Author: Liv

Posted on

Lung Packing – Safety Update!

BFA

From your Training & Safety Officer Liv Philp training@britishfreediving.org:

The BFA are really happy to see so many new and renewed members in 2015. Part of our role is to improve safety in UK Freediving as well as to promote it as a sport. Thousands of pool and depth dives are completed safely and enjoyably each year, and we would like that to continue.

In order to be safe during your pool, depth and dry training as the recreational and competitive season kick off, please be aware that the practise of lung packing (dry or in water) should be avoided. Lung packing is a risky technique that involves inflating the lungs above their natural vital capacity. Packing may injure the lungs, and cause serious injury–even death.

At least three serious incidents have been caused by lung packing recently, one during dry training, and one pre-dive stretching during pool training. We now know that problems are not confined to deep water training and that lung packing can increase the dangers of pneumothorax and embolism.

The BFA & AIDA do not recommend packing; if you wish to pack, please do so moderately and safely. – Dr Per Westin AIDA International Medical Officer.

Posted on

British Freediving needs you! We are looking for a Treasurer, Press, Secretary and Clubs Officer.

BFA AGM

British free diving needs you! We are looking for a Treasurer, Press, Secretary and Clubs Officer..

The committee would like to say thank you to Beci Ryan, Martin jones and Georgina Miller for their time as press, treasurer and clubs officer (and joint secretary) over the last years. We are sad to see them leave and wish them all the best with their diving in the future. Your help will be missed!

It’s that time of year again. This year’s British Freediving Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Saturday the 5th December at 6pm where we will all gather on line. You are all very welcome to come to the AGM, listen, take part and give your views. If you would like to attend, please send an email to secretary@britishfreediving.org, add We_are_the_BFA as a friend on skype and we will call you at the start of the meeting

The AGM is your chance to find out what the British Freediving Association has been up to over the past year and express your views on what it should be doing in the year ahead. Most importantly, it is your chance to stand for a Committee position and get involved!

We need to fill quite a few gaps in the BFA Committee this year and really hope you will use this chance to give something back to the sport you love. Without the BFA, we may not be able to compete at International level or organise recognised competitions, will struggle with teaching insurance and won’t get our records recognised properly. If the Committee positions are not filled, then there is a good chance the BFA won’t be able to continue – so please consider whether you might be able to give an hour or so a week to give something back. To continue, according to our Constitution, we must appoint at least a Chair, Membership Secretary, Training & Safety Officer and a Treasurer. There are lots of other roles to fill! At the moment we desperately need a press officer, clubs officer, and secretary,e- media and treasurer, there are others standing for the other roles but if you are interested do stand up to be counted! The Committee posts can all be managed wherever you live, as long as you have internet and email access a couple of times a week. Whilst it would be helpful, to us and to you, you do not need to attend the AGM to stand for a position.

The BFA Committee positions are:

