Swimmers brandishing short, curved sticks held their breath as they somersaulted and dove towards a weighted puck at the bottom of a Hong Kong swimming pool, vying for first place in a sport likened to voluntary drowning.
The annual underwater hockey tournament, ominously advertised as "physical ****** ", nevertheless drew a roster of hardcore enthusiasts from countries across Asia to the Chinese city over the weekend.
"You have to choose when to use your breath and when not to... Anyone that's got the puck, you know that they've got some level of suffering," Leo Lines, a ****** anese-New Zealander competitor from Hokkaido, told AFP.
"I love that."
Suited up in snorkel masks and fins, players only resurface for air when they absolutely have to, and their heads remain constantly underwater so they can monitor the game.

#swimmers #kong