Text by SASHA BOUDTCHENKO and BIM BOLARINWA
DIVING AFTER THE PUCK FRESHMAN PLAYS UNDERWATER HOCKEY
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HE VIDEO begins in silence as swimmers, equipped with snorkeling gear and fins, swarm around the puck at the bottom of the pool. With pusher sticks in hand, they hurry to gain control of the puck until one successful player escapes from the crowd and passes to their teammate. Evan Mazurov, a Palo Alto High School freshman, is one of few students at Paly who play underwater hockey — the lesser-known cousin of field or ice hockey. How it all started Mazurov was introduced to the sport by his friends and has been playing for a little less than a year now. “They just called me about a poster they saw at Burgess Center inviting people to join … so we signed up,” Mazurov said. Looking back on his first game, Mazurov recounts how perplexing underwater hockey
Art by LAUREN YAN
was at first. “I felt very confused, I didn’t really do much and since I didn’t swim for a long time it was kind of difficult for me to keep up with everyone,” Mazurov said. During his time playing, Mazurov has improved in swimming and competed against other teams. While underwater hockey may be difficult at times, Mazurov enjoys the collaborative team aspect of the sport. Story behind the sport Underwater hockey — also known as octopush — is a water sport that originated in the early 1950s in Great Britain as a way for scuba divers to stay in shape and stay entertained indoors during the cold winters. To play, two teams of six compete against each other to move a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team’s goal. Players wear fins and a snorkel mask, and they carry a small 11-inch pusher stick
