water polo had to wait 100 years to join the Olympics.
The Person Playing Water Polo emoji was approved in Unicode 9.0 and Emoji 3.0 in June 2016, derived from proposal L2/15-196 (2015). It was part of a significant expansion of sports emojis that also included handball, wrestling, and fencing. The woman variant (🤽♀️) uses the standard ZWJ sequence: 🤽 Person Playing Water Polo + Zero Width Joiner + ♀️ Female Sign. It was added in Emoji 4.0 (2016). The emoji supports Fitzpatrick skin tone modifiers. Water polo is one of the relatively few team sports to get its own dedicated emoji — most team sports (basketball, soccer, football) show the ball rather than a person playing.
Around the world
Water polo's popularity varies enormously by country. In Hungary, Serbia, and Croatia, men's water polo is a national passion — comparable to how Americans feel about football. Women's water polo has its strongest base in the US (where collegiate programs are robust), Australia, Spain, and the Netherlands. In most of the world, water polo is an obscure sport that people only discover during the Olympics. The emoji gets used most heavily in the US, Southern Europe, and Australia. In East Asia, water polo barely registers. The sport requires infrastructure (pools) that many developing nations lack, making it inherently tied to wealthier countries.
It's consistently ranked among the top 3 most physically demanding sports. Players tread water for 40+ minutes, swim nearly 2 miles per game, and endure full-contact combat — all while handling a ball one-handed. Yes, it's that hard.
Women's water polo debuted at the 2000 Sydney Games — a full 100 years after men's water polo first appeared at the 1900 Paris Olympics. Australia won the inaugural gold.
The three-time defending Olympic gold medalists were eliminated in the quarterfinals and finished fourth — their first Olympics without a medal. Spain won their first-ever women's water polo gold.
US Women's Olympic Water Polo results
Often confused with
The woman swimming emoji shows lap swimming — a solo endurance activity. Water polo is a team sport with a ball, goals, and full-contact physicality. Swimming is the cardio base; water polo is the combat sport built on top of it.
The woman swimming emoji shows lap swimming — a solo endurance activity. Water polo is a team sport with a ball, goals, and full-contact physicality. Swimming is the cardio base; water polo is the combat sport built on top of it.
The woman playing handball emoji shows a land-based team sport. Water polo is essentially 'handball in a pool where you can't touch the bottom.' Both involve throwing a ball at a goal, but the water adds an entirely different dimension of physical demand.
The woman playing handball emoji shows a land-based team sport. Water polo is essentially 'handball in a pool where you can't touch the bottom.' Both involve throwing a ball at a goal, but the water adds an entirely different dimension of physical demand.
Do's and don'ts
- ✓Use it for water polo content — games, training, scores
- ✓Use metaphorically for 'treading water' or 'staying afloat' situations
- ✓Include during Olympic and World Championship coverage
- ✓Acknowledge water polo as one of the most demanding sports
- ✗Don't use it as a generic 'swimming' emoji — 🏊♀️ exists for that
- ✗Don't underestimate water polo players' athleticism — they swim 2 miles per game
- ✗Avoid using it for pool parties or casual swimming — it represents a specific combat sport
Caption ideas
Aesthetic sets
Type it as text
Fun facts
- •Water polo players tread water for 40+ minutes per game using the 'egg beater' kick and are not allowed to touch the pool floor at any point.
- •Players swim nearly 2 miles per game while also grappling, throwing, and treading water — it's considered one of the most demanding sports in existence.
- •Women's water polo wasn't added to the Olympics until Sydney 2000 — a full century after men's water polo debuted at the 1900 Paris Games.
- •The US women's team won three consecutive Olympic golds (2012, 2016, 2020) before a shocking fourth-place finish at Paris 2024, where Spain won their first gold.
- •Below the water, players kick, grab, and pull each other constantly. Referees can only see what happens above the surface, making underwater combat a core part of the game.
- •The sport has a 28-second shot clock (changed from 30 in 2025), meaning teams must shoot quickly — adding intensity to an already exhausting game.
Common misinterpretations
- •Many people see this emoji and think 'swimming' or 'pool party.' It specifically represents water polo — a competitive, full-contact team sport, not a leisure activity.
- •The cap in the emoji isn't a swim cap — it's a water polo cap with ear guards and a number, designed to protect players' ears from the ball and from other players.
In pop culture
- •US Women's Water Polo Dynasty (2012-2020) — three consecutive Olympic golds, making them one of the most dominant teams in any Olympic sport
- •Paris 2024 upset — Team USA's shocking fourth-place finish ended the dynasty; Spain won their first-ever women's water polo gold
- •Sydney 2000 Olympics — women's water polo debuted, 100 years after men's water polo first appeared at the 1900 Paris Games
- •'The toughest sport in the world' — water polo consistently ranks in top-3 lists of most physically demanding sports alongside rugby and boxing
Trivia
For developers
- •Codepoint sequence: U+1F93D U+200D U+2640 U+FE0F (Person Playing Water Polo + ZWJ + Female Sign + VS16)
- •Shortcodes: :woman_playing_water_polo: (GitHub), :water_polo_woman: (Slack)
- •Supports Fitzpatrick skin tone modifiers (append after U+1F93D)
- •Part of the Emoji 3.0 sports expansion (2016) alongside handball, wrestling, and fencing
- •Base emoji was Unicode 9.0 (2016); woman variant Emoji 4.0 (2016)
The base emoji was Unicode 9.0 / Emoji 3.0 (June 2016). The woman variant was added in Emoji 4.0 later that year.
See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.
Could you last 5 minutes treading water without touching the floor?
Select all that apply
- Emojipedia — Woman Playing Water Polo (emojipedia.org)
- Paris 2024 Water Polo Women Results (olympics.com)
- Water Polo: 5 Facts — Nayad (nayad.com)
- Rules of Water Polo — Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
- Collegiate Water Polo Fun Facts (collegiatewaterpolo.org)
- USA Water Polo — Women's National Team (usawaterpolo.org)
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