Chair – Currently Adam Drzazga, who will stand again. The Chair manages the organisation of the Committee in terms of the AGM, leads discussions on new developments for the organisation, keeps a bit of an eye to make sure all the Committee members are fulfilling their post’s requirements and generally keeps email and other discussions under control. The Chair sometimes also ends up covering roles in the short-term when vacancies arise and acting as a point of contact for other Committee members when they are on leave.
Clubs – Currently Georgina Miller, who will step down. The Clubs Officer manages the recognition of BFA affiliated clubs, answers questions from club organisers and members, supports the clubs in developing their activities and advises on how to set up new clubs.
Competitions – Currently Bart Lubeki, who will stand again. The Competitions Officer supports anyone in the UK organising AIDA-ranked competitions, oversees the competition from the BFA’s point of view and may work with the E Media and Press Officer to help promote the competition. If organisers do not come forward, the Competitions Officer may be required to proactively seek out and encourage members to organise competitions.
E Media – Currently Tim Money, who will stand again .The E Media Officer runs the BFA website and e-communications. This is the face of British freediving!
Membership – Currently Rebecca Coales who will be standing again. The Membership Officer keeps track of who the current members are, processes membership applications, sends out membership e-cards and works with the Sponsorship Officer on building member benefits. Some IT knowledge is a help in this role.
Press Officer – Currently Beci Ryan, who will be stepping down. The Press Officer liaises with the media (mostly the UK dive press and dive websites) to publicise records, competitions and other Freediving stories and acts as a point of contact for media with queries about freediving. A new appointee will be provided with lists of contacts but it would be helpful if they had some previous PR or writing experience. The Press Officer needs to work closely with the E Media Officer and the Sponsorship Officer, to ensure all stories are covered on the website and that Sponsors get sufficient coverage in return for their support. They also manage the face book page- Phew!
Records and AIDA Liaison Officer – Currently David Tranfield, who will be standing again. This position is responsible for liaising with the AIDA International Board and AIDA Judge list, sending information on any AIDA International Level votes (about 10 a year) out to the Committee, monitoring responses and sending back our reply. This post also handles the management and recognition process for UK records, based on the UK record rules you can download from the BFA website, and liaises with the Press and E Media Officers to make sure the records are publicised. It would be helpful if the person appointed to this post were an AIDA Judge.
Secretary – currently care taken by Georgina Miller and beci Ryan. The Secretary manages communications with members, takes minutes at the AGM and provides secretarial support to the other Committee members as required.
Sponsorship – currently Jay Cluskey, who will be standing again. The Sponsorship Officer manages our relationships with sponsors and builds new sponsorship agreements. Sponsorship normally relates to the UK Team but it would be great to achieve more general sponsorship for freediving in the UK.
Training & Safety – currently Liv Philip, who will be standing again. This post oversees freedive training within the UK, working with the AIDA Education Committee to advise instructors on matters of training. It also has a wider remit, usually working with the Clubs Officer and sometimes with the Competitions Officers, to advise on matters of safety and is responsible for keeping the Open Water and Confined Water BFA safety advice sheets up to do date. The Training and Safety Officer needs to be a qualified freedive instructor.
Treasurer – currently Martyn Jones, who will step down.The Treasurer produces the annual BFA accounts for the AGM, keeps an eye on our finances, makes a final decision with the Chair on major expenditures, runs the BFA bank account and PayPal account. The treasurer ideally would have experience of keeping accounts, or accounting qualifications.

ALL the Committee members are actively involved in voting on AIDA International matters, discussing and putting forward the UK’s views on the development of the sport through AIDA, selection and support of the UK Team at AIDA International competitions and supporting the BFA in various ways in its purpose of “promoting freediving recreationally and competitively, in safe environments”.

Voting Process – In line with the BFA Constitution, anyone who wishes to stand (or re-stand) for a post, should send an email submission, stating the post or posts for which they would like to be considered along with a short CV or manifesto explaining why they think they would be suitable. This should be sent in by the 15th November to committee@britishfreediving.org. Where more than one person stands for a post, it will go to a majority vote of BFA members. Any vote will be sent to all BFA Members by the 21st November. You have two weeks to vote and the results will be announced at the AGM on the 5th December. Thanks again for your support and we look forward to seeing you at the AGM.

British Freediving committee

Posted on

2015 AIDA Individual Depth World Championships Team of 8 Fly the Flag for Team GB

John Moorcroft 2015 Team CNF

Picture Credit: Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com)

The 2015 AIDA Individual Depth World Championships have now closed and this year were hosted in Limassol, Cyprus from 11 – 19 September, on a spectacular 500m2 barge, with up to 40m visibility. A team of 8 British athletes represented the country: Liv Philip, Georgina Miller, Helena Boudillon and Beci Ryan for the women and Michael Board, Tim Money, John Moorcroft, George Close for the men. Michael Board came to the competition with 2 Wild Cards one in constant weight (CWT) and the other in free immersion (FIM), meaning he ranked Top Ten in the World last year (in those disciplines). All the athletes are self-funded and were grateful to receive sponsorship from Elios, Divesangha and Bounce Energy Balls.

Strong currents and changeable weather effected this year’s World Championship competition. Because the currents had a tendency to build in the afternoon, the deepest athletes competed first, which meant extremely early starts and a change in routine (at short notice) for these elite contenders – this was reflected in conservative announcements and a high level of disqualification for some. But of course the sea is the sea and not known for being tamed so all the athletes had to adapt their performances and announcements and it made for an interesting and not at all predictable competition.

