Underwater Ice Hockey (also called Sub-aqua Ice Hockey) is a minor extreme sport that is a variant of Ice Hockey. It is played upside-down underneath frozen pools or ponds. Participants wear diving masks, fins and wetsuits and use the underside of the frozen surface as the playing area for a floating puck. Competitors do not use any breathing apparatuses, but instead surface for air every 30 seconds or so.
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It is not to be confused with Underwater Hockey, in which the floor of a swimming pool and a sinking puck are used.
Origins
The idea for the sport is attributed to Christian Redl, an Austrian freediver who is notable for various world free-diving depth records under ice.
Competition
The first Underwater Ice Hockey World Cup was held at Weissensee, Austria in February 2007. Finland finished first, followed by Austria and Slovakia. The other playing nations were Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia. The second Underwater Ice Hockey World Cup was held in February 2013 at Weissensee, Austria with Austria winning the championship.