2023-08-04 12:53:26
The Underwater Hockey Worlds in Gold Coast were dominated by France, which left with four medals, including a title of world champions for the second consecutive year.
Fins, a mask and a snorkel. Mini-crosses in hand, the swimmers compete for the puck, heavy of 1.3 kg, at the bottom of a swimming pool. As in football, the objective is to score goals, but the subtlety is significant: it must be done in apnea.
Underwater hockey, an atypical sport mixing hockey and swimming pool also responding to the small name of Octopush, has a French federation and even world championships, which the French women have just won, Friday August 4, for the second consecutive year in Australia, in the Gold Coast resort, south of Brisbane.
“Our objective is to seek the title against Australia and New Zealand, the two favorites of the group”, explained in May in West France the two coaches of the French teams, Maximilien Habersztrau and Rémi Honoré.
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The French Underwater Hockey team wins its second world title in Australia ???? pic.twitter.com/6RyCI01cWX
— SPORTRICOLORE (@sportricolore) August 3, 2023
Underwater hockey is not mixed and has two categories: elite and masters teams (over 35). In a match, six players compete underwater for 30 minutes – with a half-time.
Overall, the world competition is dominated by Australia, New Zealand, the United States and… France.
Moreover, the four French teams (men, women, elite and masters) have reached the final of the world championships. If the women’s masters have retained their world title (2-0 against Australia), the other three teams end up vice-world champions. A resounding success which will perhaps motivate some to jump into the water and join the 5,000 licensees of this sport in France.
Underwater hockey is not new. According to the French Federation of Underwater Studies and Sports (FFESSM), the discipline was born in the 1950s, in England. She crossed the Channel to arrive in France in 1968, and the first national championship was organized in 1982, marking the official birth of French underwater hockey.
#Australia #Blue #champions #world #underwater #hockey #Liberation