UVic students race submarine in international competition
UVic students race submarine in international competition
Students at the University of Victoria are exploring and testing the perfect shape to break their next record in a unique sport.
Their team consists of more than two dozen active members who design, build and race human-powered submarines.
"My short and sweet [description] is, it’s a flooded coffin with a bike inside," said UVic Submarine Racing Club chief engineer, Josh Fernandez.
The submarine capsule has a propeller on the back with a single pilot inside.
The person has to be a certified scuba diver to compete. They wear an air tank and their submarine gets flooded in a pool of water.
They lay down on their stomach with their face staring out a window on the front, their hands on a yoke for steering, and their legs behind on two pedals that propel them forward.
"You can’t talk under water," said dive captain, Kenna Quirk. "So we have to go over hand signals like 'lift the submarine up. Start the propeller.'"
The submarine then traverses a football-length pool in a competition to see how fast the pilot and the design can go.
The UVic submarine is shown. (Submitted)
"We basically reached a top speed of about seven kilometres per hour," said the club’s president, Graydon Rourke.
It happened at the team’s last competition in the U.K. over the summer – where the members placed fourth overall.
"Our submarine starts on one side [of the pool]. They shoot down the pool, do a U-turn, and then salmon back – and it’s based off of time and agility," said Fernandez.
The trio of engineering students smile talking about the reactions they tend to get trying to explain their hobby to others.
The federal government is seeking to delay the extension of assisted dying eligibility to people whose sole condition is a mental disorder until March 17, 2024. Justice Minister David Lametti introduced a bill seeking the extension in the House of Commons on Thursday.
Nestle Canada says it is winding down its frozen meals and pizza business in Canada over the next six months. The four brands that will no longer be sold in the freezer aisle at Canadian grocery stores are Delissio, Stouffer's, Lean Cuisine and Life Cuisine.
Will we see six more weeks of winter, or an early spring? Here’s what some of the groundhogs (and one human) have predicted so far, from coast-to-coast.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
The United States has answered President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plea for rockets that can strike deep behind the front lines of the nearly year-long conflict with Russia. Now Russian forces will need to adapt or face potentially catastrophic losses.
Canada's justice minister accused Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives Thursday of using tragedies such as the killing of a young Ontario Provincial Police officer 'to try to score political points.'
Australia is removing the monarchy from its bank notes. The nation's new $5 bill will feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III. But the king is still expected to appear on coins that currently bear the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The organization regulating medical care and services in Manitoba is apologizing for racism directed towards Indigenous people when accessing health care in the province.
B.C.'s Ministry of Health is continuing its multi-year trend of paying millions more dollars each year to private surgical centres for the delivery of public health care, CTV News has learned.
Three people have been charged after more than $400,000 in drugs and cash were seized from two homes and a vehicle after a seven-month-long investigation in Edmonton.
Athabasca University's board of governors has replaced the president who resisted the government's demand to double the distance-learning school's number of employees who live in Athabasca.
Ontario has released a new 'connected' and 'convenient' health-care plan aimed at shortening wait times and localizing access to care across the province.
Three Richmond Hill residents have been arrested after police seized $500,000 in fake gift cards from a “sophisticated forgery lab” while searching multiple local properties last month.
A polar vortex is descending over Ontario this week and some of the coldest weather is still to come. Wind chills will also reach dangerous levels, increasing the risk of frostbite.
Calgary police have released a photo of a vehicle they say may have information about a serious hit-and-run last month in the hopes of tracking down the driver.
The next few nights are expected to be frigid in Montreal, with wind chill factors dropping to -30. In order to prevent anyone experiencing homelessness from ending up outdoors, the City of Montreal is announcing the opening of two emergency shelters.
For the first time in 2023, the Quebec director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, will provide an update on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious respiratory diseases in Quebec.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall theft.
On the day that Shubenacadie Sam predicted six more weeks of winter, there are warnings and statements cautioning that the coldest air of the season is about to arrive in the Maritimes.
Ontario has released a new 'connected' and 'convenient' health-care plan aimed at shortening wait times and localizing access to care across the province.
Wiarton Willie made his prediction his spring prediction Thursday morning at 8:07 a.m. The groundhog did not see his shadow, meaning we could get an early spring.
Paramedic logs from 2022 are highlighting some of the pressures Regina EMS workers have been facing for months including one instance where a patient died following offload delays at the hospital, the documents indicate.
Convicted pedophile Shayne Lund, now 31, revealed he is recently married and took part in a day and full parole review in a videoconference hearing Thursday from the Ottawa area.
The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service is investigating after a handwritten note containing a violent threat at an Attawapiskat arena was found during a hockey tournament prompting an armed response by officers.
Highway 11 in northern Ontario is closed Thursday morning from Highway 66 near Kenogami Lake to Matheson after a collision involving several vehicles, police say.
The UVic submarine is shown. (Submitted)
