| Gender: | women |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| City: | London |
| Venue: | Water Polo Arena |
| Dates: | 30 July – 9 August 2012 |
| Num Teams: | 8 |
| Confederations: | 4 |
| Competitors: | 102 |
| Champion: | USA |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second: | ESP |
| Third: | AUS |
| Fourth: | HUN |
| Matches: | 24 |
| Goals: | 468 |
| Multiple Appearances: | 4-time Olympian(s): 3 3-time Olympian(s): 6 |
| Multiple Medalists: | 4-time medalist(s): 2 |
| Top Scorer: |  Maggie Steffens(21 goals in 6 matches) |
| Most Saves: |  Elena Gigli(56 saves in 6 matches) |
| Top Sprinter: |  Kate Gynther Jennifer Pareja(21 sprints won in 6 matches) |
| Mvp: | Maggie Steffens |
| Previous: | 2008 |
| Next: | 2016 |
The women's water polo tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was held from 30 July to 9 August at the Water Polo Arena.[1]
Teams from eight nations competed in the tournament and have been seeded into two groups for the preliminary round. A total of 24 games were played, 12 of them in the preliminary round.
The tournament featured eight teams, separated into two groups of four teams.[2] Each team played the other three teams in its pool once in a round-robin format. All eight teams advanced to the quarterfinal stage where they were seeded and played against a team from the other group.[3]
The winners of the quarterfinal games moved on to the semifinals, while the quarterfinal losers played a series of classification games. The semifinal winners played in the gold medal game, while the losers played each other for the bronze.
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See main article: List of women's Olympic water polo tournament records and statistics.
See also: National team appearances in the women's Olympic water polo tournament.
| Rank | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 | ||
| 8 |
See main article: List of players who have appeared in multiple women's Olympic water polo tournaments.
Four-time Olympian(s): 3 players
Three-time Olympian(s): 6 players
See main article: List of Olympic medalists in water polo.
Four-time Olympic medalist(s): 2 players
| Rank | Name | Goals | Shots | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maggie Steffens | 21 | 27 | 78 |
| 2 |  Ma Huanhuan | 19 | 53 | 36 |
| 3 | Tania Di Mario | 18 | 45 | 40 |
| 4 | Anni Espar | 15 | 41 | 37 |
| 5 | Nicola Zagame | 12 | 16 | 75 |
 Barbara Bujka | 12 | 26 | 46 | |
| Dóra Antal | 12 | 32 | 37 | |
| Ashleigh Southern | 12 | 32 | 37 | |
| Gabriella Szűcs | 12 | 32 | 37 | |
| Jennifer Pareja | 12 | 34 | 35 | |
| Rowie Webster | 12 | 42 | 29 |
The women's all-star team was announced on 9 August 2012.
Maggie Steffens (21 goals) Elizabeth Armstrong (53 saves) Barbara Bujka (centre forward, left-handed, 12 goals) Anni Espar (15 goals) Holly Lincoln-Smith (centre back, 5 goals) Jennifer Pareja (12 goals, 21 sprints won) Maggie Steffens (21 goals) Nicola Zagame (12 goals, 4 sprints won)