UWH Athletes and the international standard

Hey folks

after reading up on the guys and gals starting their training for the worlds. I was wondering, in your opinion, at what point does an UWH player become an UWH Athlete ?

what is it that defines the athlete ? is it the extra training they do in order to improve their game and fitness, is it a particular standard they have to achieve ? do you feel they have to have been involved at international level to be able to be classed as an athlete ?

and for the folks involved in the worlds...what was the standard you have had to achieve in order to make the cut for the international stage and what did you do to achieve it? how big was the gulf between the club hockey you were used to and the international standard you had to hit ? was it a bit step up ?

also how do the standards of 2007 to become in international compare to what was required of you when you first became one ?

Cheers

My thoughts are that an athlete, in any sport, is someone that has reached a certain level, whatever that may be, but also defines themselves and makes life decisions based primarily on their sport of choice. Beyond that, I'll leave it up to the athletes to debate.

there's a huge gap between the level of club hockey and trans-tasman, i'm sure worlds would be another notch or two up again

club hockey in most cases isn't real hockey (especially here in brisbane)

Here's my thought on the athlete versus player. A player plays the game, an Athlete lives it. Decisions in his life are made based on the next tournament, the next day of training, the next chance to prove yourself as a worthy competitor. Anyone can be a player, it takes dedication to be an athlete.

And World's, definitly a notch or two above anything you've ever played. The speed of everyone, the crispness of the passes on a consistent basis, the years of training to play two games a day, representing your country against the best the rest have to offer -- nothing compares.

To get there, do everything you can and then do a little more. When you're all done you're going to think you could have done more, started sooner, trained smarter, or done something else to help. So get out there and go. The nice thing is that no matter how many times you've done it, you still come back with that thought and a little more knowledge about the game.

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Just in case you weren't sure, it's official -- CMAS sucks.
Oh yeah, and now they're broke.

well put duck
very well put.

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top of de mornin to yeh

for some reason i accidentally put what i meant to put in this thread in my signature. too much porridge on the brain?

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it's more polite on the grating than on the subs bench

It is an awesome signature though...

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It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose.

Well said Duck.

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Those who say it's only a game don't understand the situation.

I thought you'd put a lot of thought into your signature Atapene, and it didn't really make sense until I found this thread!

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Breathing is overrated!

Recreational and Sports Issues Top of Page
Journal Article
Physiological responses to repeated apneas in underwater hockey players and controls.
Lemaître F, Polin D, Joulia F, Boutry A, Le Pessot D, Chollet D, Tourny-Chollet C. Undersea Hyperb Med 2007; 34(6): 407-14.
Affiliation: Centre d'Etudes des Transformations des Activités Physiques et Sportives, Equipe d'Accueil UPRES No 3832. Facultè des Sciences du Sport et de lEducation Physique de Rouen, Université de Rouen, France.
DOI: unavailable What is this?
(Copyright © 2007, Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society)
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of short repeated apneas on breathing pattern and circulatory response in trained (underwater hockey players: UHP) and untrained (controls: CTL) subjects. The subjects performed five apneas (A1-A5) while cycling with the face immersed in thermoneutral water. Respiratory parameters were recorded 1 minute before and after each apnea and venous blood samples were collected before each apnea and at 0, 2, 5 and 10 minutes after the last apnea. Arterial saturation (SaO2) and heart rate were continuously recorded during the experiment. Before the repeated apneas, UHP had lower ventilation, higher P(ET)CO2 (p < 0.05) and lower P(ET)O2 than CTL (p < 0.001). After the apneas, the P(ET)O2 values were always lower in UHP (p < 0.001) than CTL but with no difference for averaged P(ET)CO2 (p = 0.32). The apnea response, i.e., bradycardia and increased mean arterial blood pressure, was observed and it remained unchanged throughout the series in the two groups. The SaO, decreased in both groups during each apnea but the post-exercise SaO2 values were higher in UHP after A2 to A5 than in CTL (p < 0.01). The post-apnea lactate concentrations were lower in UHP than in CTL. These results indicate that more pronounced bradycardia could lead to less oxygen desaturation during repeated apneas in UHP. The UHP show a specific hypoventilatory pattern after repeated apneas, as well as a more pronounced cardiovascular response than CTL. They indeed showed no detraining of the diving response.
Language: Eng

cheers
WTD

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