Category: Events

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British Freediving Team holds strong at AIDA Freediving World Champs in France

This September (8th to 16th) saw the biggest freediving World Championships so far. To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of AIDA, freediving came home to Nice, France the birthplace of AIDA all those years ago. 120 athletes were supported by a safety and logistics crew of well over 100 people.

Team UK 2012

The team this year consisted of Georgina Miller, Liv Philip (captain), and newcomer Beci Ryan for the women, and Gary McGrath, John Moorcroft and Tim Money for the men. We also had the support of two reserves, James Cluskey and Gary Lowe. Sara Campbell was also there teaching free yoga and meditation to the athletes.

The team was very kindly once again sponsored by top Italian wetsuit manufacturer Elios Sub (www.eliossub.com) and team kit was generously provided by British dive fashion brand SevenTenths (www.seventenths.com). The team is also grateful for sponsorship from Oceanic (www.oceanicuk.com), for providing us with amazing new dive computers by Aeris and lava core wear. This company is in exciting talks with the BFA’s sponsorship officer, James Cluskey for a longterm mutually beneficial relationship and we look forward to being able to announce exciting news in the very near future on this front.

Sevententh Sponsors Team UK 2012

With challenging conditions both in and out of the water a special mention should be made to Gary McGrath for his impressive personal best of 68m in Constant Weight. Tim Money also managed a new personal best in Constant weight of 60m. John Moorcroft who, after over 30 years in the sport is also still pushing his depths to never-before reached numbers – 67m in competition! Beci also did amazingly well, having started the sport this year, she entered the competition with a spirit of courage and endeavour and, despite very unfamiliar and stressful surroundings for a beginner, also delivered personal bests in all three disciplines! In The pool we saw another personal best in dynamic from Georgina Miller of 133m, she also made 6th place overall in the women’s static, Tim Money also delivered a very strong 169m. Liv, George, and Tim are seasoned athletes who also delivered consistent and strong performances, both competing and coaching the less experienced members of the team, which is a tall challenge at such a big and important competition.

A strong captain in Liv Philip, with support, coaching and fabulous photography by Daan Verhoeven and coaching and general care from Stavros Kastrinakis made a difficult event a success.

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Results for the British Freediving Association National Depth Championships 2012 – Hosted by Apneists UK and Salt Free Divers

Well, we haven’t had a BFA depth competition in the UK for a while, and its a nice way for a few of the divers who can’t get out of Blighty to get some points on the board and a very good excuse to meet old friends and make some new ones. So, freedivers.co.uk and saltfreedivers.com teamed up to run an event.

They say the sun shines on the righteous, and there it was, not a cloud for two days pretty much, which meant there was a wonderful feel to the whole event.

As ever the community pulled together and helped judge, safety, scuba, pull ropes, announce, man jetties and pontoons etc for our lovely athletes. Thank you all very very much!!. The athletes shone brighter than the sun and we had a slick showing with no red cards, a couple of National records from Apneists UK Mike Benke (Hungary) and some very very relaxed dives from everyone.

John Moorcroft won with two 50m dives, one was with no fins on. Tim Money finished second with two great Constant weight dives and Mikes two CNF NRs of 34m and 38m saw him finish third overall, and Chris Crawshaw getting the joint second best CNF dive getting the UK third spot. Rebecca Coales the yoga expert of OMdiver fame had a very comfortable dive to get the top spot for the ladies.

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British Freediving Association National Depth Championships 2012 – Hosted by Apneists UK and Salt Free Divers

Entries for the BFA National Depth Championships 2012 are open. The competition will take place on the 26th and 27thMay at NDAC Chepstow in 3 disciplines CNF/FI/CW.

Saturday 26th May – Social dive, and practice hosted by Salt Free Divers. Contact sam@saltfreedivers.com.

Sunday 27th May – National Depth Competition. Registration will be at 9.30am, first top will be 12pm.

To enter you must be an BFA/AIDA national member, hold a valid medical certificate.

For details and entry forms please contact Steve Millard at apneaboy111@hotmail.com.

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Emma Farrell to appear in in channel 4’s “Hidden Talent”

British Freediving Instructor to appear in new TV show Freediving Instructor Trainer, Emma Farrell from Go Freediving is to appear in a new TV show airing in May. The show, ‘Hidden Talent’ seeks to find members of the general public with hidden talents and Emma’s role as the expert on freediving was to devise tests to find the right person and then train them up. The main freediving episode airs on Channel 4 at 9pm on Tuesday 1st May followed by a live web chat with Emma and then on the 29th May for the catch-up show. You can also take some of the tests yourself and see how to perform the ‘frenzel’ at www.channel4.com/programmes/hidden-talent

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New AIDA Instructor Trainer Announced in UK

The British Freediving Association is pleased to announce that Steve Millard has been approved as a new AIDA Instructor Trainer by AIDA International.

After making his application to the BFA where Steve showed exceptional
levels of commitment, skill and experience as an AIDA Freediving Instructor
to the AIDA education system, he was recommended to AIDA International as a
candidate in 2011. When Steve got the good news last week that he had been
approved as an Instructor Trainer he said ‘I am really happy to be given
recognition of all my hard work teaching using the AIDA education system
over the last several years’. Steve has worked alongside the BFA & AIDA
International to help develop freediving as a whole within the UK , and he
had to show achievements in his own freediving. Whilst teaching he
has upheld AIDA recommended safety guidelines and developed his freediving
school to provide opportunities for freedivers across the UK.

