The world's first ever 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 worldwide, the organizing team structured it as an invitational tournament — designed first to showcase this entirely new style of competition to divers on a smaller scale, and second to gather feedback from participating teams as a warm-up for 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 after reaching around the Rescue Diver level or logging more than 80 scuba tanks. Some pivot toward technical diving, while others invest in underwater cameras to pursue underwater photography — all in an effort to keep their passion for diving alive through different avenues. However, a significant portion of divers simply quit the sport altogether. This shallow activity curve leads to a substantial loss of divers, which is ultimately detrimental to the growth of the diving industry.
Race Director Max Wang says: "The longer divers are involved in diving, the more their enthusiasm tends to cool — that is, their interest curve drops over time. GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana was created specifically to give divers another source of excitement and motivation!"
Although the event was structured as an invitational, it was an honor to welcome as many as 7 teams with 13 competitors in total. Since all athletes were experiencing the course for the first time, the organizing team allocated 30 minutes of underwater time to allow each competitor to fully familiarize themselves with the course and environment. Once a competitor touches the underwater stopwatch to start the timer, the gymkhana racing spirit — competing against one's own personal best — kicks in.
Alongside the course, you could witness a range of vivid scenes: the palpable tension in the air as a competitor's time closes in on the day's best record, or the frustration on a competitor's face when a maneuver falls short of the required standard. These are the essential ingredients of any professional sporting competition. But something even more significant set this event apart — the Underwater Gymkhana is designed for team participation led by a team captain, which means that throughout the competition you could witness a level of team camaraderie rarely seen in recreational scuba diving: supporters cheering loudly from poolside, captains heading to the judges' table to discuss scoring criteria, and captains in the staging area going over every detail with their athletes again and again. These are the energetic, passionate elements that are often missing from the recreational scuba diving scene — and GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana was born precisely to create and nurture that energy.
Beyond the competitors' efforts in the water, event organizers and media partner BlueTrend also deployed an impressive production setup: 7 synchronized underwater cameras combined with a live-switching console were set up below the surface — serving both as an eagle-eye system for judges to assess scores, and as a full video record of the event. According to the team's plans, at the open competition later in 2022, the live underwater footage will be broadcast in real time onto large LED video walls at the venue, so every supporter in attendance can feel completely immersed in cheering their athletes on. In addition, the team will introduce live commentary for key event coverage, allowing audiences who cannot attend in person to share in this sporting spectacle born right here in Taiwan.
The May 4, 2022 invitational is just the beginning. Every team and coach who attended gave overwhelmingly positive feedback about the competition. GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana will hold its first open competition in December 2022, when DPV enthusiasts of all brands and systems will be invited to compete for the title of Taiwan's Fastest Diver. It is also the team's hope that as the pandemic gradually subsides, GKN DPV Racing Underwater Gymkhana will one day realize its dream of hosting an Asian circuit tour.
Official Results — GKN DPV Racing Taiwan Invitational, May 4, 2022:
GKN DPV Racing Ruleset Announcement:
The following revised competition regulations will apply to future Underwater Gymkhana events:
Course Fairness:
- To improve course fairness, infrared light gates will be added at the two corners of the tornado rotation laser guide. These are designated Check Point 1 at the start and Check Point 2 at the finish. Competitors must trigger Check Point 1 after completing the tunnel section and before beginning the tornado rotation. Competitors must trigger Check Point 2 after completing the lateral roll section and after completing the tornado rotation.
- To prevent competitors from losing their way, two directional arrow markers will be added to the bottom of the course.
Tornado Bonus Section:
- To encourage competitors to attempt the tornado rotation bonus section, five seconds will be deducted from the competitor's final time for each completed rotation.
- If a competitor makes no attempt at the tornado rotation whatsoever, a five-second penalty will be added. Attempting but failing to complete a rotation incurs no penalty.
- A valid rotation requires the competitor to orbit around the outside of the laser reference line without touching it; touching the reference line disqualifies that rotation from earning a time deduction.
- To prevent competitors from spinning in place indefinitely, the maximum tornado bonus is capped at five rotations.
Competitor Penalty Standards are as follows:
- Level 1: Poor trim / streamlining posture — 0.5-second penalty per occurrence
- Level 2: Competitor's fins or any other body part touches the laser boundary line; competitor makes an uncontrolled kick — 1-second penalty per occurrence
- Level 3: Competitor's body extends half an arm's length beyond the laser boundary line; the nose of the competitor's DPV touches the laser boundary line — 2-second penalty per occurrence
- Level 4: Half of the competitor's body extends beyond the laser boundary line; half of the competitor's DPV extends beyond the laser boundary line — 5-second penalty per occurrence
- Level 5: Any part of the competitor's body or DPV breaks the water surface, touches the pool floor, or touches the pool wall — this constitutes a major boundary violation; the attempt is ruled as Did Not Finish (DNF)
The above regulations will be implemented at all future events.
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