Pro Recco have continued their preparations for the new season with a 16-11 victory over the Japanese national team, the latest stop on the Italian champions’ World Tour through China and Japan.
Sandro Sukno’s side faced Japan at the Chiba International General Swimming Center on Sunday, just hours after travelling from Shanghai. The five-goal victory provided Recco with perhaps their most significant competitive test of the tour so far, facing a full international side as preparations intensify for the 2026/27 campaign.
The match forms part of a ten-day trip running from September 8-18, with Pro Recco using the tour for a mixture of pre-season preparation and promotion of the sport across Asia. The club described the trip as another step in its increasingly global approach, following last year’s World Tour in New York and Princeton.
Before arriving in Japan, Recco spent the opening stage of the tour in Shanghai, working alongside the Shanghai Water Polo Association and Shanghai Sea Dragons International Water Polo Club.
Their programme included joint training with Shanghai players, a clinic for Masters athletes and coaches, and a major youth event at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. Almost 100 young players were reportedly given direct coaching from Recco’s players, covering areas including movement, passing, shooting and goalkeeping.
The Shanghai leg culminated in an exhibition against the local team. Recco approached the game seriously despite its exhibition status, scoring after only six seconds and opening a 10-0 advantage before midway through the second period. More than 700 young players, parents and coaches were reported to have attended the event.
For club president Maurizio Felugo, the trip is about more than preparing the squad physically. Pro Recco were invited to Asia with the aim of contributing to the development of water polo, while continuing to build the international profile of a club based in a Ligurian town of only a few thousand people.
“Taking Pro Recco around the world means sharing our values and proudly representing Italian sport,” Felugo said when announcing the tour, adding that the club wanted to place its experience and expertise “at the service of water polo’s development.”
Recco’s Japanese programme also includes joint training with Keio University at its Hiyoshi Campus in Yokohama. The team will remain in Japan until September 16 before returning to China for the final two days of the tour, with their arrival back in Liguria scheduled for September 18.
There will then be just over two weeks before the serious business begins. Pro Recco open their Serie A1 title defence away to Roma Vis Nova on October 3.
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