Denmark will be hosting the next big freediving competition in August. It is worth remembering that this is an extreme sport on the fringe of mainstream sports, but with dedicated participants and supporters.
A really dedicated following because there is minimal sponsorship and divers do not recieve any funding. This means every dive, every competition is funded by their own hard work, dedication and love of the sport.
The indoor freediving world championships will be held in the town of Aarhus in Denmark from the 17th – 22nd August.
That means freedivers will be working their butts off (excuse the expression) to get there.
AIDA Germany has announced the following people as the official German Team:
Women: Barbara Jeschke, Ilka Michaelis, Anna v. Boetticher and Olga Martinez-Alvarez
Men: Martin Legat, Ulli Wulf and Sergio Martinez-Alvare
AIDA Canada is also on their way for selecting the pool championship team. It’s still small and has open spots:
Women: Jana Strain, Mandy-Rae Krack Men: William Winram
Team New Zealand held a competition in mid-May to see who would be chosen to represent the country at the upcoming indoor world champs – they are still waiting on the selection to be confirmed, but in the meantime have come up with a novel idea to raise funds to help with the costs, and for $250.00 you can be the proud owner of this:
A swimming cap signed by 4 of the world’s top freedivers:
William Trubridge
William has broken freediving world records 7 times. His 2008 no 1 world rankings were in Constant weight without fins with -86m and Free Immersion with -108m, both of which were world records. On 10th April 2009 he did it again bettering his own mark in the discipline CNF (Constant Weight No Fins) with a dive to 88 meters (288 feet) in 3′30″.
Dave Mullins
Dave has broken 4 freediving world records and set a spearfishing world record with biggest marlin. Last year he ranked world no 1 in dynamics without fins with 213m and constant weight with -108m. He also was 2nd in dynamics with his world record dive of 248m and 3rd in static apnea with a breath hold time of 8 minutes, 11s.
Kathryn McPhee
Kathryn set her first world record and was ranked 1st woman in 2008 in dynamics without fins with 151m. She also ranked no 2 in dynamics with 179m and statics with a breath hold time of 7 minutes 1s.
Guy Brew
Guy has the second biggest breath hold time ever in competition. He topped the 2008 world rankings with a huge static apnea of 8 minutes 31s.
There is an added incentive to winning the auction (ie: paying over $250). If you, too, would like to learn how to freedive and live anywhere in the vicinity of Wellington or could get to Denmark over those dates in August, Kathryn McPhee will throw in a free one hour coaching session to suit your level.
Closes: Sat 6 Jun, 7:34 pm. This auction may auto-extend.
You may well remember that I did several articles on the Vertical Blue Invitational Freediving Competition in Dean’s Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas last month….
I thought I’d round the series off with this video from W.T. (williamtrubridge) of his unassisted record breaking Freedive of 88m (288ft) in 3 minutes 30 seconds.
At 11:20am in Dean’s Blue Hole, Bahamas New Zealand freediver William Trubridge broke the world record in unassisted freediving, descending 88 meters (288 feet) and returning to the surface on a single breath of air and without the use of any weight or propulsive assistance.
The dive took place as part of Vertical Blue 2009, an invitational freediving event where the world’s elite freedivers compete over nine days of diving. Already in the competition three world records had been broken by British Sara Campbell and Austrian Herbert Nitsch, but this was the first to be set by a New Zealander in the event.
William Trubridge has been training as a freediver for the last 6 years, and in April of 2007 he set his first world record in this discipline, with 82m. The same year the record was broken with 83m by Herbert Nitsch, widely considered the world’s greatest freediver, but William bettered it again in 2008, with 86m. Herbert attempted the record on the sixth day of this event, but turned early at 71m. William also attempted 88m on the 4th day of the event, and although he made the depth and returned to the surface he blacked out as he took his first breath, and was thus disqualified.
William admits that there was a lot of anticipation and anxiety when he entered the water for another attempt at the record this morning, but he managed to remain calm and finished the dive in 3 minutes and 30 seconds, returning to the surface completely lucid.
