Swim-Off Flotation Rigs
In Water Polo, the game is initiated by a swim-off, in which the ball is placed in the middle of the field and once the whistle is blown to signal the start of the game, teams must sprint towards the middle of the pool similar to the start of a dodgeball match, to gain possession.
To get the ball into the middle of the field it would be thrown by a referee, which is not an efficient or accurate way to start a game as the referee has a very low chance of throwing the ball into the exact middle of the field and then it also staying in that same position, and if the ball does go astray, one team will then have an unfair advantage in the swim off.
The technology that has been invented to prevent this inaccuracy is called a Swim-Off Flotation Rig, this technology works by a rig that can be seen in the picture below that uses a series of pulleys and a buoyant ring to first keep the ball stable, and then when the buzzer signals for the start of game or quarter, the rig automatically retracts the buoyant ring and leaves a water polo ball laying still on the water's surface ready for it to be taken by a competitor.
To get the ball into the middle of the field it would be thrown by a referee, which is not an efficient or accurate way to start a game as the referee has a very low chance of throwing the ball into the exact middle of the field and then it also staying in that same position, and if the ball does go astray, one team will then have an unfair advantage in the swim off.
The technology that has been invented to prevent this inaccuracy is called a Swim-Off Flotation Rig, this technology works by a rig that can be seen in the picture below that uses a series of pulleys and a buoyant ring to first keep the ball stable, and then when the buzzer signals for the start of game or quarter, the rig automatically retracts the buoyant ring and leaves a water polo ball laying still on the water's surface ready for it to be taken by a competitor.
This technology was invented by a company called Antiwave in the United Kingdom
The Swim-Off Flotation Rig significantly improves the performance off the game as it leave no room for in accuracy, thus keeping the game as fair and even as possible. This technology has spread to high levels of competition across the world such as Olympic Games and Water Polo World Cups. The Swim-off flotation rig would only be set-up and used during a competition at the start of a match or quarter.
You can see this technology in Action in the video below at 7:58:
The Swim-Off Flotation Rig significantly improves the performance off the game as it leave no room for in accuracy, thus keeping the game as fair and even as possible. This technology has spread to high levels of competition across the world such as Olympic Games and Water Polo World Cups. The Swim-off flotation rig would only be set-up and used during a competition at the start of a match or quarter.
You can see this technology in Action in the video below at 7:58: