Teacher set for underwater hockey world championships

Team GB's women's team will take part in the Underwater Water Hockey Championships

A Kent music teacher is to compete in the Underwater Hockey World Championships as part of the Great Britain squad.

Rona Wignall, 32, from Tunbridge Wells, flew with her team mates to the Netherlands last month to compete in the qualifying rounds.

Her team beat Spain 4-2 in the semi-finals before defeating South Africa 4-1 in the final – securing their place at the tournament in 2027.

Ms Wignall, who works at Radnor House Sevenoaks School, said: "It was such an amazing experience. There was no doubt in my mind once we started the comp that we would win."

She added: "We had good energy levels, and it was so positive that if it had been the world's right then, we would have gone to number one. We were so on point in the pool and had each other's backs.

"It's like a family."

Ms Wignall, a member of the West Wickham underwater hockey team, fundraised £600 towards the cost of the team taking part in the qualifiers.

What is underwater hockey?

Underwater hockey, also known as Octopush, involves teams of players wearing fins, gloves and a small hockey stick competing to push a 2kg (4.4 lbs) puck into the opposition's goal.

Players must hold their breath and swim underwater during play.

Underwater hockey is largely played at universities in the UK, Ms Wignall said.

According to the British Octopush Association, 68 clubs are registered in the UK with more than 1,800 players.

The Great Britain Underwater Hockey squad, with Rona Wignall (back row, third from left)

Born in Manchester, Ms Wignall said she first picked up the sport while growing up in New Zealand, having followed her older sister into the sport.

Moving back to the UK shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic, she said that her first international tournament, the World Championships in Australia in 2020, were postponed due to lockdowns and rescheduled for 2023, where Great Britain finished fourth.

Ms Wignall said that she travels to Leeds once a month to train with Team GB.

"It's intense because the training is hard and pool time is limited, so a lot of training happens outside the pool," she said.

"The top five teams – Spain, France, Great Britain, USA and South Africa – are really close, so on any given day it comes down to who wants it more."