Over the years, Scuba diving has progressed from a simple leisure activity to an actual sport that many athletes are now attracted to. Diving may seem simple, but it actually requires a lot of strenuous practice and is a test of one’s patience as well.
Scuba diving demands physical prowess and pushes professional divers to their limits. It requires practice with the assistance of experienced trainers, good underwater swimming skills, and precision and is also proof of one’s courage and patience. This is what qualifies it as a sport.
Scuba Diving was originally nothing more than a fun pastime that almost anyone could take part in. In the late 90s, it began to evolve into more extreme forms that one could pursue even more competitively.
This briefly overviews some of the reasons why diving is considered a sport. To learn more about them, keep reading this article.
What Is The Historical Background Of Diving?
Diving is something that has been performed since ancient times. With people exploring the depths of the oceans, using it in combat and even for collecting resources beneath the surface of various water bodies.
Throughout the years, diving has evolved progressively with the development of new diving equipment and strategies for better and prolonged dives to even greater depths than ever before. Modern day diving has split apart into further branches including wreck diving, cave diving, ice diving and the most recent, sport diving.
Why is Diving Considered A Sport?
A sport is generally any activity that involves physical and mental exertion and can be competed in for entertainment purposes. Scuba diving is something that lies somewhere in the middle of this definition, making it a very debated upon subject in the sports community.
Some argue that diving does not have the same competitive nature as some of the other sports out there, but with the evolution of diving into extreme forms such as Ice diving, Cave diving, Night diving and Sports diving it is clear that diving has a lot of potential in the sports world.
Diving Requires You To Be In Shape
Although the safe starting age for casual divers is only 15 years, those that venture into competitive, extreme versions of diving require extra training courses and experience before they can partake.
It is important for divers to maintain healthy, physically fit bodies to sustain the physical exertion that can come with diving.
How Much Exertion Is Needed In Diving?
Those that deep dive, require healthy lungs and proper training so they can fully withstand the pressure under water and deal with any physical effects of compression that they may face.
According to some studies, 45 minutes of diving can burn almost the same amount of calories as cycling or running for a prolonged time, making it an excellent workout for all ages. Hence, diving easily ticks off the physical aspect that comes with sports.
Diving Tests Your Mental Strength
Diving is something that not only requires you to be physically fit, but also for you to be mentally strong. It is a sport that asks you to exhibit courage and patience. Navigating deep waters is not an easy task at all.
It requires divers to be precise and accurate with the execution and timing of their techniques, something that may take years to fully master. The incorporation of both the brain and the body make diving an ideal sport for those who want to challenge themselves both mentally and physically.
If you want to learn about even more health benefits of diving, watch this video:
New Forms Of Diving Are Gaining Popularity
Sport Diving is a form of diving where individuals or teams compete in various underwater tasks such as swimming multiple laps below water, removing and recovering diving equipment and even holding their breaths for long periods of time.
While this is still a relatively new branch of diving, it is steadily gaining viewership from around the world.
What Are Some Of These New Forms?
A brand new form of diving is night diving, where individuals wear dark visors and search for objects to retrieve underwater. In addition to this, cave and wreck diving has also slowly managed to pique the interest of adventure and thrill seekers.
The development of these new branches has managed to attract a large number of new athletes and viewers alike.
Deep Diving Is A Dangerous Attraction
Athletes performing dangerous and riskier sports attract more viewers. The risks attached to diving deeper, with and in some cases without scuba gear, have elevated the sport to newer heights.
Deep divers are at the risk of a pulmonary embolism if they surface too quickly and can also be affected by oxygen toxicity which can occur if divers breathe in too much oxygen due to an equipment malfunction.
Diving Has Aimed To Increase Awareness
One of the main goals of diving has always been to increase awareness about the waters of our world and the aquatic life inside them. Many diving events take time out to talk about the various issues that quite literally plague our waters and how certain steps can be taken to help fix them.
Using diving as a platform to shine a light on climate change and harmful practices has pushed more and more people to like this sport.
The Conclusion
While it is true that diving started as a fun casual activity to do every once in a while, it has continued to grow exponentially in the past few decades to establish itself as an entertaining sport that has everything it takes to challenge athletes to their fullest.
From casual divers to those who want to test their mettle by reaching new depths, diving has something to offer for everyone. It is evident, with its growing popularity internationally, that diving has moved many people into considering it their sport of choice.
