Underwater Orienteering

General Rules

• The underwater orienteering events are held in natural water bodies, based on current water pressure. The water bodies should have a maximum current of 4 m per minute with a minimum 3 m depth and visibility of 1 m. The water quality is also checked according to the standards provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
• The water body site is marked with buoys that are anchored 50 m from the course of water. 
• There are several orienteering points present on the site which should be found by the participants. The participants have to bring back some specific objects by spinning or pulling them; else no points are awarded.
• The participants are prohibited from changing their course of diving, especially when they are 50 m away from the finishing line. They are also restricted to check the distance and direction of the route by swimming or moving via boat. 
• The competitors in Monk competitions are allowed to use one buoy between the buddy lines (wrist to wrist). All the participants are also entitled to use monofins for swimming or diving faster. 
• The participants are restricted to use any underwater search technique such as sonar or any communication device.
• The participants (except in monk competition) are allowed to use a theodolite to check maps issued by the officials. 

General History

Underwater orienteering was first developed in the late 1950s in the Soviet Union and since then, has been majorly popularized in Europe. It is also regarded as Orientation Sub and La Orientación Subacuática in French and Spanish, respectively. 

In 1961, the first non-official competition was organized in Italy. The first European Championship was organized in 1967 which consisted of two races for 40 m and 1000 m distances. 

The only events conducted were the M-course for individual categories and team competition with three participants competing in the 1,150 m course. 

In 1968, the five-point course for the individual event was introduced. In 1969, the official rules of underwater orienteering were published by the CMAS General Assembly.  

With the increasing popularity and enthusiasm among the players, the Monk competitions were introduced in 1970 for team events. In 1987, the Star competitions were presented for the individual category.

Individual Events

M-course - It’s an M-shaped course with a total length of 590 m. The course has a single starting and finishing line with three rounding buoys. The competitors have to complete the course within a time limit of 15 minutes and 20 seconds. 

5-Point Course - The event consists of 5 separate orienteering points projected in an irregular shape. The competitors are required to dive underwater and discover all the points and then spin them out of the water. Scoring is awarded according to the speed of finding the point’s location and the total time spend in completing the course. 

Star Competition - The course of star competition is embedded with single starting buoy, five rounding buoys, five orienteering buoys and a finishing buoy, making a star-shaped orientation. The course has a total length of 600 m. Scoring is based on correctly rounding the five buoys, the corresponding buoys found as well as the speed of the divers. 

Parallel Race - The parallel race is set in two triangular-shaped courses; course A and course B. Both the courses are of equal length of 220 m. The track consists of one start buoy and a single rounding buoy along with an orientation buoy. The finishing line is 3 to 4 m in width. The parallel racing events are also regarded as single-elimination tournaments. The events are performed in pairs for five rounds. The diver who sustains till the finale is declared as the winner. 

Team Events

Monk competition - The monk event is performed between two teams, consisting of two players each. Both the players are required to navigate and plan the route from the starting point to the ending point, bypassing various orienteering points. This event has a time limit of 18 minutes. The diving course is 650 m long where the orienteering points are located in 100 m to 150 m range.

Team event - It is performed by the teams of three to four participants. The participants come forward to meet at a particular time underwater to finish their course together within 15 minutes and 20 seconds. The visibility is decreased during the match and hence, been classified as follows -

• Version A - Here, the visibility is less than 2m to 3m.
• Version B - Here, the visibility is greater than 2m to 3m.