What the Puck?

Scamtown

The episode explores a bizarre historical scheme where Moldovan underwater hockey teams used international championships in Australia and Canada

Key takeaways

• The 2000 World Championships in Hobart, Tasmania, served as a 'test run' where a Moldovan team arrived but eventually vanished.
• In the 2002 Calgary Games, the Moldovan women's team arrived but failed to participate in scheduled matches before seeking asylum.

Main topics

• Underwater hockey defection
• Moldovan political history

Notable quotes

The truth lives somewhere beneath the surface.

Conclusion

A compelling look at how niche international competitions can inadvert

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) All right, James, I know that you love watching and playing basketball, but how do you feel about some of the weirder sports that you might find on, you know, ESPN 8, the Ocho? Oh, Speaker 4 (0:12) I love the Ocho. The fact that it was inspired by the movie Dodgeball, which I've seen hundreds of times, is so awesome. It's kind Speaker 2 (0:22) of like the sports channel for people who aren't that crazy about mainstream sports, but like to watch competition. And you can find things there like competitive pillow fighting or cherry pit spitting. Maybe even underwater hockey. Now, James, have you ever seen underwater hockey? Speaker 4 (0:41) I have not. I'll be honest with you. I'm a huge Blackhawks fan and I prefer hockey on frozen water. Well, as you can imagine, Speaker 2 (0:50) in underwater hockey, a lot happens under the water, making it tough at times to see what's really going on. And today's story. is kind of like that, where the truth lives somewhere beneath the Speaker 4 (1:04) surface. So get your fins and your snorkel because we're going to dive Speaker 8 (1:10) into the intercontinental plot that sent shockwaves through the sport of underwater hockey. Speaker 2 (1:19) Welcome to Scam Town, an Apple original podcast produced by Fun Meter. I'm Brian Lazzarte. And I'm James Lee Hernandez. We're filmmakers who've been Speaker 4 (1:30) trading stories now for quite some time, obsessed and compelled to bring some of our favorites to life. We love a surprising heist, an intricate scam, or just pulling back the Speaker 8 (1:39) curtain on something you think you know. Entering a world that's stranger than fiction and writing Speaker 4 (1:45) that line between comedy and tragedy. This is Scam Town, a place for our favorite stories that do just that. Today's episode, What the Puck? Speaker 2 (2:03) It's 2002, and Daryl Brambilla, a longtime underwater hockey player and coach, is gearing up for the World Championships. So underwater hockey, when you first take a look at it, if you've never Speaker 5 (2:14) seen it before, it looks a little bit confusing. From the surface, it just looks like a bunch of people splashing around, going underwater, and coming up Speaker 8 (2:22) again. Even if you've never heard of underwater hockey, it's a legit sport. Originally called OctoPush, It was developed around 1954 to help entertain British divers during the winter. Since then, the game has exploded in popularity with a dedicated worldwide community. Speaker 2 (2:42) It's essentially, you guessed it, hockey played underwater. Each team has 10 players divided into forwards or defense. In order to play, you need a snorkel, fins, and a water polo cap to protect your ears. This is hockey after all. And even though it's underwater, injuries have been known to happen. Speaker 2 (3:06) The play starts, Speaker 5 (3:07) everybody swims towards the middle of the pool where the puck is. You try and take possession of the puck, pass to your teammates, and then move it up and down the pool until you get it down to the goal and put it into the goal. Speaker 8 (3:17) So players are diving underwater to the bottom of the pool. They're trying to get to the opposite team's goal, but what's tricky is they have to make sure someone on their team is also close by, so if they need to take a breath of air, they can pass the puck to the teammate. and go back up to the surface. One thing that's clear about the sport, the people who play it love it. And the World Championships are Speaker 4 (3:49) no joke. Teams from all over the world come to play. And this Speaker 2 (3:55) year's games are happening in Calgary, Canada. And Daryl, one of the organizers, is running around the city trying to make sure everyone is ready to go. First of all, there's obviously the local arrangements Speaker 5 (4:07) you have to do. Things like securing pool time, making sure your venue is approved Speaker 8 (4:12) by CMAS. CMAS, by the way, is the governing body for a lot of underwater sports. Think spearfishing, freediving, finswimming, and, you guessed it, underwater hockey. Then we have to do things for the teams. We have Speaker 5 (4:27) to secure hotels, places to stay, help them with any sort of travel accommodations. So when they get here, they know where they're going, Speaker 2 (4:35) what they're doing. This is like the World Cup of underwater hockey, minus all the expensive advertisements and billions of people watching. But the pressure, nonetheless, is still on. These Speaker 5 (4:47) people have traveled from around the world to play at their pinnacle event, the best of the best, so Speaker 8 (4:52) to speak. Think countries like the United States, South Africa, Colombia, and even the tiny landlocked Speaker 4 (4:59) post Speaker 8 (5:00) -Soviet country, Moldova. Speaker 2 (5:03) After countless weeks of long days getting everything perfect, Daryl and the rest of the organizers for the Calgary World Championships were ready. to Speaker 4 (5:12) kick off the games. And no sporting event would be complete without some sort Speaker 8 (5:17) of opening ceremonies. The opening ceremonies are kind of like the highlight, just Speaker 5 (5:22) like you would have at the Olympics. You know, they kick off to everything's about to get started. Speaker 8 (5:27) Athletes gather in the Aquatic Center, their voices and excitement echoing through the pool hall. A lot of adrenaline, a lot of emotions going to Speaker 5 (5:34) getting our team together. They're wearing their team uniforms. There's a lot of pride from a country's perspective. I'm here representing my country. And, you know, there's lots of photos going on, Speaker 8 (5:45) being taken, and laughter. Each country is announced and led by a flag bearer holding that country's flag. Speaker 5 (5:52) There are all the athletes waving at everybody, and then they would circle around and then go up to the seating in the stands. All Speaker 2 (5:59) the countries are there, except for Moldova. Speaker 5 (6:03) We had a flag there for Moldova, ready to go Speaker 8 (6:07) for their country. Moldova registered three teams, a women's team, a men's team, and a youth team. And no one showed up. Not the coach. Not the players, as far as we know, not even the water boy. There was nobody there to take their flag and seat the athletes. Speaker 5 (6:25) And it was a very unfortunate situation that started to develop from that point onwards. Speaker 2 (6:31) I mean, this is unheard of. Teams don't register, pay the fee of around $1,600 Canadian dollars per team. It just don't show. We knew there Speaker 5 (6:41) was a problem right then at that point. Speaker 2 (6:44) Daryl immediately tries the various phone numbers listed on the team's contact sheet. And nothing. They were all dead ends. All of our contacts had Speaker 5 (6:54) not answered or didn't want to speak to us any longer. So we were looking for these people. Speaker 8 (7:00) Realizing that they wouldn't be showing up for any of their scheduled games, Daryl and his co-organizers scrambled to redo the entire playing schedule. Months of work, gone in an instant. Speaker 2 (7:12) The rest of the games continue from there. But in between his various duties, Daryl... can't help but wonder what happened to that mysterious team from Moldova. We hope they're okay. You know, did somebody get injured? Were they Speaker 5 (7:27) kidnapped? You know, there's all sorts of rumors. Even though we didn't know these people very well, you know, we care about everybody within our sport. And so we're genuinely concerned for them because nobody Speaker 8 (7:37) really knew what the true story was. Speaker 5 (7:39) And Speaker 8 (7:39) the true story is straight out