Category: Pool competition

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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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A thank you to the sponsors of the Great Northern 2010 – by Liv Philip

As the clocks sprang forwards on the 28th March, the Liverpool Aquatics Centre was the beautiful venue of the UK National Freediving Pool Championship and marked the day when UK Freedivers came out of hibernation after a long, cold winter. As one of the 20 athletes I’d arrived at the competition grateful for an occasion so early in the year. After a slow start to my 2010 season, it had motivated me to train and get me out of all the bad habits of the winter.

Dave King
Great Northern 2010 womens winners – Photo by Jean-Marc Kuffer

The day bought an interesting array of UK athletes from a broad selection of UK clubs together. Both the static and dynamic pools were perfect for the events, and the organisation, with Stuart Bond and Steve Millard both from Apneists UK (www.freedivers.co.uk) at the helm, left us athletes happy and relaxed to concentrate on our dives. There were some nice performances from newer divers and you could almost hear the rust falling off some of us more experienced ones. I was feeling a bit light on training so was really happy to take first place with 2 solid dives of 5.32 static and 133m dynamic putting some confidence in for later in the year. With many athletes achieving pbs, eye catching 150m dynamics from Stuart Bond and Mandy Buckley, & also with best newcomer Chris Laycock with a nifty 123m dynamic, Steves Northern Club Apneists UK looked on fine form on home turf with the men finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th and two great swims from the ladies.

There was also good performances from George Miller and Sam Still who finished second winning trygon nose clips, and Stuart Bond and Sam Kirby receiving mono fin bags from No-Tanx for their third place but swim of the day had to go to Dave King with a groundbreaking dive of 217m dynamic for a new UK record, which not so long ago would have been a world record. He not only did a great swim, but he has such a fantastic attitude and is a great role model for other divers, that to see him do a dive like this was really fantastic.

As UK Champion, Id like to thank ORCA WETSUITS for supplying Dave & I with new suits, and on behalf of all the athletes to the entire dive team for all their hard work on a day which left you feeling very excited about UK Freediving.

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Great Northern 2010 – by Emma Farrell

On Sunday 28th March 2010 I, along with Matt Kitchen were the AIDA Judges for the BFA Great Northern Pool Competition at the Liverpool Aquatics Centre. For me, competitions are always an experience, but being out of the water made it a lot more fun.

Dave King

Being pool side and watching the athletes compete meant that not only did I have the benefit of seeing all the preparation, performances and technique, but I was also given an amazing snapshot of the state of UK Freediving in the run up to the team world championships in Okinawa and the world cup in Greece and it’s looking really healthy. This competition was all about unifying the various groups around the UK to put forward a united front.

First place for the men was taken by David King with a storming 6.58 static and 217m dynamic swim creating a new British record. He was coached fantastically by George Miller who came second in the women’s comp, their electric blue suits marking them out as team Smurf. The only thing missing was Papa.

Sam Still of Apneists UK training at the moment in London, came second for the men, since his phenomenal position as world champion just a few short years ago, and then semi-retirement after the Dahab bombings, Sam was poolside demonstrating Qi Gong and an incredible physique, and back in the water ‘just taking it easy’ with two solid white card performances. Stuart Bond of Apneists UK was just behind him in third with a lovely 150 dynamic.

The competition was organised by Steve Millard of www.freedivers.co.uk, assisted by Stuart Bond of the BFA. Steve has been instrumental in growing British Freediving in the North West and in a few short years has an active club of over 50 and great new talent including the Buckley mermaids (Mandy with a 150m dynamic and her sister-in-law Alison with a solid 100m in her first competition) and also Chris Laycock who won ‘best newbie’ with an easy 123 dynamic swim.

Even though the ladies were thinner on the ground and we were missing big hitters such as Sara Campbell, the competition was very close with great performances from Liv Philip who came first in front of George Miller and Sam Kirby.

As a judge, my job was made all the easier by incredible organisation and facility, support from a great team and well drilled athletes. click here to watch Daves amazing swim.

Sponsors:
Liverpool Aquatics Centre
BFA
First Prizes – Orca suit
Second Prizes – Trygon
Third Prizes – No Tanx monofin bags

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NoTanx Freediving Competition results

Saturday 13th March saw the UK’s Biggest Freediving Competition. 32 Clean performances by BFA members (Ady Hamilton did get a a technical red card for pushing on the bottom…. but then again he did walk 38m carrying 16Kg of weight!!)

Results…
1st place Lee Sheward (Biggest smile – Immersion Watch)
Joint 2nd Alan Barber (170m 98% grade – O’Neill Wetsuit)
Joint 2nd Jack Dybczak (Most relaxed dive – Immersion Stream Watch)
3rd Place Shared – Freya Greatwood, Ginny Kennedy, Bev Warner

NoTanx would like to thank all those who gave up their dive to help run the event.

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New UK record!

The Richmond Freediving Club is pleased to announce a new UK record in the Womens Static Apnea discipline.

On Thursday 20th August 2009, at the AIDA individual indoor World Championships 2009, Aarhus Denmark, Georgina Miller completed a static breath hold of 6 minutes 4 seconds.

