USA water polo player pulls rivals trunks in SHOCK viral underwater camera clip from Paris Olympics

Fans have spotted a shocking incident during a USA vs Australia water polo game at the Paris Olympics where an American athlete appears to pull at the trunks of a rival.

The moment was surprisingly shown as a replay on television and inevitably pounced upon by a viewer who recorded the footage and uploaded it to TikTok.

An Australian player can clearly be seen grappling with an opponent who appears to have the United States flag on the back of their trunks. 

The Australian is having his own trunks grabbed under and pulled away under the water - but one of the underwater cameras placed right behind them caught the footage.

The US athlete appears to have the No 7 on his swim cap, which according to the US Water Polo website could mean the player in question is Ben Hallock, who played 15 minutes of the game.

USA beat Australia on penalties on August 7 in men's water polo.

The clip, which was uploaded to TikTok with the caption: 'What is happening in Water polo?'

And while plenty of fans were left shocked after watching the clip  -with some claiming it was 'assault - others explained how it was actually a common move.

One fan commented: 'Pretty normal sadly. Dudes usually wear two speedos for this reason. Women kick at each other to scratch their legs.'

Another said: 'This is very common in wp (water polo)! So we wear two suits or suits that are too small, but no one has an underwater camera until you get to the Olympics.'

A different fan claimed: 'Water polo is actually crazy. Sometimes people would sharpen their toe nails to slice you underwater.'

A more startled viewer said: 'The camera people should just keep the cameras above water for everything.' 

The United States team returns to Olympic action on Sunday in the bronze medal match against Hungary.