flow pattern of water only coming in through channel 134 and sleeve 112 and air escaping through channel 138 is caused by the tendency of denser lower end cap 106 to immediately start to sink while buoyant upper end cap 104 remains at the water surface 202 as the sleeve becomes more and more water filled the stick begins to sink in the pool with the lower end cap 106 sinking first upper end cap 104 is substantially less dense than lower end cap 106 particularly when first thrown into the water and temporary air holding cavity 136 is filled with air so that the stick will always sink in the water with the upper end cap raised towards the water surface 202 and because the permanent air holding cavity 142 renders the upper end cap slightly positively buoyant the stick 100 will always come to rest with the upper end cap directed upwardly from the pool bottom and the stick 100 standing vertically as shown in fig1 numerous games of play and exercises are well known for use of diving sticks generally requiring a swimmer 206 to dive into a swimming pool 208 and collect one of more sticks which have previously been cast into the water and which stand on the pool 39 s bottom surface it should be appreciated that the porosity of the fabric of sleeve 112 of sticks made according to the present invention provides a safety system for allowing the stick to be easily compressed when impacted under water when so impacted water flows rapidly out through the sleeve 39 s fabric and this renders the stick far more easily and instantly compressible that sticks of the prior art so.