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Underwater sports

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This article is about competitive underwater sports. For underwater diving techniques and recreational underwater diving activities, see Free-diving, Recreational diving, Scuba diving and snorkelling
Underwater sports
Highest governing bodyOrganisations include:
*CMAS
*AIDA International
*World Aquachallenge Association (WAA)
Characteristics
Mixed-sexYes
TypeOutdoor
*openwater
*confined water
Indoor
*swimming pool
Presence
Olympicno demonstration events as of July 2013.


Underwater sports is a group of competitive sports using one or a combination of the following underwater diving techniques - breath-hold, snorkelling or scuba including the use of equipment such as diving masks and fins. These sports are conducted in the natural environment at sites such as openwater and sheltered or confined water such as lakes and in artificial aquatic environments such as swimming pools. The governance of these sports involves some controversies.

Disciplines

Underwater sports include the following disciplines:

Most of these sports are fin based.[relevant?] The inclusion of the word "underwater", in the group noun for these sports, is, perhaps, unwarranted but the phrase has become fixed.[according to whom?] The term is almost certainly derived from the name of Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS), which is also known as the World Underwater Federation.[attribution needed] Most have surface based elements.[relevant?] There are many fin-based sports that are not included in this category of sports (including bodyboarding).[relevant?] Freediving includes a few events that are not fin-based (static apnea, dynamic apnea without fins amongst others).

Most of these sports are minority sports.[verification needed] Underwater football has not been conducted at the international level.[verification needed]

Governance

The majority of the sporting disciplines listed above are governed by CMAS. Other organisations involved in governance of underwater sports include AIDA International[10] and the World Aquachallenge Association[11] which also respectively govern Freediving and Underwater Hockey in competition with CMAS while the Manitoba Underwater Council governs Underwater Football.[12] As of July 2013, it is not known who governs Underwater Ice Hockey.

Finswimming is the only sport in this group included within the family of sports regulated by the International Olympic Committee.[verification needed][relevant?]

Controversies

Several controversies have arisen with regard to underwater sports.

There is a debate over whether scuba and underwater photography can be considered as sports.[according to whom?]

Several of these sports (i.e. freediving and underwater hockey) have alternative world governing bodies.[relevant?]

The European Commission has, allegedly, asked the European Parliament to consider banning commercial spearfishing.[relevant?][13] Spearfishing has invoked controversy on several occasions, including a ban (for members) on competition fishing of territorial fish by the British Sub-Aqua Club in the late 1970s.[relevant?][14]

There has always been a debate on funding. In the English-speaking world, the only sport that has a significant following is underwater hockey.[according to whom?] However, the more widely spread and more popular sport[weasel words] of finswimming[according to whom?] is the only sport that is an International Olympic Committee sport.[relevant?][15] This has led to issues in funding and governance relationships in some National Governing Bodies.[verification needed] In the United Kingdom, the original governing body for underwater sports was the British Sub-Aqua Club.[dubious – discuss] However, in 1997, CMAS expelled the British Sub-Aqua Club for several reasons.[16] The Sub-Aqua Association was invited by CMAS to take the vacant seats.[17] This expulsion led to many British underwater-sports participants not being able to compete on an international stage. As a result the British Underwater Sports Association was formed to allow for international participation, which is affiliated with CMAS.[18] However, UK Sport (the governmental sports agency in the United Kingdom) has not accepted this change in governance. This has caused some issues with regards to funding and governance control within the United Kingdom.[relevant?][verification needed]

Gallery

  • Freediver using monofin in pool competition in London, 2009.
    Freediver using monofin in pool competition in London, 2009.
  • Freediver using monofin in depth competition (location & date not known).
    Freediver using monofin in depth competition (location & date not known).
  • Two players compete for the puck at the GB Underwater Hockey University Student Nationals 2009, held at Bangor University, Wales.
    Two players compete for the puck at the GB Underwater Hockey University Student Nationals 2009, held at Bangor University, Wales.
  • Underwater rugby match (location & date not known).
    Underwater rugby match (location & date not known).

See also

Championships and other international events

Equipment

References

  1. ^ "Aquathlon". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  2. ^ "About finswimming". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  3. ^ "About Apnoea". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  4. ^ "About Spearfishing". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  5. ^ "About Sport Diving". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  6. ^ "About Underwater Hockey". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  7. ^ "About Orienteering". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  8. ^ "About Underwater Rugby". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  9. ^ "About Target Shooting". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Aida International". AIDA International. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  11. ^ "WAA World AquaChallenge Association Underwater Hockey". The World AquaChallenge Association. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  12. ^ "UNDERWATER FOOTBALL RULES AND REGULATIONS". Sean Ennis. Retrieved 29 July2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. ^ Replacement for Regulation (EC) no. 850/98 (the Technical Conservation Regulation) Articles 12 and 31
  14. ^ "The Diver story". Divernet. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  15. ^ http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/if/fi_uk.asp?Id_federation=61 [dead link]
  16. ^ Busuttili, Mike. "So long, CMAS,it's sad to say goodbye". Divernet. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  17. ^ "Federations: Sub-Aqua Association". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  18. ^ "Federations: British Underwater Sports Association". Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
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