He said that this result is the product of years of intensive training, and the support of his sponsors Suunto, Extreme Drinks and Orca and a generous scholarship from AMP.
I promised you a competitor profile for the extreme freediving Vertical Blue Competition which runs from the 1st – 11th April – and here it is. My thanks go to William Trubridge for allowing me to copy his list.
A quick reminder as to who the current world champion holders are:
Male constant weight – 113m – Guillaume Nery
Male no fins – 86m – William Trubridge
Male free immersion – 108m – William Trubridge
Female constant weight – 95m – Natalia Molchanova
Female no fins – 60m – Natalia Molchanova
Female free immersion – 85m – Natalia Molchanova
… and all 21 attending this competition will be hoping to challenge and break these records…
There are 11 countries represented at Vertical Blue 2009 – Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, UK, USA; and a total of 21 competitors.
There will be twice the men to women at Vertical Blue 2009, but will they pack twice the punch? Will there be rivalries and closely fought head-to-heads over the 9 days of competition? Who will come up from the mysterious depths of Dean’s Blue Hole with the deepest tag for 2009? Stay tuned, follow each athlete’s training, and maybe you will know before they do!
William Trubridge
The host of the competition, after a successful 2008 William is back to see if he can better his own records in Unassisted and Free Immersion. He will have to stave off competition from rivals Nitsch and Winram.
Herbert Nitsch
Although he is the best freediver of this decade, Nitsch currently doesn’t hold any of the world records in the competitive depth disciplines. This is likely to change at Vertical Blue, as Nitsch can lead an assault on any and all of the three disciplines offered at Vertical Blue.
Ryuzo Shinomiya
The Okinawa Dragon, Ryuzo, entered into the elite group of 100m Constant Weight divers last year. With a refined technique and a measured and methodical approach to building depths, Ryuzo is still improving, and may be a serious contender amongst the world’s deepest this year.
William Winram
This year the best freediver in the west (pan-American records in all disciplines) is giving himself a full month to train in Dean’s Blue Hole before Vertical Blue starts in April. He says he will arrive with no expectations, which is kind of ominous…
Eric Fattah
Last year Eric set a precedent for FRC diving, with a 67m dive after a passive exhale. His training since has been merciless, but there are rumours he may be coming back to full inhale diving.
Robert King
The United States freediving champion, and a progressive improver, Robert will look to extend his record without fins and maybe attempt the constant weight record held by compatriot Deron Verbeck.
Davide Carrera
In 2001 Davide broke the world record in Free Immersion, with a long dive to 91m in rough conditions. After a long hiatus from any events Davide returned 7 years later to compete with the Italian team at the 2008 world championships. With his graceful and natural style Davide will look to build on the 90m constant weight dive he recorded in that competition.
Walter Steyn
Head and shoulders above any other diver in Australia, Walter recorded the second longest dynamic without fins in 2008: 176m. He has also entered the 200m club with a fin. One to watch for Vertical Blue 2009…
Leo Muraoka
Leo stole the show at Vertical Blue 2008, building through grit and determination to a national record in free immersion of 76m. It still stands and Leo will no doubt be eyeing the remaining US records.
Frank Pernett
The lung doctor from Colombia. Frank set the mark for his country without fins last year, and is back in 2009 to improve on it.
Kerian Hibbs
Being one of the top freedivers in a country like New Zealand is equivalent to world class. Kerian will be competing this year with the monofin to convert his huge dynamic into depth.
Mads Becker Jørgensen
The Danish coach, Mads is a strong freediver himself, and will be diving mostly without fins.
Walid Boudhiaf
A talented up-and-coming French diver, Walid trains at altitude in Colombia.
Here they are: the sirens of Dean’s Blue Hole for 2009. Seven of the best female freedivers currently active in the world. This year Vertical Blue will use 3 professional videographers and an editor, so every day we will be able to upload videos of these incredible girls in action.
