Water polo is a contact sport played in a pool, which means the referee cannot see what happens below the surface. The players know this. The camera, shooting from above, revealed exactly what two athletes were negotiating underwater while the ball floated ten feet away.
One player's grip locked onto the other's shoulder while the defender countered with a hold of her own. Both maintained the facial expressions of people discussing property taxes despite the physical intensity below the surface. Water polo calls itself "the toughest sport you'll never see." This photo proved the second half of that slogan wrong.