There were three competition days, one for each of the competitive depth disciplines: constant weight no fins (CNF), constant weight (CWT) and free immersion (FIM). Day one was CNF. Sayuri Kinoshita (JPN) and Mandy Sumner (USA) shared gold for the women with dives of 58m, Estrella Navarro (MEX) took silver with 50m and Jennifer Wendland (GER) won bronze and a national record with 46m. Alexey Molchanov (RUS) won gold for the men with a dive of 85m, Mateusz Malina (POL) and Miguel Lozano (ESP) shared silver with dives of 76m and Stig Prys (DEN) took bronze with a 75m dive. The UK’s John Moorcroft came in 8th for the men with a strong clean dive of 64m.

Day two was dedicated to CWT. Misuzu Okamoto (JPN) swam down to 90m for gold; Sayuri Kinoshita (JPN) won silver with 88m and Natalia Zharkova (UKR) bronze with 87m. Liv Philip placed 11th with 64m, Helena Bourdillon 13th with 60m and Georgina Miller came 15th with dive to 51m. Alexey Molchanov won his second gold with a dive to 122m for the men, Samo Jeranko (SLO) and Goran Colak (CRO) shared silver with dives to 108m and George Panaglotakis (GRE) won bronze with 103m. Tim Money came in 16th with a dive to 68m and newcomer George Close swam a comfortable 50m dive at his first World Championships.

The third and final competition day was for FIM. Jeanine Grasmeijer (NED) won gold with an 82m dive, Kate Middleton (NZL) and Hanako Hirose (JPN) shared silver with 76m dives and Natalia Zharkova bronze with 70m. Liv Philip came in 4th with 68m and Helena Bourdillon 7th with 57m. For the men William Trubridge (NZL) took gold with a dive to 112m, Miguel Lozano silver with 107m and Mateusz Malina bronze with 103m. Tim Money came 13th with a dive to 62m and Michael Board had set a new UK national FIM record in the pre-comp event of 97m.

There are two World Championships set for 2016: the AIDA Individual Pool World Championships in Finland and the AIDA Team World Championships (which combines pool and depth: static, dynamic and constant weight).

Posted on

A FIM National Record for Michael Board of 97m! At AIDA World Championship Pre-Competition

A FIM National Record for Michael Board of 97m

On Thursday 10 September Michael Board broke his own Free Immersion national record by pulling himself down a rope to a depth of 97m and back again. Michael was taking part in the Pre-Competition to the Individual AIDA Depth World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus and it was the third and final day of the competition. Board had previously nailed a solid 100m Constant Weight dive, using a mono fin to swim down and up, on day one and so was looking in good shape to dive deep in this competition, and as it turns out started and ended on a high note. Mike’s previous record was 96m, set at the prestigious Vertical Blue competition on Long Island in the Bahamas on 15 November 2013.

Of this latest Free Immersion national record, Mike had to say:

“Waiting for the dive today I had a little apprehension as I always do before a competition dive and a national record attempt, and because it was at this stage two years ago that I crashed out of the World Championships in Greece by rupturing my ear drum at a depth of 95m while trying for a national record of a 100m in Constant Weight discipline. It’s hard not to push too far sometimes but hopefully I learnt from that experience and this is reflected in today’s dive! Diving in the Mediterranean is harder for me than in the tropics, and in the previous day’s we have had wind, surface chop, current and a strong thermocline to contend with. Conditions were good today though and I hope I can build on this record and dive deeper in the upcoming days during the World Championships”

With the World Freediving championships now under way Michael Board and the rest of the GB team will aim to build on these good early performances during the final competition days on the 16th and 19th September

Posted on

Neil Wood’s freedive Cowboys and Indians wins Photo Competition.

Neil Wood'sÊfreedive Cowboys and Indians wins Photo Competition

As so many of our members enjoy underwater photography, we thought we’d offer a different kind of freedive competition this summer. The challenge was to capture the essence of freediving in one picture. We received six entries, all expressing that essence with a different perspective. Camilla Argent shot the beautiful outline of a shark underwater, expressing a grace we’d all like to have underwater. Samphire Amps and Neil Wood captured fun and smiles as the essence for freediving. Similarly Luke Clayton expressed his passion for freediving through companionship, reminding us we should never dive alone. David Watson entered a striking image of a diver resting on a wreck, expressing the desire many of us have to explore the underwater world and that diving is not just about a competition line and tags. And lastly Paul Sutton submitted a beautiful blue-water scene that we’ve all seen in one way or another as we slowly ascend from a dive, experiencing serenity below the waves. The winner was chosen by vote on the BFA facebook page. And the entry you chose above all others was… [drum roll] Neil Wood’s freedive Cowboys and Indians. Neil is a member of Bristol Freedivers, who celebrate the birthday of their club each year by diving at the local lake in fancy dress!

