Underwater rugby recognised
AMANDA HOH
One ball, two teams and lots of hard, physical contact near the goal line. And it all happens at the bottom of a swimming pool.
Underwater rugby may sound like it was thought up after a night in the pub, but on Saturday, it will become an officially recognised Australian sport when it gets the stamp of approval from the Australian Underwater Federation.
"It's a bit like wrestling in outer space, in three dimensions," said Bobby Chen, the president of the country's only underwater rugby team, at the University of NSW.
"As soon as you get the ball, you get tackled in all directions."
The sport is a test of fitness and strategy, and takes place entirely under water as players struggle to hold their breath, grapple with a ball filled with salt water and score at the bottom of a pool that can be five metres deep.
Chen said that while members at different fitness levels were accepted, many players had trained themselves to hold their breath for three minutes.
With all the exertion during games, though, most players lasted only about 30 seconds.
"Once in a blue moon someone might get a bit dizzy for holding their breath for too long… We just sit them to the side and look after them for a few minutes and they're usually fine,'' Chen said.
The university team was established in 2007 and has about 40 dedicated members.
The team meets twice a week for training, and organises competitions within the club.
One of the reasons the AUF has considered making the sport official is the club's work in establishing teams interstate.
"In the future, we'd like to become a little more competitive, especially when… Brisbane and Tasmania get ready to play interstate competitions," Chen said.
"One of our goals is to play in the first international competition to represent Australia overseas, possibly in Colombia next year."
When it becomes an official sport, the AUF will be able to establish the first Australian underwater rugby team.
''It means they have access now to competing in the World Underwater Federation world championships for underwater rugby," the president of the AUF, Graham Henderson, said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-s...gby-recognised
