Holding your breath and fighting: underwater hockey is a little-known and demanding team sport. It has enabled France to win several world titles in recent years, thanks to powerful, enduring and strategic aquatic athletes.
On the weekend of March 30 and 31, 2024, at the French Masters (over 35) underwater hockey championships organized by the Fédération française d’études et de sports sous-marins, 14 mixed French teams competed at the Bréquigny Olympic pool in Rennes. Among these teams were several male and female players who had been finalists at the last world championships, held in Australia in July 2023. Though little known to the general public, French underwater hockey shines on the world stage: France played in four finals at the last world championships. The women’s masters won the gold medal against Australia, thereby retaining their world title, already won in 2018. The men’s masters and both elite teams finished second.
A contact and combat team sport, underwater hockey is played in a pool while holding one’s breath. Two teams of 6 players and 4 substitutes try to score goals in the opposing half by passing a puck with a stick. It requires the athletic qualities of speed, endurance and muscle tone, great mastery of dynamic apnea and, of course, a good vision of the game.
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France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Aurelie Yver, free-diving, advances with the puck toward the goal with the support of a partner player. She struggles against a player from the opposing team who tries to…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Four underwater hockey players are struggling at the bottom of the pool while holding their breath, fighting for the puck.. They are followed on the surface by the other…
France, Rennes, 2024-01-27. Three underwater hockey female players compete for the puck, holding their breath at the bottom of the pool.. Photograph by Penelope CROS/ Collectif DR. France, Rennes…
France, Rennes, 2024-01-27. Two underwater hockey players, compete for the puck, holding their breath at the bottom of the pool. Photograph by Penelope CROS / Collectif DR. France, Rennes…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Members of an underwater hockey team, sitting by the pool, already equipped, are waiting for the game to start. .Photograph by Penelope CROS / Collectif DR. France…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Players sitting by the pool getting ready before going into the water and starting the match.. Photograph by Penelope CROS / Collectif DR. France, Rennes, 2024-03-30…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. The underwater hockey player's equipment placed at the edge of the pool: fins, mask, snorkel, protective glove and stick.Photograph by Penelope CROS / Collectif DR…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. A team of players gathers in a circle at the edge of the pool to establish the game strategy before the start of the match. Photograph by Penelope CROS / Collectif DR…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. The Rennes underwater hockey team gathers in a circle in the water and cheers each other on before the start of a match. Photograph by Penelope CROS / Collectif DR…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. The Rennes underwater hockey team in the water, waiting for the starting signal, in position to begin a sprint towards the center of the pool. Photograph by Penelope CROS…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Three underwater hockey players swim sprinting towards the center of the pool, in order to be the first to retrieve the puck from the bottom. Photograph by Penelope CROS…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. wo underwater hockey teams set off from opposite sides of the pool as the two referees in the middle of the pool give the starting signal.. Photograph by Penelope CROS /…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. A referee, in the pool, wearing the regulatory red T-shirt, raises his arm from the water to announce the start of the round in a French championship match. Photograph by…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. A close-up of a referee's raised arm submerged in water signaling a foul. He is wearing a red T-shirt, an orange glove, and a red cap to make himself recognizable…
France, Rennes-2024-01-27; At a women's underwater hockey tournament, a referee in a red T-shirt watches a player score a goal.. Photograph by Penelope CROS/ Collectif DR. France, Rennes…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Profile portrait of Aurelie Yver, captain of the French Masters underwater hockey team, wearing the 2023 World Championship cap, a competition won by her team. Photograph…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Portrait of Aurelie Yver, captain of the French national Masters underwater hockey team. She has just come out of the water and is still wearing her sports…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Cup won at the Underwater Hockey World Championship by the French Women's Masters team in 2023, which defeated Australia in the final. The team's players are listed on…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Aurelie Yver, captain of the French Masters underwater hockey team, prepares for her next match by working on her apnea in the training pool. Photograph by Penelope CROS…
France, Rennes, 2024-03-30. Aurelie Yver, captain of the French Masters underwater hockey team, freediving in the training pool, regaining her strength after a very physical match. Photograph by…