Neil wins a photography workshop with acclaimed photographer Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com) and a copy of Mark Harris’ new book Glass and Water (available at www.subscenic.co.uk/info.html). His photo will also be used for next year’s membership e-cards. We’d like to say a big thank you to Mark and Daan for kindly donating these prizes, thanks all who entered their photographs, and everyone who voted.

Posted on

UK Depth Team Announced for 2015 Individual AIDA Depth World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus Proud to be sponsored by Elios Sub, Divesangha, Bounce Energy Balls & Saltfree

elios

www.eliossub.com

 Divesangha

www.divesangha.com

 Bounce Balls

www.bouncefoods.com

 Salt Free

www.saltfree.biz

The BFA are delighted to announce the UK Team for the 2015 Individual AIDA Depth World Championship (www.freedivingcyprus.com/wc-2015), taking place in Limassol, Cyprus.

Athletes will compete in 3 depth disciplines: Free Immersion (FIM), Constant Weight with fins (CWT) and without fins (CNF) during the 9-day long event in September (11th to 19th).

The UK is sending the following strong and experienced team of 8: Liv Philip, Michael Board, George Miller, John Moorcroft, Helena Bourdillon, Tim Money, Beci Ryan and George Close.

It is well worth mentioning that Mike Board was invited to the event as a Wild Card holder in CWT and FIM (meaning he was ranked Top 10 in the world last year in those disciplines).

The UK Team are all self-funded and to help them perform their very best they are being generously supported by sponsors Elios Sub (www.eliossub.com) Divesangha (www.divesangha.com), Bounce Energy Balls (www.bouncefoods.com) and Saltfree (www.saltfree.biz).

Elios Sub was established in 1977 and prides itself on its continuous innovation, evolution, improvement and refinement of comfort in its suits. Elios have sponsored the British Team for a number of years and many British Freedivers wear their suits across the UK because of the quality and feel of materials used. We are extremely proud and grateful for Elios’ continued support to our athletes.

Divesangha is made up of designers based in London; they are motivated by passion, uniqueness, innovation and a love for the sea. The word “sangha” means “association” or “community” in Pali and Sanskrit. They design and create basic, easy to wear clothes that give divers a proper identity. They call it “divewear” or “surface gear” and the designs mix fashion and sportswear, using functional fabrics and neutral colours. They manufacture ethically and locally, trade fairly, design wisely and consume responsibly. The divewear clothes are made in the UK as an exclusive, limited edition and they don’t use any plastic bags in their packaging when you buy from the website. This is the first time that Divesangha have sponsored the UK Team, we are delighted to have them on-board and the athletes will be proud to wear their surface gear!

Bounce Energy Balls are an amazingly convenient and tasty way to nourish your body, satisfy your hunger and sustain your energy. Bounce Energy Balls are a special combination of high quality proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and essential fats. After a freediving session, recovery is of great importance and the Bounce Energy Balls have all the necessary ingredients to help our athletes do so. This is the second year running that Bounce have supported our athletes and we are pleased to have them back this year.

Saltfree, based at the NDAC, Chepstow, is a freedive school and training facility with the largest purpose-built freedive platform in the world, offering four training lines over 80m of water. Founded in 2003, SaltFree offer courses from beginner to instructor level and run regular training meets for qualified freedivers. Visit www.saltfreedivers.com to find out more! Saltfree sponsored the UK Team in 2012 and we are over the moon to have such a brilliant set-up available for our athletes to use.

Would you like to sponsor the UK Team? If so please visit our website for more information, or contact our Sponsorship Officer Jay Cluskey: sponsorship@britishfreediving.org

Posted on

British Freediving Association saddened at the loss of Natalia Molchanova, Freediving’s most accomplished athlete in history.

Natalia Molchanova was reported missing after diving on Sunday August 2nd

Picture Credit: Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com)

The British Freediving Association (BFA) is saddened by the news 23 times World Champion freediver Natalia Molchanova was reported missing after diving on Sunday August 2nd off the island of Formentera near Ibiza. Natalia was diving recreationally for fun with friends to depths of 30-40m without fins, a relatively shallow depth for someone of her accomplishments, when she failed to surface. Search efforts are ongoing but Natalia has yet to be found in a region known to have deep water currents. When Natalia was diving on Sunday, she was diving recreationally in the sea which is the same activity enjoyed by many recreational free divers and snorkelers in the ocean to much shallower depths.

