Sport
26 September, 2022
Swim into hockey underwater style
HOCKEY has gone underwater, and locals have embraced the unique activity with local Tablelands Underwater Hockey Club starting up at the Atherton Pool every Monday.
The sport is just like regular hockey only played at the bottom of a pool with two teams of six participants trying to get a lead puck into the oppositions goal.
Already taking off in popularity in Cairns, fans of the game wanted to see it take off on the Atherton Tablelands.
So when coordinator Lizelle van der Merwe moved up the hill, it was the perfect opportunity to get Tablelanders involved in the new and unique game.
Being underwater, the sport is low im-
pact, helps improve CO2 tolerance, stam-ina and flexibility and gives participants a cardio workout.
One of the organisers, Sean Hartley, got into underwater hockey to lose weight and said it has truly benefitted his health.
“When I first heard about underwater hockey, like many I thought ‘what the heck is that’ but I fell in love with it,” he said.
“Because of underwater hockey I can hold my breath for six minutes and can free dive and spear fish a lot easier.”
Tablelands Underwater Hockey meets every Monday night from 5.30pm at the Atherton Aquatic Centre.
