Who would you expect to be the most famous water polo player worldwide? Do you think your assumption about this aligns with their Instagram following?
You will probably be surprised by the fact that a 30-year-old Japanese water polo athlete, Atsushi Arai, significantly surpasses many of the sport’s most prominent figures in terms of followers, by nearly 100 thousand (See table below).
Alternatively, it’s fascinating to note that three out of the next four leading personalities on Instagram in this sport are women.
Is this a fantastic measure of equality in the sport, or a shocking indictment of how poorly some of the sport’s biggest male athletes fail to promote themselves properly?
While Instagram followership isn’t the sole gauge of celebrity status, in today’s era of pervasive social media, it holds significant weight. So which players need to work on their personal branding? Who do you need to start following?
Key takeaways
Top Followed Players – Atsushi Arai from Japan leads with 153 thousand followers, Greta Gurisatti from Hungary follows with 61.9 thousand followers and Nikoleta Eleftheriadou from Greece is next with 48.3 thousand followers.
Gender Distribution – Out of the top 10 most followed players, there are 7 males and 3 females. The average number of followers for male players in the top 10 is approximately 42.35 thousand, while for female players, it’s approximately 46.33 thousand. This indicates that while there are more male players in the top 10, female players tend to have slightly higher average followership.
Nationality Distribution – Italian players dominate the top followed list, with 12 players in the top 30.The average number of followers for Italian players in the top 30 is approximately 27.54 thousand, the highest among all nationalities. The USA follows with 7 players in the top 40, averaging approximately 15.73 thousand followers each.
Big Players with Lower Followership – One player who might be expected to have higher followership is Filip Filipovic from Serbia. While Filipovic is undoubtedly one of the top water polo players globally and has achieved significant success in the sport, his followership of 32.4 thousand is relatively lower compared to some other players with similar achievements and stature in the sport.
Looking hard to find the Total Player’s from 2023? Zalanki clocks in with just over 11k, while Simone Van de Kraats has a following of only 4k. Other Total Players score suprisingly low; Denes Varga sits in 17th with 19k followers, Perrone in 24th with 13k.
| Name | Followers (thousands) | Gender | Nationality |
| Atsushi Arai | 153 | M | JPN |
| Greta Gurisatti | 61.9 | F | HUN |
| Nicolas Saveljic | 50.5 | M | MNE |
| Nikoleta Eleftheriadou | 48.3 | F | GRE |
| Tilly Kearns | 43.1 | F | AUS |
| Vincenzo Renzuto | 40.4 | M | ITA |
| Francesco Di Fulvio | 37.4 | M | ITA |
| Marios Kapotsis | 34.7 | M | GRE |
| Dusan Mandic | 32.6 | M | SRB |
| Filip Filipovic | 32.4 | M | SRB |
| Niccolo Gitto | 32.3 | M | ITA |
| Maggie Steffens | 29.6 | F | USA |
| Matteo Aicardi | 29.2 | M | ITA |
| Ashleigh Johnson | 27.5 | F | USA |
| Johnny Hooper | 25.6 | M | USA |
| Kaleigh Gilchrist | 23.5 | F | USA |
| Madison Martinez | 20.9 | F | USA |
| Denes Varga | 19.1 | M | HUN |
| Mike Bodegas | 19 | M | FRA |
| Pietro Figlioli | 16 | M | ITA |
| Stefano Tempesti | 15.3 | M | ITA |
| Giannis Foundoulis | 15.3 | M | GRE |
| Nicholas Presciutti | 14.2 | M | ITA |
| Edoardo Di Somma | 13.9 | M | ITA |
| Felipe Perrone | 13.6 | M | ESP |
| Alvaro Granados | 13.6 | M | ESP |
| Marco del Lungo | 12.8 | M | ITA |
| Grummy Guimaraes | 12.6 | M | BRA |
| Vicenzo Dolce | 12.1 | M | ITA |
| Laura Ester | 11.9 | F | ESP |
| Kristian Manhercz | 11.9 | M | HUN |
| Andrea Fondelli | 11.9 | M | ITA |
| Simone Rossi | 11.9 | M | ITA |
| Alberto Barroso | 11.8 | M | ESP |
| Maddie Musselman | 11.7 | F | USA |
| Marko Stamm | 11.6 | M | GER |
| Gergo Zalanki | 11.4 | M | HUN |
| Abby Andrews | 11.3 | F | AUS |
| Jerko Marinic Kragic | 11.1 | M | CRO |
| Gabi Palm | 11 | F | AUS |
| Dorottya Szilagyi | 10.7 | F | HUN |
| Ugo Crousillat | 10.1 | M | FRA |
| Anni Espar | 9 | F | ESP |
| Soma Vogel | 8.7 | M | HUN |
| Konstantinos Genidounias | 8.5 | M | GRE |
| Angelos Vlachopoulus | 8.5 | M | GRE |
| Szilard Jansik | 8.1 | M | HUN |
| Maica Garcia | 8 | F | ESP |
| Nikola Jaksic | 7.7 | M | SRB |
| Gonzalo Echenique | 7.7 | M | ITA |
| Bea Ortiz | 7.7 | F | ESP |
| Giacomo Canella | 7.1 | M | ITA |
| Vince Vigvari | 6.8 | M | HUN |
| Eleftheria Plevritou | 6.8 | F | GRE |
| Vendel Vigvari | 6.3 | M | HUN |
| Lorenzo Bruni | 6.2 | M | ITA |
| Unai Aguirre | 6.2 | M | ESP |
| Ekaterina Prokofyeva | 6 | F | RUS |
| Andrija Prlainovic | 6 | M | SRB |
| Elena Ruiz | 6 | F | ESP |
| Chiara Tabani | 5.9 | F | ITA |
| Alex Papanastasiou | 5.8 | M | GRE |
| Ben Hallock | 5.6 | M | USA |
| Francesco Condemi | 5.2 | M | ITA |
| Rita Keszthelyi | 5 | F | HUN |
| Hannes Daube | 4.3 | M | USA |
| Simone van de Kraats | 4.2 | F | NED |
| Judith Forca | 4.1 | F | ESP |
| Enzo Khasz | 3.3 | M | FRA |
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