The world's very first GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana competition was held on May 4, 2022, at the Taichung North District Sports Center in Taiwan. As the inaugural event of its kind, the organizers positioned this competition as an invitational tournament — launching on a smaller scale to showcase this entirely new style of competition to divers, and gathering feedback from participating teams as a warm-up ahead of the Taiwan Open Invitational planned for late 2022.
Based on the Editor's own experience, a diver's enthusiasm curve tends to decline over time once they reach around the Rescue Diver level or have logged more than 80 scuba tanks. Some transition into technical diving, while others invest in underwater cameras to pursue underwater photography — all in hopes of extending their passion for diving through different avenues. However, a significant portion of divers simply quit altogether. This shallow, short-lived engagement curve leads to a substantial loss of divers from the community, which ultimately hinders the growth of the diving industry.
Race Chairman Max Wang said: "The longer divers stay in the sport, the more their passion tends to cool — that's the natural decline of the interest curve over time. GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana was created to give divers another source of excitement and motivation."
Although this event was an invitational, we were honored to welcome 7 teams and a total of 13 athletes. Since it was every competitor's first time experiencing the course, the organizers arranged a dedicated 30-minute underwater familiarization session, allowing each athlete to thoroughly learn the layout and environment. Once a competitor touched the underwater timer to start the clock, their gymkhana racing spirit — competing purely against themselves — was ignited.
On the poolside, you could witness a whole range of emotions: the breathless tension as a competitor's time crept toward the day's best record, or the pang of regret when a maneuver wasn't executed cleanly. These are the essential ingredients of any serious sporting competition. But beyond the racing itself, what makes the Underwater Gymkhana truly special is its team dynamic. Competitors participate as part of a team led by a team leader, which brings to the surface a sense of camaraderie rarely seen in everyday scuba diving — cheering squads rooting loudly from the sidelines, team leaders huddling with judges to discuss movement standards, and leaders repeatedly walking athletes through critical details in the staging area. These are the elements of passion and energy that are often missing from the recreational scuba diving world, and GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana was born precisely to create and cultivate them.
In addition to the fierce competition, the event organizers and media partner BlueTrend deployed a high-production underwater setup featuring 7 synchronized cameras and a director's control console. These served a dual purpose: as a hawk-eye system for judges to review and score athlete movements, and as a comprehensive video archive of the event. According to the team's plans, the Open Championship at the end of 2022 will feature live underwater footage streamed to large LED video walls on-site, so every supporter in the stands can feel completely immersed in the action. On top of that, the team will introduce live commentary and broadcast key competition moments in real time, ensuring that audiences unable to attend in person can still be part of this uniquely Taiwanese sporting spectacle.
The May 4, 2022 invitational was just the beginning — every team and coach present gave overwhelmingly positive feedback. GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana will hold its first Open Championship in December 2022, open to all underwater scooter enthusiasts regardless of brand or system, all vying for the title of Taiwan's fastest diver. The team also hopes that, as the pandemic gradually subsides, GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana will one day realize its dream of hosting an Asia circuit tour.
GKN DPV Racing Taiwan Invitational — May 4, 2022: Official Results Announcement
GKN DPV Racing Ruleset Announcement:
The following competition regulations have been revised for future Underwater Gymkhana events:
Course Fairness:
- To improve course fairness, infrared light gates will be added at the two corners of the tornado spin laser guide. These are designated as Check Point 1 at the start and Check Point 2 at the finish. Athletes must trigger Check Point 1 after completing the tunnel section and before beginning the tornado spin. Athletes must trigger Check Point 2 after completing the lateral roll section and after completing the tornado spin.
- To prevent athletes from losing their way, two directional arrow markers will be added to the pool floor along the course.
Tornado Bonus Challenge:
- To encourage athletes to attempt the tornado spin bonus section, five seconds will be deducted from the athlete's final time for each completed rotation.
- If an athlete makes no attempt at the tornado spin whatsoever, a five-second penalty will be added. Attempted but unsuccessful spins will incur no penalty.
- A successful rotation must orbit the outside of the laser reference line without touching it; contact with the reference line disqualifies that rotation from earning a time deduction.
- To prevent athletes from hovering and spinning in place, the maximum tornado bonus is capped at five rotations.
Penalty Second Standards for Athlete Infractions:
- Level 1: Poor trim/streamlined posture — 0.5-second penalty per infraction
- Level 2: Fins or any other body part touching the laser boundary line, or uncontrolled kicking motion — 1-second penalty per infraction
- Level 3: Up to half an arm's length extending beyond the laser boundary line, or the nose/front of the DPV touching the laser boundary line — 2-second penalty per infraction
- Level 4: Up to half the athlete's body extending beyond the laser boundary line, or up to half the DPV extending beyond the laser boundary line — 5-second penalty per infraction
- Level 5: Any part of the athlete's body or DPV breaking the water surface, touching the pool floor, or touching the pool wall — this constitutes a major out-of-bounds violation; the run is deemed incomplete
The above regulations will take effect in all future competitions.
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