Olympic Channel Weekly News

Beginning tonight at 9 p.m. ET, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA presents some of the most memorable moments from the world’s best water polo players during 2019 World Championships Week – Water Polo. This week’s competitions continue the network’s 2019 World Championships Weekcoverage.

From Monday, July 13 (starting at 9 p.m.), continuing Tuesday, July 14 through Saturday, July 18 (starting at 8 p.m. ET), and Sunday, July 19 (starting at 11 a.m. ET), 2019 World Championships Week – Water Polo features nearly 30 total hours of programming from the 2019 World Water Polo Championships from Gwangju, South Korea. Olympic gold medalists Ashleigh Johnson and Maggie Steffens, a two-time Olympic MVP, highlight play in South Korea.

The United States women’s team took home their third straight world title, defeating Spain in the gold medal match. Italy won the men’s title with Spain and Croatia earning silver and bronze, respectively. The U.S. men’s team finished ninth.

NBC Sports host and play-by-play announcer Paul Burmeister will introduce coverage each day throughout the week’s water polo competitions. Chris Vosters, Bill Spaulding and Jack Benjamin handled play-by-play duties, while Olympic silver medalists Julie Swail and Tony Azevedo joined as analysts.

In addition, on Saturday, Team USA Head Coach Adam Krikorian and 2-time Olympics MVP Maggie Steffens join host Paul Burmeister to watch the original broadcast from last year and reflect back on their thoughts and feelings while the game was being played as the U.S. would go on to capture their third straight World Championship.

All coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will stream on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app, in addition to NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Coverage of Olympic Sports on NBC Sports Group platforms is a presentation of Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

MONDAY, JULY 13 – WOMEN’S PRELIMINARIES

Team USA’s women, led by Ashleigh Johnson and Maggie Steffens, entered the competition looking to claim their third straight world title and cement their place as best in the world. They also began the tournament on a 47-game winning streak. The women’s team delivered strong opening play in Gwangju, defeating New Zealand 22-3 in their opening match, and continued with wins against the Netherlands and South Africa.

TUESDAY, JULY 14 – MEN’S PRELIMINARIES & CROSSOVER MATCH

The U.S. men’s team entered competition in South Korea seeking its first world championship medal. Team USA debuted strong with a 16-7 victory against Kazakhstan as Alex Bowen, Johnny Hopper, Hannes Daube, and Ben Hallock all scored three goals in their opening match.

After three group play matches, the U.S. men also competed in a ‘win-and-you’re-in’ match against Greece for a chance to advance to the knockout round.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 15 – WOMEN’S QUARTERFINALS

Team USA flew past Greece in the quarterfinals with a 15-5 win. Maddie Musselman led the charge with four goals while Ashleigh Johnson had seven saves.

Other matches on Wednesday included Russia taking on Australia, the 2017 world silver medalists Spain taking on the Netherlands, and the Rio Olympic silver medalists Italy going up against Hungary.

THURSDAY, JULY 16 – MEN’S QUARTERFINALS

The men’s quarterfinals featured some of the most dominant squads in the sport. With a combined 10 world championship medals, Serbia and Spain squared off first, before the reigning world champions Croatia took on Germany. The night will end with 2017 runner-up Hungary playing Australia while Italy, seeking a fourth world title, matched up against Greece.

FRIDAY, JULY 17 – WOMEN’S AND MEN’S SEMIFINALS

Friday’s coverage will feature the thrilling semifinal matches for both the women’s and men’s tournaments. The first semifinal features the U.S. women’s team against Australia as the Americans looked to extend their 51-match winning streak.

The men’s semifinals featured reigning world champions Croatia against Spain, and then a matchup between the two countries with the most titles in men’s water polo history: Hungary and Italy.

SATURDAY, JULY 18 – WOMEN’S GOLD AND BRONZE MEDAL MATCH; MEN’S GOLD AND BRONZE MEDAL MATCH

Competition from Gwangju concludes with the women’s and men’s gold and bronze medal matches.

The first match will feature the women Australia and Hungary vying for their first medal on the world stage since 2013. Australia would edge Hungary for bronze. Then, the women of Team USA competed for their third straight world title against Spain in the gold medal match.

In the men’s medal matches, defending champion Croatia won a third straight world medal by defeating Hungary in the bronze medal match. And Italy became the first men’s water polo team to win four world titles, defeating Spain in the gold medal final.

SUNDAY, JULY 19 – 2019 WORLD WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM USA HIGHLIGHTS

An all-day marathon of the 2019 World Water Polo Matches featuring all of Team USA’s highlights and best matches.