The unlikely team sport left high and dry when Sydney dive pool closes
A hard sport to spectate is going to become an even rarer sight as underwater rugby loses a subaquatic pitch.
By Frances Howe
UNSW Underwater Rugby team training at Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney.Credit: Janie Barrett
When the diving boards at Leichhardt pool are stripped on April 1 and never replaced, an unlikely group of athletes will be disenfranchised.
Sydney’s small pool of underwater rugby players have spent years campaigning against the closure of one of the city’s last deep-water public pools and the home of their subaquatic training pitch.
From April, they’ll be forced further into the depths of Sydney, making a sport that’s rare to watch even harder for fans to enjoy.
Scientist Celine Steinfeld, 39, is founder of Australia’s underwater rugby scene. In 2007, Steinfeld went to study in Sweden, where she first played the sport. She brought home an underwater rugby ball, which is filled with salt water, so it sinks.
She started playing with friends, then founded a team at the University of NSW.
The game revolves around a goal at the bottom of the pool that Steinfeld describes as similar to “rubbish bins or baskets”.
Players can use their bodies to block the entrance to the goals, and the opposition has to physically remove them to put the ball in the basket.
There are some obvious rules: you can’t pin someone underwater, you’re not allowed to pull people’s swimmers off, nor can you remove their snorkels or fins.
“If you’re running out of breath, and you’re being tackled underwater, if you want people to leave you alone all you have to do is pass the ball or drop the ball and the rules are people aren’t allowed to tackle you if you don’t have the ball,” Steinfeld said.
“It is a contact sport, but it’s not a dangerous or violent sport … everyone who has played for a while gets past that panic [of drowning].”
The UNSW team has 78 active members, and it’s not the first time they’ve lost one of their training grounds. Ashfield, North Sydney, Ryde, Parramatta and Auburn all used to have dive pools.
It’s not just underwater rugby players Steinfeld is grieving for.
“Diving on a hot summer’s day into a deep swimming pool is an iconic activity for all Australians … it’s about everyone,” she said.
“To me, that’s the real sad part about this. It’s not just our sport, but the community of all people that love the dive pool.”
UNSW Underwater Rugby team training at Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre.Credit: Janie Barrett
Steinfeld and her team have tried online petitions, media interviews and had meetings with councillors, but all to no avail.
An Inner West Council spokesperson said the renovations would not feature a dive pool, and while it would have a multi-depth pool, it would not be deep enough for the underwater rugby players and their garbage bin goals.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.