Diving is Not a Sport???!!!

[LandLockedDiveGuy]

Hmmm, drunken, mountain road bull chasing? Now THAT is a sport! So, maybe if you're narc'ed, and chasing a bull shark with a DPV through a submarine canyon... Wow, this is getting complicated.

 

[Doc Harry]

"Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games."

- Ernest Hemmingway

 

[TheHobster]

well, if I remember our class discussion in SPort Sociology with Dr Tuohey in 1975 it went something like:

Athletics is a sport or game where score is kept; training is done and skills need to be learned;

Sport is an activity that is not necessarily competitive but requires training and skills to perform;

Game is an activity that has rules that must be adhered to to successfully complete or compete; physical skills and training not necessary

Granted, thats a 31 year old memory, but I can remember that, and not what I had for breakfast this AM

 

[Stormbringer]

Its a common misunderstanding to equate sport with competition. According to Webster's

Main Entry: sport
Function: noun
1 a : a source of diversion : RECREATION b : sexual play c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in.

According to Wikipedia:

Sport is the term to describe physical games. It can be outdoor or indoor. A sport is a game, contest, or activity needing physical power and skill. A sport is usually played according to rules.

A Sport can be competetive but isn't necessarily so. Its a common misassociation of terms. What is generally understood to be a sport is an activity - physical in nature that requires a certain physical ability and skill to perform, competitive or not. Thus Scuba is a sport by its very nature of being such a physical activity requiring a certain set of skills and ability to perform. Other similar physical activities are also sports, ie: mountain climbing, rock climbing, cave exploring, sky diving, water and snow skiing, etc. A sport need not be a game or contest, it can be, but its not a requirement for the activity to be considered a sport.

For many, the term "competitive atheletics" is often what is refered to and thought of as sport but such a reference (while popular) is incorrect as a definition for sport itself.

 

[cadiver67]

I vote Sport.

For me a Sport is anything that I have to:

#1 Physically Train for (conditioning so I don't have a heart attack while scuba diving)

#2 Buy thousands of dollars worth of gear for

#3 Spend all day in sun for

#4 Exhaust myself doing (according to the calorielab website scuba burns 400-700 calories per hour depending on swim speed compared to Basketball=476, Soccer=612, Tennis=408, Football=544)

#5 Be proficient at (I am a million times better now than when I started in February - and getting better every dive - again more training)

So IMHO it's a sport - as much or more of a sport than non-exertion sports like fishing or sailing or golfing.

The competition is with yourself, am I improving, reducing your SAC rate, etc.

 

[CBulla]

Uh, lets not delve too deeply into the logical fallacies in that argument.

Shooting is a sport. Skiing is a sport. Whitewater rafting is a sport. Hangliding and parachuting are sports. None require 'teams'.

Lets not forget Greco Roman wrestling and boxing.

For those defining sport with their own rules, here's the definition:

Main Entry: 2sport
Function: noun
1 a : a source of diversion : [SIZE=-1]RECREATION[/SIZE] b : sexual play c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in
2 a : [SIZE=-1]PLEASANTRY[/SIZE], [SIZE=-1]JEST[/SIZE] b : often mean-spirited jesting : [SIZE=-1]MOCKERY[/SIZE], [SIZE=-1]DERISION[/SIZE]
3 a : something tossed or driven about in or as if in play b : [SIZE=-1]LAUGHINGSTOCK[/SIZE]
4 a : [SIZE=-1]SPORTSMAN[/SIZE] b : a person considered with respect to living up to the ideals of sportsmanship <a good sport> <a poor sport> c : a companionable person
5 : an individual exhibiting a sudden deviation from type beyond the normal limits of individual variation usually as a result of mutation especially of somatic tissue
synonym see [SIZE=-1]FUN[/SIZE]

Seems like the art of scuba diving fits definition 1a and 1c(1)... yup, looks like its called a sport. I'm certain that legal definiton is pretty similar.


"Hi, my name is Colin and I'm a professional drift diver! It takes a LOT of skill to drift at 60' for 60 minutes while coordinating the holding of my flag line and taking a pee.."

Here's to you professional beach diver!

 

[mirrocraft]

if fishing ,hunting, free diving, golf , and chess are sports why wouldnt you constiter diving a sport some say by def. well diving is an out door activity that takes an effort to complete a task with a group of people and you can make a compition out of it if you want to treasure hunts a group of diver searching togeither to beet one another for some form of trophy

 

[TeddyDiver]

Depends what I'm diving for. Searching a missing person or inspecting a pipeline is not a sport. Taking UW photos/video is on the grey area. For fun and rec courses yes.

 

[beach89]

It's not a sport. It's a hobby. By that dictionary defination chess would be a sport. I really don't consider chess a sport.

 

[Jorbar1551]

i would say its a sport, but to me, its an activity and a hobby that i will always love