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Underwater Rugby is a team watersport played in swimming pools on breathhold. Underwater rugby has been played in the United States since 1979.

History

Nick Caloyianis started the first team at Catonsville Community College (now called Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville). He is a famous underwater filmmaker and director, with several televised specials. Catonsville Community College is just south of the Baltimore Beltway, and south of the city limits. Anne Arundel Community College had a competing team for several years. It was also played for a while at the YMCA pool in Severna Park, Arundel Olympic Swim Center pool in Annapolis, and briefly in a pool in Columbia and at Howard Community College. For several years after the start of UW Rugby in the USA, there were no players from Colombia, South America. However, they participated in the 1990s, with players on the men's team in the 1999 and 2003 World Championships, and on the women's team in the 2003 World Championships. Voting representatives for the international CMAS rules changes were sent to the CMAS 1987 Underwater Rugby Worlds in Zurich, Switzerland, and to the worlds in 1991 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Boston started a team a couple of years later than Baltimore and Boston still plays both Underwater Rugby and more recently underwater hockey.

Around the year 2000, UW Rugby events in the US were basically UWR Clinics on which players from different parts of the country met to play during a weekend and play on a potluck format. After fail attempts to put together a National team to go to the World Championships of 2007 in Italy and 2011 in Finland, the only active clubs in the US (East Haven Makos, New Jersey Hammerheads, and Boston Narwhals) decided to join efforts with their Canadian counterparts (CAMO, Club Liberation) and started a Local Competition called the North American Underwater Rugby Tournaments (NAT) to raise the level of the game in both countries as well as provide continuous competition throughout the years for both countries.

With the North American Tournaments (NAT) the competition and level of play started to grow the sport and additional teams began to appear and expand the NAT tournaments. New Clubs started in the DC area, Florida, and later Wisconsin and California.

NAT tournaments also became attractive to clubs from other countries and participation especially from Colombian Clubs has been an additional motivation for local clubs.

Active USA clubs

Inactive USA clubs

International competition

The USA National Team has only been involved 5 times in CMAS world tournaments as described below.

6TH CMAS UNDERWATER RUGBY World Championship - Essen Germany 1999

A combined team of players from Baltimore, Boston, and some Colombian immigrants went to the Worlds in 1999 in Germany

Men's Games

• USA 0-23 Norway
• USA 0-22 Germany
• USA 0-11 Austria
• USA 0-23 Denmark
• USA 0-20 Czech Republic
• USA 0-11 Colombia
• USA 0-17 Sweden
• USA 2-5 Austria

7TH CMAS UNDERWATER RUGBY World Championship - Fredericia Denmark 2003

The team for the 2003 World Championship was assembled with players from different states with a base pool set in Massachusetts, and in 2003 to Fredericia, Denmark. A combined women's team also went to Worlds in 2003.

Men's Games

• USA 2-8 Switzerland
• USA 0-14 Colombia
• USA 0-21 Germany
• USA 1-8 Czech Republic
• USA 0-12 Sweden
• USA 2-1 Turkey

Women's games

• USA 0-58 Norway
• USA 0-35 Colombia
• USA 0-17 Denmark
• USA 4-2 Turkey

10TH CMAS UNDERWATER RUGBY World Championship - Cali Colombia 2015

The teams for the 2015 World Championships was assembled with players from different states including MA, NJ, CT, FL, DC

Men's Games

• USA 1-10 Austria
• USA 0-11 Sweden
• USA 20-0 South Africa
• USA 2-1 Australia
• USA 1-0 Spain

Women's games

• USA 0-18 Denmark
• USA 0-27 Norway
• USA 0-30 Germany
• USA 2-8 Australia
• USA 1-5 Venezuela

11TH CMAS UNDERWATER RUGBY World Championship - Graz Austria 2019

The teams for the 2019 World Championships was assembled with players from different states including MA, NJ, CT, FL, DC, CA, TX

Men's Games

• USA 0-12 Sweden
• USA 16-1 Luxemburg
• USA 2-0 Hungary
• USA 1-4 Austria
• USA 5-0 Great Britain
• USA 1-3 Australia
• USA 2-1 Italy

Women's games

• USA 1-1 Turkey
• USA 2-0 Spain
• USA 0-11 Germany
• USA 0-1 Australia
• USA 0-6 Denmark
• USA 25-0 Great Britain
• USA 6-0 Italy

12TH CMAS UNDERWATER RUGBY World Championship - Montreal, Canada 2023

The teams for the 2023 World Championships was assembled with players from different states including MA, NJ, CT, FL, DC, CO

Men's Games

• USA 0-18 Colombia
• USA 0-10 Germany
• USA 3-1 Spain
• USA 0-3 Denmark
• USA 2-0 Canada
• USA 1-0 Australia
• USA 0-5 Sweden

Women's games

• USA 1-5 Australia
• USA 3-0 Canada
• USA 0-12 Colombia
• USA 1-10 Germany
• USA 4-1 Spain
• USA 0-5 Denmark
• USA 0-1 Austria

Local competition

Local competition started jointly in the northeast with the Canadian clubs. The North American Underwater Rugby Tournaments (NAT) started in 2011 as a competition of US and Canadian Clubs with the purpose of providing local and continuous competition throughout the year in an effort to grow the sport and improve the level of play In both countries after two failed attempts to send a US National team to the 2007 and 2011 CMAS World Championships. These series of North American Tournaments were used to decide the National Champion each year for the US and Canada. Best team raked from each country was the National Champion for that year.

References

1. "Boston Underwater Rugby". underwaterrugby.com. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
2. "NJ Hammerheads Underwater Rugby". NJHUWR. Retrieved 29 Jun 2022.
3. "SF Underwater Rugby". SFUWR. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
4. "U. of Texas Underwater Activities Team". U. of Texas Underwater Activities Team. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
5. Results from the 1999 Underwater Rugby World Cup. "". International Underwater Rugby Commission

External links

• Underwater Society of America Underwater Rugby homepage
• USA Underwater Rugby homepage

• Underwater rugby
• Underwater sport in the United States