Steve will now be offering AIDA Instructor courses to suitable candidates in the UK. We look forward to seeing the same high standards of teaching from Instructors who train with him.

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NoTanx Dive Off Sept 17th/18th

Every Year since 2005, NoTanx have run a Freediving Comp in Vobster Quay. It has grown, now taking place over 2 days. There are 4 different competitions, such as the guess your depth comp on Sunday. But the main event is the NoTanx depth Comp. Of course, NoTanx is based on experience rather than performance… (enjoyment rather than depth) so it is only right that the winner is voted on by the other competitors. So it is “The Best Dive” rather than the deepest that will win.

This year 1st Prize = an all expenses paid Summer Vacation to Marsa Alam!! (Courtesy of Oonas Divers)

With 50 spaces for freedivers and various other activities, this year is even more of a spectator event. The Team Static is always a favourite with the crowd, where teams of apneists attempt to perform a “relay” of breath holds whilst being “distracted” by the other teams. (Pouring ice cold water on their backs was deemed as legal, as long as it was done from inside the water).

Although the largest UK freediving comp, the entry fee is always low as NoTanx Freediving Club is a non-profit organisation, dedicated to widening participation in this fun and healthy sport.

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NoTanx 5th Birthday Competition

This year NoTanx is holding its 5th annual Birthday competition on 19th March at Tooting Pool in South West London. It will include static and dynamic events, with a capacity for up to 45 athletes – both seasoned and newbies. The event is open to all freedivers, not just NoTanx divers.

NoTanxCru

NoTanx likes to focus on enjoyment and involvement as well as specific freediving skills and performance. Everyone is encouraged to coach other athletes as well as do their own dives, as buddying is a key aspect of all forms of freediving.

The competition will be held in two pools; it kicks off with the first official top in static at 4pm, followed by dynamics in a 33m pool starting at 7pm. Both pools have spectator areas, so bring your friends and family to watch and cheer you on. Registration is between 2-3pm. £15 for NoTanx members and £25 for non-members.

With two major pool competitions in March, the official British Open ‘ooop norf’ and the NoTanx ‘daaahn saarf’ there are no excuses this year for everyone not joining in the fun!

To register click here. Good luck everybody!

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The Great Northern – UK National (with guests) Pool Competition 2011

Apneists UK are delighted to be able to announce that once again we will be holding the BFA UK National Pool Freediving Competition. We are holding a small showcase dynamic no-fins competition on Saturday 12th March and be held at the Liverpool Aquatics Centre, Wavertree. This has kindly been sponsored by Lifestyle leisure who are also helping us host the main event. We have invited Male and female divers capable of breaking the UK record with that intention and we will open it up to divers from abroad to get their respective NR in DNF. Also it will be an opportunity for some elite divers to get their AIDA ranking points for this years World Championships later in the year so hopefully we will be well represented. The main event will be on Sunday 13th March 2011. The event will once again be called ‘The Great Northern’ because we can’t be bothered thinking of anything better and we liked that name anyway. We will be hosting the Static (STA) and Dynamic with Fins (DYN) or Dynamic no-fins (DNF) but being a 50m pool it is better suited for DYN.

Everybody is welcome!

The spaces are for seasoned athletes and also those new to the sport. I will ensure all the information you require if you are a ‘newbie’ is given to you and we will make sure you are welcomed and look after you. Everyone starts somewhere! There are around 40 spaces over the two days (this can be increased) to compete and you will receive an AIDA World ranking. Last year we saw many personal bests set and a NR at the venue because of the excellent facilities, relaxed atmosphere and.. I suppose the athletes themselves. The ‘with guests’ tag means that although it is the UK National competition that even if you are not a UK citizen you can compete, and in fact we would encourage it, Liverpool is next to a major city, and itself has an airport / trains for easy access. You could be amongst the next generation of successful Freedivers, or maybe you already are! What are you waiting for? We are also welcome those wanting to help. Some jobs are essential, the whole competition is set up to support the competing athletes so if you want to help let me know, we need at least 15-20 people to make it run smoothly. If you can help please contact Steve Millard

The Liverpool Aquatics Centre was the perfect venue last year for a Great competition. At the heart of the state-of-the-art facility is an Olympic sized pool with moveable floor, which is used as a training camp by some of the world’s best swimmers in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games. Aside from the main pool (which can be divided into two if required) there is also an additional 20 metre training pool. For the Great Northern 2011 event the 20 metre training pool will be used in the morning to host the STA event and the 50m Olympic pool to hold the DYN event.

The Great Northern will provide the ideal opportunity for athletes in the UK and from the continent to gain AIDA ranking to be counted for their National Team selection. Focusing on STA and DYN. It’s also the perfect place to meet other Freedivers and meet some of the personalities in the sport. Please click click for pictures, testimonials and any other information from last years competition. I will update this soon.

Convinced? Please click here for your enrolment form.

Still not convinced? Turn up anyway, there is a free viewing gallery and after you have seen what its all about we will probably see you competing at next years event

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BFA AGM Announced – Sunday 14th November

It’s that time of year again. This year’s British Freediving Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place at the National Diving and Activity Centre, Chepstow (www.ndac.co.uk for directions) from 1pm until about 4pm on Sunday 14 November. You are all very welcome to come to the AGM, listen, take part, give your views and if you wish, to join us for a freedive in the morning.

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 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. At the moment, only one of these posts has someone who definitely wishes to stand for election.

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.