Making scuba a real "sport"???

[Alex777]

<< If you want a sport throw in speed, distance and navigation, -underwater orienteering >>

http://www.scubaboard.com/image.php?u=42165&dateline=1186870541&type=profile

 

[DeepBound]

The real competition should be how 'quickly' you can make it through a tight twisted maze without stirring up any silt. By quickly I don't mean racing, I mean moving slowly and carefully but without taking forever. Maybe having to run a line at the same time to make it more challenging.

They could measure the viz before and after your dive with some viz-measuring instrument to score you

Anything that requires actually swimming fast is dangerous, as we know.

In the "I'm better than you" thread, it's been pointed out that many people feel that recreational scuba is some sort of competiton (I did more dives, longer, deeper, saw more things, did more sites, have more gear, blah, blah). The typical American male sees everything as a competiton; however, conventional diving is not a true 'sport'.

But could scuba ever be a real sport? Example: like the biathalon in skiing, divers could swim an obstacle course and use a speargun to hit targets along the way. Sound stupid? Ever watch curling? How about undersea laser tag? Or developing some sort of propelled underwater ball, or even simple scooter drag races? Why, a whole new class of equipment could be sold (souped up DPVs, helmets that reduce drag, like speedskaters wear, racing wetsuits, the list is endless).

Consider the paintball frenzy... languishing dive shops might become gold mines if they could tap into that competitve testosterone-driven need to win contests and trophys. face it... how many average joes want to take an OW class, buy all that equipment and truck themselves to the water's edge to see a goliath grouper or a big pile of rust that used to be a WWII destroyer?


However, form a scuba laser tag league! Now that's excitement!

I'm surprised scuba manufacturers haven't been proactive in this area. The financial rewards for someone devising an appealing scuba 'sport', especially one requiring special equipment, would be huge. Sound dangerous? Racing around underwater, bobbing up and down precariously, with the risk of DCS? Sure, but so is auto racing...several dozen boys die playing high school football each year. Risk is part of the allure of most sports.

My tongue is only half way in my cheek... any equipment companies that want to toss around any ideas, let me know.

 

[ClayJar]

The real competition should be how 'quickly' you can make it through a tight twisted maze without stirring up any silt. By quickly I don't mean racing, I mean moving slowly and carefully but without taking forever. Maybe having to run a line at the same time to make it more challenging.

They could measure the viz before and after your dive with some viz-measuring instrument to score you

Nah, the walls (floors, etc) of the maze are covered in these little flow/impact sensors, giving you live telemetry to show during each run. Once the run is over, the recorded telemetry is "averaged" in some way to give the "technical" component of the score, while the "style" component is scored by expert judges. :biggrin:

Hot air ballooning is a sport that required some creative concepts to build a competition format. Instead of speed, balloon "races" test the accuracy and precision of the pilots' flying skills.

For diving, how about giving each pair of divers an identical HD video camera (with lights). All the teams splash (at the same time? at the same site? both?) and make the best dive movie they can. (There would likely be a few sideline videographers recording their progress.) Afterward, the videos are screened and judged (technical merit, style, or even "vote for this one by calling 877-DIVER-01 at the end of the show" -- hey, everything's a reality show these days). It'd be sponsored by livaboards, agencies, manufacturers, or whatever. It could turn into a reality-show-meets-Cousteau outreach to rope in new divers from the TV-watching masses.

(Or maybe I'm just having too much fun with this.)

 

[DennisS]

The maze concept is good, except make it out of concrete drainage pipe, with access hatches. Cameras would record the divers progress, sensors would monitor the wireless air computer output.

Here it is- He's in the spiral, he still has the box to go, he's down to 500 PSI, he may not make, oh!oh! he's out of the spiral and has 300 PSI he's really cutting it close on the box.OH No! he's down to 100 psi-Oh my god he's in the box and out of air, he's spinning, he's pannicking, there's the final burst of bubbles, there go the safety diver to pull him out, they may be able to resusicate him, here's hoping it comes out OK for the promising young athlete. Next is a diver from Cocoa Beach Florida.................

 

[Charlie99]

Is bicycling a sport or a recreational activity?
Obviously, it can be either.

Scuba can be what you want it to be ----
.... splashing into a tropical sea on a once a year vacation, and being satisfied with sufficient skill that you don't kill yourself
..... regular, frequent diving as an enjoyable activity. Frequent enough that you work a bit to develop better skills. (This is where I fit. Many of my friends in Maui play golf and tennis daily. I scuba.)
..... Divers that have some specific goals, such as a deep wreck or twilight zone reef systems that require significant skills beyond typical recreational. Richard Pyle is a good example of this. Lots of extended 300'-400' dives on rebreathers to go study reefs and find new species of fish. Some amazing technical diving, but what is driving him is "advanced fish watching".
..... Divers for whom the enjoyment is in honing their skills. The focus is more on the dive itself as opposed to what's down there.

Just like bicycling, there isn't just one answer to "sport or recreational activity?".

 

[TheRedHead]

It's a lifestyle because it profoundly changes your life.

 

[fisheyeview]

Competitiveness is being taken too far sometimes. The other day on ESPN2, I saw the national finals of the Rock, Paper, Scissors competition.

If we are going to turn this into a real sport it should involve blowing things up underwater. Now that would be fun.

 

[ClayJar]

If we are going to turn this into a real sport it should involve blowing things up underwater. Now that would be fun.

Actually, not so much. The problem is that any worthwhile detonation is going to create a very hazardous (or even lethal) pressure wave, thanks to the virtual incompressibility of water. If you won't be able to watch the fun and survive intact, what's the point? :biggrin:

 

[TheRedHead]

If we are going to turn this into a real sport it should involve blowing things up underwater. Now that would be fun.

Try a puffer.

 

[Ed Palma]

Isnt this what the ISOSAD: AND UGLY is for?

Or geocaching with GPS?

Personally, I don't consider diving a sport, but heck, everytime I see divers on TV, I just HAVE to watch them. Its the next best thing to being there... A distant 3rd is sitting behind the computer talking about it

(but don't get me wrong: I loooooove this board )