Octopush show diving isn’t always bad in sport

Underwater hockey (or Octopush as it is often called) is a competitive sport combining hockey and snorkelling, played on the bottom of a swimming pool. The rules are similar to hockey, but with shorter sticks (about a foot long), meaning players must dive to the bottom of the pool to flick the weighted puck along the pool floor and into the goal. With IC member numbers tripling compared to last year, it could be said Octopush is one of Imperial’s fastest growing sports.

With the captain falling out of the car having arrived over an hour early, we made a keen first impression. This was the first tournament for all of our novices, where they put their skills to the test against Warwick and host Oxford’s counterparts, winning every match and bringing home the Novice Star. As Imperial’s first all-novice team in several years this was quite a victory, and demonstrates massive potential for the year ahead. With the novices making up the numbers and joining the two seniors in their tournament category, we were in for a turbulent ride but gave each team a run for their money. Competing against players who had represented Great Britain internationally was never going to be easy, but helped improve skills and tactics to fight back stronger next time. Accused of removing the puck from the goal, we fought our case that it was not completely across the line (where’s underwater goal-line technology when you need it?). Debating the intricacies of the rulebook in gameplay, we picked a fight with the wrong player, who proceeded to announce he was a qualified referee. It turned out he was not close enough to see how it was balanced just on the edge; not quite in. Enjoying a Thai banquet with the hosts afterwards, we settled our differences about the rule book and were pleased to leave our trophy in the Scuba stores for our fellow society members to discover the following day.

At this point you must be telling yourself “by Jove, this is the sport for me!”. Well, fear not, aspiring water-baby, as newcomers are always welcome to try it for free. If you are interested in giving it a shot, come down to Ethos Thursdays 20:00-22:00, or check out the Imperial Octopush Facebook page for more info.