If you're one of the elite athletes who thinks the few-holds-barred sport isn't already punishing enough, underwater torpedo might be your game.
The object is simple: get the torpedo, a rocket-shaped pool toy, into one of the submerged miniature hockey goals. Players may pass the torpedo to teammates or hold it while evading defenders, but they must stay underwater while in possession. The game is just a few years old, but it might make it to the 2028 Summer Olympics as an exhibition sport. Play can be on the rough side—it was invented by US Marines, after all—and it's the "fun" part of the intense workout regimens developed by Deep End Fitness.
Founded by Hawaii-based US Marines Don Tran and Prime Hall, DEF brings military-grade training to civilians by combining high-intensity weight training with the added stress of doing it all in and under the water—usually at Waimea Bay. Tran is no stranger to Waimea; he completed a challenging five-mile underwater rock relay run in the bay a few years ago.
You know you're in for it when DEF coach Jono Blodgett shows up to lead a Waimea workout. Soon you'll be filling a five-gallon bucket halfway with sand, holding it while doing squats, then adding more sand and doing it fourteen more times—and that's just the warm-up. "It's an innovative way to build strength in a low-impact environment," says Blodgett, who also trains freedivers, big-wave surfers and adventure racers of all ages.
At the end of a grueling workout in Waimea Bay, participants in Deep End Fitness play an even more grueling round of underwater torpedo—a rugby-like game invented by a couple of former Hawaii-based US Marines that's for neither the faint of heart nor short of breath.
"Innovative" might not be the word the thirty-plus DEFers here today would pick. Kekoa Chang, 15, a sprinter on Hawaii Swim Club's Kapolei team, sums up the workout as "hard," as he labors through the soft sand. His dad, Michael, 61, keeps up, suffering quietly. Fitness influencer Carol Tuttle and husband Jonathan are both in their late 60s. Carol seems more chipper than young Kekoa, saying, "I'd rather suffer on the beach than in a nursing home."
Deep End Fitness has franchises in pools all across the United States; this is the first full-time DEF in Hawaii, where they often forgo the pool. The pre-scrum workout is like a grit-check to see if you can handle the intensity of an underwater torpedo match. Blodgett is the predictable ringer, staying submerged longer and powering past defenders like the Changs. Toward the end of the match, Michael taps out, saying, "Dad's time is over. Time for Kekoa to shine!" Afterward, Kekoa isn't quite so shiny. "Hard," he gasps, plodding up the beach for a long drink of water.
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