What's with the "Marco" --- "Polo" thing?

The children's game of Marco Polo is a form of tag played in a swimming pool. The game is popular in the United States, Australia, Canada and Brazil, and possibly in other parts of the world.

Rules

The game is played by two or more persons. At any time there is one distinguished player, "It", who must swim around the pool with his or her eyes closed, attempting to tag the other player(s). The "It" player can only sense where the other players are by sound, but may call out "Marco!", at which point all the other players are required to yell "Polo!". When the "It" player succeeds in tagging another player, the latter becomes "It".

There are a few common minor variations. Fish-out-of-water allows the non-It players to get out of the pool (thus protecting themselves from being tagged by the water-bound It), however, should It call "fish out of water" while some one is out of the pool, that person becomes It. Interestingly there is no convention to resolve a situation of more than one person being out of the pool and being caught by that. Alligator Eyes allows It to call out "alligator eyes" and then swim underwater with eyes open for one breath. Usually, It is limited to one use of alligator-eyes. Often this rule is used when playing with amateurs or very little children, who have not mastered the sublime art of hearing their opponents.

Variations

There are many variants to this game. It may be played on dry ground; in that case, it is similar to "blind man's bluff".

Another variant is "Sharks and Minnows" or "Silent Witness", which uses the tag rules of Marco Polo, but the players are not required to make a sound at any time.

A similar game to be found in some regions of the UK is "Bat/Moth". This can be played in swimming pools or on land, as a large group, with three or four contestants making the bats and moths, with the remainder forming a circle barrier to prevent leaving the game. The game is not widely played.

Don't the exact origin, but it was named after the explorer since the goal is to find someone in the pool.

All I know is my kids sometimes play it in the pool. The person who is "it" closes his/her eyes and yells "Marco". The others have to reply "Polo". They will repeat this until somebody gets tagged and becomes "it". I guess the name of the game came from water polo, but I 'm a bit fuzzy on the "Marco", unless it refers to the explorer and when you play the game you are trying to discover where the others are. It's a dumb game. My favorite water game is called "float on a lounger with a cold drink."

it is a game children play today. It is a german heritage. 2 explorers lost eachother and found eachother by saying Marco, Polo! It is a way to communicate when lost.

Me too.. Maybe it is one of those things that draws peoples interest in and they do not t ell you until the last minute.. publicity of some sort