Underwater Target Shooting

General Rules

• The water temperature in the swimming pool should be at least 23°C (+/- 5°C). The officials should continuously monitor the temperature. 
• The circumference of the swimming pool should have the minimum dimension of 25m x 10m with a depth of a minimum of 1.80 meters and can be increased up to 5 meters. 
• The competitors are required to use an air or rubber-powered spearguns for targeting. The spears used for targeting should be at least 150 cm long.
• A spear used for the matches should have a diameter of 8 mm with the tip of 4 mm, avoiding the fins. It should have a minimum thickness of 0.8 mm.
• The participants cannot use guns that have elastic lines on it. However, during biathlon matches the lined guns are allowed with a single pulley. These sidelines should have a maximum length of 1.80 mm.
• Participants can only use mass-produced guns for the relay events competition.
• A shoot-off is performed between the players if two they score the same points during the match. The matches are repeated until a single player emerges out as the winner.
• The shooting line is marked almost 4 meters away from the target area direction, whereas the starting line is marked 10 meters away from the shooting line. 
• The target has a total length of 33 cm and breadth of 35 cm. The targeting centre is placed 80 cm above the pool’s ground.

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Penalties and Disqualifications

The participants are disqualified if they -

• Load their guns outside the water, especially during their biathlon and relay events
• If their body parts touch or cross the shooting line
• Leave the gun intentionally or unintentionally at the bottom of the pool
• Try to make a knot with the lines present on the gun
• Enter in the pool before the previous participants have left the competition area

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Safety

 

• The players are only allowed to load their guns inside the pool towards the target’s direction. This is only performed in biathlon and relay races.
• The competitor cannot swim towards the surface of the pool after loading their guns.
• During the precision events, the competitors aren’t allowed to stay on the water surface after loading their guns for five seconds.
• After completing their round, the participants can withdraw their equipment with permission received from the judges and officials.
• To signal any issue, the participants can quickly raise their hands above the water surface before the starting line.
• During an event, the participants are required to use their guns or else the event duration is ended.
• During the relay matches, the players cannot shoot more than 9 times, or they will be awarded zero points and appear at the bottom of the chart.

General History

Underwater target shooting was developed in the mid of 1980s in France, as a popular physical and training activity to hunt via spearfishing (fishing with a spear). Spearfishing was performed to gather food resources by fishing and has developed as a winter season training activity. 

 

With due course of time, the sport was widely popularized throughout Europe. Later, the first-ever French national governing committee was founded in 1987. 

 

Soon, the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) recognised underwater target shooting as an official sport and still is the governing body for the game. 

 

In 1990, the first-ever French national championship was organised. Later in 1998, the European Championship was organised where major European countries participated. Then, the first international World Championship of underwater target shooting was held in 1999. 

Precision underwater target shooting

In this variant, the participants usually begin their matches by diving from the start line and continuously swim until they reach to the shooting line. The participants shoot with their spearguns on the target board from the shooting line. After the player finishes the shoot, they swim back to the target area. The players then reload their guns and get ready for their next round of shooting. The series is repeated until the players have shot a total of 10 spears, within two rounds. Each round lasts for 5 minutes. The matches are organised in two categories for males and females.,

Biathlon underwater target shooting

In biathlon shooting, the players after performing their shot are required to return in their start line and recover their spears without going to the surface. The players are only allowed to breath from the surface after returning to the start line. The cycle is repeated until the individual fires at least 5 successful shots from the speargun. The men’s category has the time limit of 2 minutes 30 seconds, whereas the women’s class lasts for 3 minutes. Any participant who has shot maximum targets wins the match.,

Relay underwater target shooting

The team involves in this variant is regarded as Relay. In this variant, 2-3 participants from each side participate in the match. The game is played for only one round where the players are required to shot 9 bullets at 9 targets. The participating team can be a mixed team consisting of both men and women who together perform for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Unlike the precision variant, the team which scores the maximum scores wins the entire round.