When Felipe Gallego is gliding underwater, and spinning around, he´s looking at the surface, looking at the ball coming down. Gallego dives in to try underwater rugby, a sport that has grown enormously since it was first played in the 1960s. “Underwater what?” That’s the reaction players get when describing underwater rugby. This is a sport that is not familiar with many TCS students, they constantly see the same sports, but with underwater rugby it is a completely new sport.

With 19 countries now competing in the World Cup the sport is on the rise in Colombia. It is less physical than rugby which makes it ideal for those who don’t like physical sports but still like rugby.

What you need to play

“Two baskets at the bottom of the pool, one ball, three dimensions to move in and six players between your team and the goal.  Underwater rugby is a fast team sport where players move underwater to score a goal at the bottom of the 5m deep pool,” Gallego said.

Players spend 30 seconds at a time underwater during plays that are generally two minutes long but Gallego says that’s just something you get used to.

“In terms of playing rugby there’s an amazing sense of freedom when being able to move through the water the way that we do.”

The game is played between two teams of up to 12 – six are in the water at a time – for 30 minutes.

“As a goalie I’ll be defending the goals and that’s pretty intense and energy consuming,” said Juan Jose Laverde, active player of the Colombian youth underwater rugby team.

Tense Moments

Unsurprisingly, players report occasionally coming to the surface feeling a little bit sick

This is especially true for goalies, who are required to swim to the bottom of the pool to protect their basket against attacks from the other side. To do this they lie across the basket with their back facing down. As they try to maintain their position, they are simultaneously tackled and pinned down by their opponents

All while holding their breath

Six players on two teams are in the water, with up to six substitutes on the bench who can swap with another player at any time in the game, as many times as they want.

Different Positions

“There are three player positions in underwater rugby: forward, defender and goalie. Each position is different. The forward’s purpose is to win opportunities and gain possession of the ball, lead the attack on the opposite basket. During a defensive play, the defender sits in front of the basket and tries to prevent the opposition from approaching the goal. The goalie lies on top of the basket to block open attacks on the goal,” said Gallego, explaining the positions.

The objective for the six players in the water is to take the rubber ball and score in the opposing team’s basket, and defend their own goal against the opposition’s attack.

“People often doubt me when I tell them I play underwater rugby because they’ve never heard of it; they think it is a made up sport, but it is a very demanding sport physically and emotionally. It’s not easy to spend that long underwater”