During training and competition, Natalia always dived on a line with a safety lanyard which is the system all trained freedivers use to avoid unnecessary dangers. Being attached to a line allows the divers safety freedivers to react immediately should a diver ever have any problem during a dive. Natalia was a great teacher of freediving as well as a great athlete and would have taught this system to her hundreds of students many times.

The sport of freediving has strict safety protocols in place which are developed by the sports main organisation AIDA International www.aidainternational.org and used in competition. Safe diving practises are also taught to all students when they enrol on a course with a properly qualified freediving Instructor, making the sport a surprisingly safe pastime despite its media image as an extreme sport. Freedivers combine careful training, slow progression and a combination of athleticism and meditative techniques to allow them to make their dives.

Natalia is much loved and respected within the International freediving community as a gracious Champion and exceptional person and her loss will be hard for the community to come to terms with. She has broken 41 World records and won 23 Gold medals in World Championships making her the most accomplished freediving athlete in history. The first female athlete to break the 100m barrier with a dive to 101m during the 2013 depth World Championships, she set yet another world record with a dive to 71m in the no fins discipline in May in Egypt at the age of 53.

Natalia is the president of the Russian Freediving Federation and has developed many training programs for teaching freediving safely around the world. She is the author of scientific articles about freediving, and she has written poetry on the subject. She was known by her peers as being a remarkable athlete and intensely competitive, whilst remaining accessible to everyone, and always being generous with help and advice.

Natalia had an intense love of the sea and the sport of Freediving, and devoted her life to doing the thing she loved. Our condolences go to Natalia’s son and training partner Alexey, and to all of her family and friends at this time.

Thankfully tragedies such as this are rare in free diving, but never freedive alone and always seek training from a qualified instructor.

Posted on

Glass and Water: The Essential Guide to Freediving for Underwater Photography by Mark Harris

Glass and Water: Freediving for underwater photography - Author Mark Harris

Glass and Water is the first book on underwater photography for freedivers. With contributions from expert underwater photographers this book teaches the skills, knowledge and equipment necessary to successfully pursue underwater photography without scuba gear.

Glass and Water is not a replacement for existing books on underwater photography as it focuses on freediving techniques, equipment and photo opportunities which are better suited to freediving (rather than scuba).

‘It’s most unlikely that you’ll come away without learning something brand new and innovative. I know that I did’: Martin Edge.

In ‘Part 1: Equipment and Basics’ Mark shows how by choosing or adapting freediving and photographic equipment some early hurdles can be avoided. He also explains some underwater photography basics and opportunities for freedivers.

‘Part 2: Technique’ explains how using appropriate freediving techniques can increase the length of time available for taking photographs underwater and help to manage camera equipment.

And in ‘Part 3: Perspectives’ Mark and a range of informed contributors reveal how to photograph particular animals and their personal approaches to freediving photography. This includes the author’s ‘Virtual Dive’ which pulls together everything covered in the book.

The book includes photos and/or contributions from Fred Buyle, Sue Flood, Danny Kessler, Dr Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler, Laura Storm, Andrew Sutton, and Shane Wasik. There is also a Foreword by multi-award-winning underwater photographer Dan Bolt and a Glossary of key terms.

‘Glass and Water should be as essential as a pair of fins and a camera for underwater photographers. Mark shares his tremendous expertiseÉ the methodical and well-illustrated techniques will benefit anyone wishing to produce great images in the sea’: Brian Skerry, National Geographic.

Mark Harris is a former British champion freediver who has instructed, coached and judged at international level, consulted on and taught students how to freedive for roles in both television and film and ran London’s main club, London Freediving for almost a decade.

Available now in paperback for £16.95 (ebook forthcoming) from Divedup.com, online and from retailers.

Posted on

Alice Hickson wins Gold & Bronze at AIDA Individual World Championships & Breaks two national records in DNF & STA

Four other Team Members also qualify for A & B Finals

UK Freediving Team Pool World Championships 2015

Picture Credit: Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com)

The Individual AIDA Pool World Championships ran from 21st to 27th June in the city of Belgrade in Serbia, with 122 athletes from 27 countries in attendance. A team of eight British athletes made the trip to represent the UK and fly the flag: Adam Drzazga, Alice Hickson, Beci Ryan, Georgina Miller, Jason Kirkpatrick, Lucelle Simms, Rebecca Coales and Shirley Turner.

