Water polo at the 2011 Pan American Games – Women's tournament

The women's tournament of water polo at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico took place from October 23 to October 28, when the United States defeated Canada 27–26 in a penalty shootout for the gold medal. All games were held at the Scotiabank Aquatics Center. The defending champions are the United States. The winner of the competition has qualified directly for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain, while the second through fourth-place finishing teams have qualified for the 2012 Women's Water Polo Olympic Games Qualification Tournament that was held in Trieste, Italy.

Qualification
A National Olympic Committee may enter one women's team for the water polo competition. Mexico, the host nation along with seven other countries qualified through regional competitions.

The top two teams from the Central American and Caribbean Games were to be qualified, but only 1 team (Puerto Rico) could qualify. Cuba did not compete in this tournament and has received a wildcard.

Format

 * Eight teams are split into 2 preliminary round groups of 4 teams each. The top 2 teams from each group qualify for the knockout stage.
 * The third and fourth placed each group will crossover and play each other in the fifth to eighth place bracket.
 * In the semifinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B2 and B1 vs. A2
 * The winning teams from the semifinals play for the gold medal. The losing teams compete for the bronze medal.

Preliminary round
All times are local Central Daylight Time (UTC−5)