• Underwater ice hockey played upside-down in frozen lakes

    Michael Dalder / Reuters

    Uwe Kiehl of team Germany I dives during a match at the Underwater ice hockey Championships in lake Weissensee in Austria on Feb. 17.

    Michael Dalder / Reuters

    Thomas Jurkschat and Uwe Kiehl of team Germany I concentrate on the surface before a match at the Underwater Ice Hockey Championships in lake Weissensee in Austria on Feb. 16.

    Michael Dalder / Reuters

    Team Germany I plays Austria II during a match at the Underwater Ice Hockey Championships in lake Weissensee in Austria on Feb. 17.

    Michael Dalder / Reuters

    Uwe Kiehl of team Germany I breathes on the surface during a match at the Underwater Ice Hockey Championships.

    Michael Dalder / Reuters

    Equipment is prepared before a match at the Underwater Ice Hockey Championships in lake Weissensee in Austria.

    Underwater ice hockey is played upside-down underneath the ice of frozen lakes with a floating puck by teams of two divers in wet suits and flippers. Reuters photographer Michael Dalder made these unique pictures on assignment covering the Underwater Ice Hockey Championships in Austria.

    Dalder, also a diver, wrote about his adventures in Reuters' Photographers Blog:

    I’ve been diving for almost 15 years, but due to family matters it has fallen off my list lately. So a new picture assignment at Lake Weissensee in mid-February 2013 just came right to my diver’s heart: The Underwater Ice hockey Championships.

    Ice diving is, together with cave diving, considered to be the most dangerous diving discipline. For that reason I listened to the security briefing attentively. Continue reading.

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  • David Gray / Reuters

    An Australian diver poses for a teammate on the 10m platform during a training session at the Aquatics Centre before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Monday, July 23.

    Aussie divers practice modeling skills ahead of Olympics

    By Jonathan Sanger, NBC News

    Australian divers take a break from training to snap a few photos on the 10 meter platform, Monday. The London 2012 Olympic games kick off this Friday with the opening ceremony. The first diving event is set to take place on Sunday.

    Follow @NBCNewsPictures

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  • Diving into training at an early age in China

    Liu Tao / EPA

    Children of the diving team of the Fuzhou Sports School conduct exercises at a training base in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian province, July 9. Eighteen children, aged between seven and 13, spend half the day studying normal courses and the rest of the day training for diving.

    Liu Tao / EPA

    A boy on the Fuzhou Sports School diving team prepares to dive from the springboard at a training base in Fuzhou, in southeast China's Fujian province, July 9. Eighteen children, aged between seven and 13, spend half the day studying normal courses and the rest of the day practicing diving.

    See more photos from China on PhotoBlog

  • Ali Haider / EPA

    Roseline Filion of Canada competes in the women's 10M Platform event of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series Dubai 2012 at the Aquatic Center at Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 16.

    A vanishing diver goes into the blue

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  • Diving practice inside the Crystal Palace

    Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

    A member of Crystal Palace Diving Club dives during a training session in London on March 9.

    Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

    Crystal Palace Diving Club member Victoria Vincent practices during a training session in a dry diving gym in London on March 9.

    Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

    Members of the Crystal Palace Diving Club stretch during a training session in a dry diving gym in London March 9.

    Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

    Members of the Crystal Palace Diving Club attend a training session in a dry diving gym in London March 9.

    Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

    A Crystal Palace diving club member wears a harness during a training session in a dry diving gym in London March 9.

    The Crystal Palace Diving Club in London is taking the proverb, "'if you can't beat them, join them" literally by turning to Chinese expertise and techniques to foster Britain's Olympic hopefuls.

    "We always had good divers. But I thought that if we wanted medals en masse then we would have to do what the Chinese did," club founder and former world champion Chris Snode said.

    Snode made the decision to recruit Chinese coaches seven years ago when London won the bid to stage the 2012 Olympics, and now 15 of the approximately 460 children in the program are in the top England talent squad, with their eyes set on Rio 2016. 

    The squad is dominated by girls, who the coaches say are more likely to do activities such as gymnastics and dance that complement diving and build up early flexibility. 

    "It's harder to find boys," admits assistant coach Chen Yang, shouting advice to the practicing divers from the side of the pool. "They all play football."

    That's not a problem China has, he adds, though the desire to perform to an audience and plethora of competitions that are a feature of British schoolchildren's lives are a rare advantage Westerners have over the Chinese. 

    -- Reuters

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    Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

    A member of Crystal Palace Diving Club dives as she is watched by head coach Chen Wen (right) during a training session in London March 9.

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  • Diving becomes art at the London Aquatics Center in London, England

    Toby Melville / Reuters

    A competitor dives during the women's 3m springboard preliminary round at the FINA Diving World Cup at the Olympic Aquatics Center in London, Feb. 23, 2012.

    Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

    David Boudia and Nick McCrory of the USA compete in the men's synchronized 10m Platform preliminary round during the 18th FINA Visa Diving World Cup at The Aquatics Center. (EDITORS NOTE: Image was rotated from its original perspective.)

    Clive Rose / Getty Images

    Yuan Cao and Yanquan Zhang of China in action during the men's synchronized 10m platform preliminary at the London Aquatics Center.

    Toby Melville / Reuters

    Competitors shower during the women's 3m springboard preliminary round at the FINA Diving World Cup.

    Check out this week's The Week in Sports Pictures

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  • London Aquatics Center opens with a splash

    Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

    Mara Elena Aiacoboae of Romania competes in the Women's 10m Platform Preliminary round during the 18th FINA Visa Diving World Cup at The Aquatics Center on Feb. 20 in London. The diving competition has been called a test for the upcoming Olympics in July.

    Toby Melville / Reuters

    Thousands of British fans poured into the sleek, wave-shaped London Aquatic Center to witness the Diving World Cup, the latest test event for the upcoming 2012 Olympics.

    Geoff Caddick / EPA

    Chinese divers Kai Qin and Yutong Lou win the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard at the FINA Diving World Cup held in the Aquatic Center in London.

    By Jon Sweeney, NBC News

    The Aquatics Center that will host four events at this summer's Olympics was given a big thumbs-up Monday when the London venue opened its doors for competition for the first time with the weeklong Diving World Cup.

    Whie the event provides a final opportunity for divers to secure qualification for London, it also gives many top performers an early chance to sample the atmosphere of an Olympic venue. The Aquatics Center will also host swimming, synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon this summer. 

    "Pools have their own uniqueness, design and engineering to depict culture, history or innovation. This captured all of them," said American diver Troy Dumais, a three-time Olympian. "These are phenomenal facilities. We don't often get to see things like this and sometimes it can be overwhelming and mythical, and it can throw you out of your routine." 

    China dominated the opening day's action, with Qin Kai and Luo Yutong winning the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard. 

    -- The Associated Press contributed to this blog post.

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    Toby Melville / Reuters

    Christopher Mears and Nicholas Robinson Baker of Britain dive during the Men's Synchronised 3 meter Springboard preliminary round on Feb. 20. The diving competition has been called a test for the upcoming Olympics in July.

  • Brian Snyder / Reuters

    A competitor dives off the roof of the Institute of Contempory Art as an airplane takes off from Logan International Airport during the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2011 competition in Boston, Mass., Aug. 20. Boston is the sixth stop on this year's tour and the only urban venue, where divers plunge some 90 feet from the roof of a building into Boston Harbor.

    Divers plunge from art museum into Boston Harbor

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    Cool.

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