| Event: | Women's water polo tournament |
| Games: | 2011 |
| Venue: | Scotiabank Aquatics Center |
| Dates: | October 23 – October 28 |
| Competitors: | 104 |
| Nations: | 8 |
| Prev: | 2007 |
| Next: | 2015 |
The women's tournament of water polo at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico took place from October 23 to October 28, when the United States defeated Canada 27–26 in a penalty shootout for the gold medal. All games were held at the Scotiabank Aquatics Center. The defending champions are the United States.[1] The winner of the competition has qualified directly for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain, while the second through fourth-place finishing teams have qualified for the 2012 Women's Water Polo Olympic Games Qualification Tournament that was held in Trieste, Italy.[1]
A National Olympic Committee may enter one women's team for the water polo competition. Mexico, the host nation along with seven other countries qualified through regional competitions.[1]
| Event | Date | Location | Vacancies | Qualified | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host Nation | – | – | 1 | ||
| March 20–25, 2010 |  Medellín | 3 | | ||
| 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games | July 26–31, 2010 | Mayagüez | 1 | ||
| Qualified Automatically | – | 1 | |||
| Zone 3 | – | – | 1 | ||
| Zone 4 | – | – | 1 | ||
| TOTAL | 8 | ||||
The top two teams from the Central American and Caribbean Games were to be qualified, but only 1 team (Puerto Rico) could qualify. Cuba did not compete in this tournament and has received a wildcard.[2]
All times are local Central Daylight Time (UTC−5)[3]
| width=10px bgcolor="#ccffcc" | Qualified for the semifinals |
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| width=40 | Rank | width=180 | Team | width=60 | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 – 0 – 0 | |||||
| 4 – 0 – 1 | |||||
| 3 – 0 – 2 | |||||
| 4 | 2 – 0 – 3 | ||||
| 5 | 3 – 0 – 2 | ||||
| 6 | 2 – 0 – 3 | ||||
| 7 | 1 – 0 – 4 | ||||
| 8 | 0 – 0 – 5 |