- Title: Water rugby makes a splash in Lake Geneva
- Date: 21st August 2022
- Summary: LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 19, 2022) (REUTERS) PEOPLE PLAYING TOUCH RUGBY IN FRIDAY'S WARM-UP EVENT ON FLOATING PITCH ON LAKE GENEVA TO VIEW OVER LAKE (MUTE) PLAYER SCORES A TRY BY JUMPING INTO WATER PLAYERS PASS THE BALL AND PLAYER SCORES A TRY BY JUMPING INTO WATER PLAYER CLIMBS BACK ON TO PITCH FROM THE WATER MATHIEU FALBRIARD, HEAD OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR WATER RUGBY LAUSANNE, WALKING ALONG PONTOON TOWARDS CAMERA WATER RUGBY LAUSANNE SIGN (SOUNDBITE) (French) MATHIEU FALBRIARD, PRESIDENT OF WATER RUGBY LAUSANNE, SAYING: "It's 5-a-side rugby played on a floating platform where to score, you have to jump into the water." PLAYER SCORES AND JUMPS INTO THE WATER (SOUNDBITE) (French) MATHIEU FALBRIARD, PRESIDENT OF WATER RUGBY LAUSANNE, SAYING: "As part of the 50th anniversary of the Lausanne University Rugby Club, we wanted to organize a special event to invite everyone to discover rugby and to invite Swiss rugby to come and celebrate our anniversary with us. We had seen a water rugby event in Toulouse and we thought this was the perfect opportunity to try to bring it to Lake Geneva." PLAYER JUMPS INTO WATER TO SCORE (MUTE) PLAYERS MISS BALL AND JUMP INTO WATER (MUTE) FULL VIEW OF FLOATING PITCH WITH PLAYERS PLAYING (MUTE) (SOUNDBITE) (French) RUGBY PLAYER, YVES GUIGNARD, SAYING: "Well, I was quite surprised because it's a really slippery surface. It's a little more difficult to find your footing than on normal ground, but otherwise, it's extremely fun. The water is good. There are good surprises and it's a lot of fun to see people fall over the sides as well. The ball gets away a lot more, so it creates uncertainties and it's very funny." PLAYERS PLAYING RUGBY ON FLOATING PITCH (SOUNDBITE) (French) RUGBY PLAYER, JULIO VALLE, SAYING: "The pitch is not stable enough, but on the other hand, the joy of playing with friends, that was great." LUC (LAUSANNE UNIVERSITY CLUB) RUGBY BALLS (SOUNDBITE) (French) MATHIEU FALBRIARD, PRESIDENT OF WATER RUGBY LAUSANNE, SAYING, WHILE KNEELING ON AND POINTING TO PITCH SURFACE: "So, the way the pitch was made: we used blocks that are about 70cm (27.5 inches) on each side and then we assembled the blocks together to make this big platform. We got them from a port which is about 500 metres (546 yards) from here, then we brought them here by boat and we stuck the carpet on top and put in the rugby posts." PITCH (SOUNDBITE) (French) MATHIEU FALBRIARD, PRESIDENT OF WATER RUGBY LAUSANNE, SAYING: "We have an introduction to rugby for women, which is open to all women who want to try rugby. Women's rugby is a little less well represented in Switzerland. So, we wanted to take advantage of this platform to offer one hour of rugby for free to all the women who want to have a go at rugby in a very playful way." MIXED GENDER TEAM PLAYING WATER RUGBY PERSON JUMPING OFF END OF PITCH TO SCORE TRY PLAYERS LEAVE PITCH BY WALKING ON TO FLOATING PONTOON, WHICH WILL TAKE THEM TO SHORE
- Embargoed: 4th September 2022 18:12
- Keywords: Lake Geneva rugby water rugby
- Location: LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
- City: LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Europe,Rugby Union,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001966020082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Imagine you are tearing down the rugby pitch and when you reach the try line, you dive...but instead of hitting the ground, you plunge into Lake Geneva.
This is not just a bizarre dream - water rugby has come to Switzerland. Over 20 teams competed in touch rugby tournaments on a floating pitch from Friday to Sunday (August 19-21).
With a slippery surface, spectators might not be surprised to see players falling into the water, but few perhaps knew that falling in was also intentional: in this five-a-side game of touch rugby, players must jump off the end of the pitch into Lake Geneva to score a try.
The event was organised by Water Rugby Lausanne to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lausanne University Rugby Club.
After a warm-up event on Friday (August 19), 21 teams of men and women competed in a tournament with games lasting fourteen minutes each.
The President of Water Rugby Lausanne, Mathieu Falbriard, also saw the event as a fun way of encouraging more women to play rugby. As such, the weekend included a one-hour free session open to all women.
"Women's rugby is a little less well represented in Switzerland, so we wanted to take advantage of this platform to offer one hour of rugby for free to all women who want to try rugby in a very playful way," said Falbriard.
All players accessed the pitch by a floating pontoon that moved from the shore to the pitch.
The pitch itself is 25 metres by 35 metres (27.3 by 32.8 yards) and it is made of floating blocks collected from a nearby port. The blocks were transported by boat to the site, joined together and covered in a special surface before rugby posts were added.
Yves Guignard was one of those brave enough to take the plunge. Yves participated in Friday's (August 19) warm-up event, where sponsors put together mixed-gender teams. Employees competed in a mini water rugby tournament as a team-building exercise.
"I was quite surprised because it's a really slippery surface. It's a little more difficult to find your footing than on normal ground, but otherwise, it's extremely fun. The water is good. There are good surprises and it's a lot of fun to see people fall over the sides as well," said Guignard.
(Production: Sophie Penney) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None