Ghana water polo grows as sport looks for more diversity

By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer

BACK at the very beginning, right when the idea of water polo in Ghana started swimming into reality, Prince Asante got out a couple of balls and caps in front of a handful of curious kids.

He decided to try a scrimmage, but he had no nets. So they put a soccer bench on each side of the pool.

It was “enthusiastic confusion,” he said. And the caps — which have protective cups that go over a player’s ears — well, they were particularly amusing.

“Somebody said, ‘Oh, water brassiere, thank you very much,’ a water bra,” a chuckling Asante said.

That was one of the first meetings of the Awutu Winton Water Polo Club, a budding league in a tough part of the world for the Olympics’ oldest team sport — and a true passion project for the energetic Asante.

Growing up in Coronado, California, he was often the only Black face in the pool or his classes. He went in search of a water polo that looked more like him, and found it in the waters of his father’s homeland.

“This is like my baby, and it’s cute because, you know, it cries and it’s growing up, but it needs all of your attention, 24-7,” the 31-year-old Asante said.

“Whenever I talk about it, it’s great, because it’s something that I would have loved to see as a kid.”

In Ghana, dangerous rip tides off the country’s coast have caused countless drownings over the years. That’s led to trepidation about deep waters in a nation where low- and middle-income families already have limited access to swimming pools.

When Asante first started swimming in African communities, he saw looks of fear and panic on faces because “they all have stories of someone going out and not coming back,” he said.

SEE PAGE 13 thing kind of left for him to achieve at this point. He signed yes. MVP in minor league – yes. Player of the Year – yes. 30 home runs – yes. All-Star game in the big league – yes. Cover of the game – yes. There’s only two things left for him, MVP and Hall of Fame and I’m looking forward to that.”

Sands said it has been a long journey and he will continue to love and support Chisholm just as he does his own son, Storm. Chisholm, however, advised Sands that Storm

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It was here in May 2021 that Russell Westbrook recorded his 181st career triple-double to tie Oscar Robertson’s career mark. And it was here in December 2021 that Stephen Curry made five 3-pointers to pull within one of matching Ray Allen’s career mark of 2,973.

On Thursday, James became the second player in league history to top the 38,300-point mark and left town with 38,325. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the NBA’s scoring record with 38,387 points.

For most of the night, it looked as if Indiana would pull away, thanks to its

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IOC details Russia stance for Olympics, cites human rights

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — The IOC stepped up efforts yesterday to explain its position on trying to help Russian athletes qualify for next year’s Paris Olympics amid a backlash from Ukraine and its allies. The International Olympic Committee’s move last week to map a pathway to Paris for athletes from Russia and Belarus who have not actively supported the war provoked strong objections from Ukraine, which wants to see those countries remain banned from most international sports.

Publishing a series of explanations and rebuttals to its critics yesterday, the Olympic body also responded to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s invitation for his IOC counterpart Thomas Bach to return and see the ruined city of Bakhmut.

“Currently there are no plans for another visit to Ukraine,” the IOC said, noting that Bach visited Kyiv last July and had since spoken with Zelenskyy in telephone calls. The IOC once more cited the opinion of two United Nations human rights experts who support the view that