The new record beats the previous time of 5:46, set in May 2009, also by Georgina Miller.

Georgina has been competing for 2 years and trains at Pools on the Park Richmond, and at Fusion Leisure, Camberwell.

For more information on freediving visit Richmond Freediving Club

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British team selection for AIDA indoor Freediving World Championship 2009

The BFA is proud to announce the team selection for the indoor Freediving World Championships in Aarhus Denmark 2009. The Male captain for the event is Marcus Greatwood. The female captain is Liv Philip.The team members are:

Female UK Athletes 2009

 

  • Ruth Griffin
  • Liv Philip
  • Georgina Miller

 

Male UK Athletes 2009

 

  • Adrian Hamilton
  • Stuart Bond
  • Alan Barber
  • Martin Ashkenazy-Jones

 

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The Laurie Comp Results

The NoTanx Laurie Comp ’09 went off without a hitch… 21 Competitors gave us plenty of performances to judge, film and analyse! The winner (voted for by the other competitors) was Lucy.. Her day is blogged on YouTube.

She won an Immersion Dive Watch, “Well Done Lucy”. In joint second Alan Barber and Sue White went away with brand new O’Neill Wetsuits…

The Laurie Comp

Unfortunately some people made some silly mistakes leading to lost points and a couple of DQs.Kevin won the Boobie prize for the silliest mistake (A dip BEFORE official top.. and Coach Touch!), but even this wasn’t a bad prize… the most expensive snorkel in the world supplied by Aquanaut Divers. All in all lots of smiles and fun.. and a big thank you to the Officials and Judges.

Keep an eye on the BFA site for the NoTanx Lake Comp in September….

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The Laurie Comp – 11th July 2009

The Laurie Comp is being held this Saturday 11th July at Tooting Leisure Centre. Looking like its going to be a good event, 20 competitors and lots of first timers (which is what it is all about).. All being run by volunteers from the NoTanx Club.

As always the winners will be voted for by the Competitors… 1st Prize is a Shinny New Immersion Dive Computer Other Prizes include DVD’s, Masks, T-Shirts etc.

Everyone is welcome to come along and watch/help out from 2:30 til 9:30….

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3 New Womens Freediving National Records in One Day!

The BFA is pleased to announce that 3 new Women’s National Records were set on Sunday 31st May at the 2nd Great Camberwell Breath Hold in Camberwell Pool, Central London. The Freediving pool competition, organised by athlete and UK record holder Liv Philip saw freedivers from all over the UK and the world, compete in static, dynamic and dynamic no-fins disciplines.

In the run up to the World Indoor Freediving Championships in Aarhus in Denmark in August, some of the athletes were using the event for valuable competition experience and rankings. Alongside them were many new athletes who were competing for the first time. Organiser Liv Philip says ‘we wanted to create a competition with a different atmosphere that would be motivating and encouraging for athletes and give the as near perfect an environment as we could to help the atheltes stay relaxed and produce good performances‘. The girls especially took full advantage of the calm atmosphere – reflected by the result of 3 New National records being set during the day.

The first record of the day went to Georgina Miller who did an excellent static breath hold of 5:46 putting, 11 seconds on Livs existing record, well deserved after some months concentrated training on this difficult discipline. The next record went to Mandy Buckley with a wonderful swim of 140m to set a new Dynamic-with-Fin record. Both athletes gaining their first National record and beating there male counterparts by some measure. The final record came right at the end of the day seeing Liv Philip break her own existing record and swim 106m dynamic-no-fins to gain her 8th National record in Freediving. ‘I was very happy to do it as it was tough combining competing and organising – now Im looking forward to going home and sleeping!‘

Three New UK Records
Camberwell Breath Hold 2009 – The three new national record holders

The overall Winners with combined scores from 2 disciplines were Georgina Miller for the Women and Chris Holmes for the men, who was competing for the first time in a national competition, completing a static of 4:51 and a nice dynamic of 133m. Other athletes in the overall placings were Barbara Jeschke from Germany experimenting after swappping onto monofin for the first time and Martin Ashkenazy-Jones with a first rate no-fins dive and PB of 104m taking him into 3rd place overall just behaind Alan Barber who had broken his Dynamic record the day before. There were over 15 pbs in competiton at the event.

Athletes can now try to transfer their pool skills to depth as one of the next ebents on the UK freediving calendar is ‘SaltFree Double Dip’ competition held at NDAC in Chepstow www.saltfreedivers.com . Athletes get to choose 2 freediving depth disciplines over two days.

The event was supported by Fusion Lifestyle, Diving Matrix, Eat Natural Bars and the British Freediving Association.

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NoTanx Competition

On May 30th NoTanx held a small comp…

The objectives were two fold…
1. The opportunity for some of UK top athletes to attain AIDA points.
2. To test the organisation for the NoTanx Laurie Comp in July.

Everyone had a thoroughly good time, and although there were only 8 competitors, 4 of them gained places on the National Team.

Alan Barber set a New UK Dynamic Record of 202m.(congratulations Alan)

Thank you to the NoTanx members for running the comp, MT, Steve G and Gad for judging and to Immersion.