Sara Campbell
In 2007 Sara did the impossible, breaking all 3 freediving world records in 3 days in her home waters of Dahab. After taking a break in 2008 Sara is now back for her first fixture of 2009.
Kathryn McPhee
2008 was Kathryn’s year, with national records in all the disciplines, and a world record in her specialty: dynamic no fins. She made her intentions clear at Vertical Blue 2008, with a no fins dive to 50m, and having passed that barrier she will now be thinking about catching up with Sara and the Russian Natalia’s.
Ilaria Molinari
She has been the deepest Italian girl, and is a true siren of the deep. Ilaria’s first AIDA competition was the teams world champs, and at Vertical Blue she will have the opportunity to show what she is capable of individually.
Jana Strain
Jana burst onto the scene in 2008, with a huge dynamic apnea to net her a Canadian and pan-American record. As an ex-ballerina, her powerful legs will now be tested for the first time in the depths of Dean’s Blue Hole.
Megumi Matsumoto
Megumi was one of the stars of Vertical Blue 2008, with a hat trick of Japanese national records across all the disciplines. She has her work cut out for her now, as all three have since been taken away by compatriots Kitahama and Hirai.
Tomoko Yamanouchi
Tomoko built her performances in 2008, but was just a step behind the tough competition amongst the Japanese girls. With a near perfect style and a lot of patience she will only keep building, and 2009 could be her year.
Georgina Miller
Stronger every year, George is a monofin specialist from England, who was part of the British team in the 2008 World Championships.
Thanks again William Trubridge of www.verticalblue.net for allowing me to use his Vertical Blue 2009 profile list. Also thanks to William for posting this fascinating video of his no fins, no suit freedive through the Arch, a 30m long tunnel connecting Dahab’s Blue Hole to the Red Sea at a depth of 55m – it gives you an idea of what this discipline is all about…
We have written about Freediving many times and mused on whether this is an extreme sport or not. Luckily for us, it is a very hospitable and friendly community and we have been ‘educated’ about the how’s and why’s of the sport by various freedivers.
Therefore, I think it is safe to say that freediving is certainly ‘extreme’, but important to make clear that freedivers are not stupid and are not trying to drive themselves beyond the point of no return, but are sportsmen (and women) who fully understand the dangerous environment they are challenging, and who respond carefully to the situation.
Having said all that, you might like to know that from April 1-11, 2009 Vertical Blue will once again hold its annual invitation only Freediving competition in Dean’s Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas.
The event will host the biggest names in the sport, with world champions and world record holders competing to test the limits of the human capacity for depth on a single breath.
Dean’s Blue Hole is the deepest blue hole in the world, at 203 meters (660 feet), and the 21 invited athletes will be descending to over half that distance in their attempt to be crowned world’s deepest man/woman. They will begin arriving mid-March to acclimatize and start their training.
The 2008 edition of Vertical Blue was heralded as “the most successful freediving event” with 5 new world records and 23 national records being broken.
In 2009 athletes will once again compete in three disciplines:
Constant Weight: the diver descends and ascends with fins or a monofin. The current world records are 113m (370ft) for men and 95m (311ft) for women
Unassisted: the diver cannot use any fins or propulsion equipment of any kind, and descends and ascends with a kind of adapted breaststroke. The current world records are 86m (282ft) for men and 60m (196ft) for women.
Free Immersion: the diver uses the rope to pull themselves down and up. Current world records are 108m (354ft) for men and 85m (279ft) for women.
Some of the athletes who will compete this year include:
Herbert Nitsch: 23 world records in freediving, “greatest freediver ever” William Trubridge: current world record holder in unassisted and free immersion. Sara Campbell: set world records in all 3 disciplines over 3 days in 2007. Her records have since been broken, and she is in training to get them back. Ryuzo Shinomuya: Japanese freediving champion Robert King: US freediving champion Jana Strain: Canadian freediving champion
Watch this space as I will shortly be putting out an article on competitor profiles …