The team was made up of seasoned and novice athletes alike. Despite it being an individual event the athletes worked together as a team, offering competition advice and coaching one another’s performances. All the athletes on the team are self funded and this year they were grateful to receive sponsorship from Divesangha, Bounce Energy Balls and Beet-it shots.

From the onset the team looked strong, with three athletes, Rebecca Coales, Georgina Miller and Beci Ryan holding wild cards (meaning they ranked top ten in the world for one or more discipline), and Jason Kirkpatrick and Alice Hickson having won best newcomer at the National Pool championships in March at the Great Northern.

But no one could have predicted that a 25-year-old, Swim Coach and Occupational Therapist, who had been freediving 8 months and this just her second competition, would break three national records, win a gold and bronze medal and become a World Champion! But this is exactly what Alice Hickson did with ease, grace and humbleness.

On day one Alice came out and performed like a professional, breaking the UK national record in dynamic no fins (DNF) by swimming 153m (the previous record was 145m set by Rebecca Coales) and securing herself a place in the A-Finals. In the A-Finals Alice continued to impress by adding almost an entire length onto her previous performance, 21m to be exact, and coming up clean and strong at 174m; winning her a second national record, a gold medal and the title World Champion.

It was in static (STA) that Alice went on to win her bronze medal. In the qualifying heats, despite the challenging cold conditions, which put a number of other athletes off, she held her breath for 05:58. In the finals she increased her time to 06:58 and broke her third national record. Georgina Miller had set the previous static national record at 06:33 at the Great Northern on 22 March this year.

There were some strong performances from other members of Team GB, with Georgina Miller qualifying for the STA A-Finals and now ranking number 7 in the World. Shirley Turner and Adam Drzazga made the STA B-Finals and rank number 10 and 11 in the World. Beci Ryan qualified for the DNF and STA B-Finals. Lucelle Simms narrowly missed out on the DYN finals with a solid 166m swim. Jason Kirkpatrick at his first World Championships and his second ever competition did brilliantly, his performance in DYN was impressive, swimming 124m in bi-fins, not an easy feat.

With the Pool World Championship over, we now look forward to the AIDA Depth World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus. The UK Team and sponsors will be announced very soon, so watch this space!

Posted on

Alice Hickson World Champion Freediver, wins Gold & sets 2nd British National Record at Pool World Championships in Belgrade!

Alice Hickson Freediving World Champion HGold Medal

Picture Credit: Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com)

On Thursday 25 June in Belgrade, Serbia, at the Individual AIDA Pool World Championships, Alice Hickson won a gold medal and with it the title of World Champion Freediver by swimming a staggering 174m on one breath of air without the aid of fins! Smashing her British national record set just a few days before by 21m.

Alice Hickson, 25, a swim coach and studying Occupational Therapist part-time, has only been freediving for eight months. Earlier this year, in March, Alice made her first impression on the freediving scene by winning the ‘Best Female Newcomer’ at the National Pool championships (The Great Northern) in Liverpool:

In Belgrade at the Championships, just a few days previously, on Sunday 21 June, Alice started getting noticed by swimming 153m in dynamic no fins (DNF) with complete ease, breaking the previous UK national record of 145m, set by Rebecca Coales at The Great Northern on 24 March 2014. The distance also secured her a place in the A Finals of the World Championships and at that time ranked her third in the World.

Of her two dynamic no fins competition dives, both setting national records and the second placing her at first place on the podium at the World Championships, Alice had this to say:

“I was excited to come to the World championships as I thought it would be a great opportunity to see the competitive world of freediving and gain some experience. I’ve only ever done one other completion so I didn’t know what to expect but so far its been amazing and totally overwhelming, in a good way. The day before the competition I started getting really nervous and doubted my ability to compete against some of the best people in the sport. But then I remembered why I was here, for experience and to enjoy it so I told my self just ‘do your best’ and that’s all you can do. So during my first dive I kept that thought and made it into the finals, whist setting a new national record. I was chuffed. Then it was time for the finals, I used the same motto to calm my nerves but at the last minute before official top, I felt my heart racing and the last thing I thought is that whatever happens I’ve come eighth.”

Alice looks set to be a World Class athlete and we are excited to watch her journey as it unfolds.