Harriet Bolton didn't really like sport at all until she discovered something both new and unusual. "I was listening to the radio one day when I heard something that I thought…

Harriet Bolton didn't really like sport at all until she discovered something both new and unusual. "I was listening to the radio one day when I heard something that I thought must have been a joke. The DJ was talking about underwater hockey! If this was actually a real sport, I would have to find out more about it, I thought. To my surprise, there was a local team in my area and before I knew it, I was part of it!" Underwater hockey was invented by a British diving club in 1954 and was originally called "Octopush". Players wear masks, flippers and snorkels during the game. "The rules are really simple. You just have to slide the puck into the opposing team's goal," Harriet explains. But unlike water polo, where the action takes place above the water, underwater hockey is played at the bottom of the pool. For this reason, underwater hockey is not much of a spectator sport. "If you want to watch an exciting game, you will have to choose something else. People watching from outside the pool can only see lots of splashing and flippers!" says Harriet.