Zone Comps – Underwater Skindivers and Fisherman's Association

Alliman Shield

Curly Alliman Memorial Trophy - Presented Annually to the top Sydney Club — The Alliman Shield – Curly Alliman Memorial Trophy – Presented Annually to the top Sydney Club

The Sydney Metro Alliman Shield competition is a fin fish spearfishing competition open to both males and females and is held on a monthly basis with scores accumulating across the calendar year. Four Sydney clubs compete in the Alliman Shield with some great competitive rivalry between both mates and clubs.

The Alliman Shield Competition days are a great opportunity for divers to learn how to hunt a large diversity of fish species and forces divers to think about the fish they want to take, where to find them, techniques and the best equipment to use. It also provides a set date, usually the first Sunday of each month, when divers can plan to hit the water together and try their best in the local arena or just have a bit of fun with mates.

The Curley Alliman Trophy - Presented annually to the top Sydney diver in the Alliman Shield — The Curley Alliman Trophy – Presented annually to the top Sydney diver in the Alliman Shield

Only one of each of a set list of species of fish may be scored by a diver, thus maintaining the sustainability of our sport and of course there are many rules in place to enforce and emphasise the safety aspect of our sport.

There are many different categories within the Alliman Shield competition based on age and diver ability and divers range from National Champions through to absolute beginners. There is no better way to learn about spearfishing than to dive the comps and learn from the experience of the great divers around you.

The weigh-ins at the end of the day are always good social events with divers swapping stories of the adventures of the day, proudly showing off their fish or just enjoying a drink or two with mates and fellow divers. And of course, you end of with some fresh fish for dinner at the end of the day!

You can find out more about the history of Alec ‘Curly’ Alliman here.

Local Competition Rules for USFA – Sydney Metro Zone

Taylor Shield

The Taylor shield competition is held every month on the first Sunday. The spearfishing competition dates back to the early 60’s. In the height of spearfishing popularity, the early 70’s, there were many clubs on the south coast, all of them being a part of the two zones in the region, the southern zone and the far southern zone. Gradually less competitors were competing so smaller clubs weren’t able to function with so few members, they ended up joining up with bigger clubs such as the South Coast Skindivers Club.

The Taylor Shield is now contested within the Southern Zone, which comprises of the Barracudas, Reversby Workers Club and a southern branch of the San Souci Dolphins. Each competitor dives not only for his individual points but also to contribute to a club score. The sum of these points over a competiton year decides the winner of the Taylor shield in that year. Barra’s have won the Taylor Shield 28 times in 44 years, RWC 13 times. Other clubs won the title the other 3 times.

Living Water Freedivers

The Living Water Freedivers comp structure has evolved over the past three years, concentrating on selective taking of fish as this is an ecologically sustainable sport.

The comp is run by Living Water Freedivers who are proudly affiliated with the NSW Underwater Skindivers & Fishermans Association. The competition is open to all spearos affiliated with the USFA which encourages selective fishing by awarding the top ten biggest fish, from a selective species list, weighed in for the day. Competitors can only weigh one fish in this competition making it a comp that allows the diver to target a particular species rather than several.