Siberia: open water ice hockey tournament - video

It’s hot in the oven, boring at home, cold outside the window and what to do with such a beautifully started day? The best thing to do is to go diving, but in such a way as to astonish everyone. This is exactly what the Russians decided to do in Siberia, where they fused ice diving and underwater hockey! The result? A complete success!

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The discipline did not make it to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, but who knows what we can expect in the future? After all, the IOC is still looking for spectacular disciplines to add variety to the next Games.

The Siberian version of underwater hockey can be called an extreme sport. Not only does the competition take place under the ice, but everything is done upside down! As you can see, it’s not a sport for everyone, and only the toughest people can make it onto the team.

A typical match played during this tournament in south-eastern Siberia is a confrontation between two three-man teams. Each player is equipped with full diving gear and, in addition, a hockey stick.

The pitch, or rather the playing field, is marked out by two triangular holes 15 metres apart. The holes, apart from serving as a descent under the ice, also act as goals. Matches are played until the first goal is scored and, of course, the team that scores the first goal wins.

The winners of the entire event were the hosts from the Siberian region of Kiemerovo. Representatives of Kuzbass, Altai, Novosibirsk and Tomsk also participated in the event. The whole tournament was played in sensational visibility of 30-40m!

“At first you are confused, but it goes quickly to get used to the new conditions. We enjoyed it very much and next year we plan to invite teams from other regions of Siberia and organise an official tournament” – Roman Vytavtov, head of the diving centre organising the tournament, explains.

The first event of its kind was organised in Austria, but it was even more extreme than the Siberian edition. The competitors had to stay under water while holding their breath!

Source: rt.com, kresy.pl