Aerial view of the Olympic Stadium (R) which will host the athletics events and Water Polo Arena and Aquatics Centre (L) which will host the swimming and water polo during the London 2012 Olympic Games on July 26, 2011 in London, England. Olympic Stadium operator - The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), has terminated negotiations with West Ham Football Club after a legal dispute with Tottenham Hotspur resulted in delays. Instead, the Mayor of London has agreed the stadium will remain publicly owned. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)Tom Shaw/Getty Images
For Canada's water polo teams, the London Olympic Games start Sunday.
At least they'll need to play that way to sew up water polo berths for next summer's Olympics. Water polo is one of a dozen sports where a gold medal performance at the Pan American Games at Guadalajara automatically qualifies the winner for the Olympic field.
The week-long Pan Am Games tournament will require Canada to step up from the 2007 Games in Rio de Janeiro, where Canadian women took silver and the men bronze.
In men's competition in Mexico, Canada is in Group A with Colombia, Mexico and Cuba. Group B teams are the United States, Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil.
The Canadians open Sunday against Mexico, face Cuba on Monday and Colombia Tuesday. The top two national teams in each of the two pools advance to the semi-finals on Thursday, with the medal matches on Saturday.
"Our team is healthy and ready," said Canadian team manager Bill Meyer of Ottawa. "The goal is simply to win because that qualifies the team for London. The biggest obstacles are the Americans -- who are very experienced and fielding a similar team to the one that took silver at the 2008 Olympics. Brazil is always strong at the Pan American Games winning silver the last four times."
In the women's tournament, the Americans are also going to be one of Canada's toughest rivals. Canada is Group A with Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico. Group B includes Puerto Rico, Argentina, the United States, and Cuba. Canada opens Sunday against Venezuela, faces Brazil on Tuesday and Mexico on Wednesday.
"Our goal here is clear: to win the gold medal and qualify for the Olympics," said Canadian head coach Patrick Oaten. "It will not be easy, given the competition that is here. but I really like how the team is looking. We are coming off a successful altitude training camp with Hungary."
The top-two teams in each group advance to the semi-finals Wednesday night. Medal matches are on Friday.