Apnea Revolution Cup BFA Pool Competition

Thursday 6 November 2014; — On Saturday 1st November, Apnea Revolution (www.apnearevolution.com), organised their first pool freediving competition: the Apnea Revolution Cup BFA Pool Competition at the Queen Mother Sports Centre (www.better.org.uk. Apnea Revolution received sponsorship from BFA in the form of a pool competition grant, which is the first time the competition grants system has been introduced. There were some fantastic performances all around. Tim Money (UK) won with 154m DYN out of the men and Beci Ryan with 134m DNF for the women; in second place were Eoin Clarke (IRE) with 107m DNF and Rebecca Coales (UK) a very close second with 130m DNF; in third place were Deividas Stankevicius (LTU) with 105m DYN and Ana Vadillo (ESP) with 104m DYN, both personal bests.

Twenty athletes signed up to compete in either Dynamic with Fins (DYN) or Dynamic No Fins (DNF) in the beautiful 25m pool in Victoria, Central London. There were 11 countries represented with freedivers from 4 clubs across the UK.

Apnea Revolution is run by a group of experienced freedivers, made up of competitors, instructors, safety divers and judges. An ideal group to organise a competition, the team worked together seamlessly, from start to finish, creating a relaxed and fun environment for the athletes, many of whom were competing for the first time.

It was a beautiful if unseasonably warm afternoon as the athletes congregated around the pool to register for the competition. After a brief by the organisers on how the competition would run and a review of the rules, the athletes drifted off to stretch and mentally prepare for their ‘Official Top’ (the time of their dive). There was wonderful air of calm with an undercurrent of excitement as the experienced and new athletes mingled and prepared, offering one another advice and coaching when needed.

In the pool, there were no shortage of safety divers on hand to keep an eye on the athletes, helping to alleviate nerves and boost confidences in the water – eight safety divers were in attendance no less! The safety team were always there when needed but never in the way, their hard training clearly paying off.

There were some brilliant performances and it wasn’t necessarily the bigger swims that were any more enjoyable or impressive to watch than the not so big. Competing can be both a terrifying and exhilarating experience and it was great to see so many new faces braving the water under official conditions.

Apnea Revolution have already expressed an interest in hosting another pool competition and the BFA will be sure to keep you updated with any news. The next and final competition of the year will be run by Apneists UK (www.freedivingcompetition.com) and will happen in Stockport on Saturday 29th November.

Apnea Revolution and the BFA would like to thank all of the staff and lifeguards at the Queen Mother Sports Centre for not only allowing us to use their wonderful pool and facilities, but also for making everyone feel so welcome.

The BFA are offering a number of Grants to promote freediving in the UK, the following grants can be applied for pool, depth and national championships. The grants are discretionary and may be awarded dependent upon the review and acceptance of an application submitted by the competition organiser.