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Cwmtawe Octopush Club! |
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After a break of some
24 years we have succeeded in re-introducing underwater hockey
or "Octopush" back in the pool! |
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Funding is being sought for the purchase of
new equipment to enable a fully functional club to be formed and
run alongside the Diving section to expand our core activities,
promote physical fitness and introduce something new to both
members and non-members. |
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If successful, we hope to retain Pool
sessions throughout the whole year to enable the Octopush Club
to maintain training and games, as well as give divers the
option to hone their pool skills throughout the Summer months
when required. |
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| Now, what's it all
about? |
What
if, during an ice hockey game, the surface melted, and all
the players sunk to the bottom of what turned out to be a
swimming pool, and then continued the game? You'd have
Octopush, a sport that has gone over--or gone under--in
a dozen countries worldwide.
Underwater Hockey was created in 1954 under the name "Octopush"
by British SCUBA divers looking to stay in shape during the
winter months. While the founders apparently opposed to
calling it "underwater hockey" because "the game was created
independent of any land-based game," you can call it what
you like: With a snorkel in your mouth, no one can
understand you anyway. Besides, the rules are always the
same: Two six-player teams (no goalie), equipped with a
1-foot stick (originally called a "pusher"), fins, mask,
snorkel and a protective glove, attempt to score a 3-pound
puck, also known as the "squid," into the opposing team's
goal.
The
"supreme anaerobic game" is literally breathtaking: Players
bob up and down, judging when to breathe, before diving back
down to the pool's bottom, where the entire game takes
place. The best players "can drop from the surface to steal
the puck from an unsuspecting opponent or take a pass from a
teammate to score."
Unlike
hockey players, who need to be burly (a helmet and skates
add at least 10 pounds), for underwater players "the water
nullifies pure mass advantage and emphasizes clever use of
torque." This often gives women, smaller players, and
competitors who know what "torque" means the clear
advantage.
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