Category: Records

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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

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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!

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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.

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6th BFA Great Northern, British National Records for Georgina Miller & John Moorcroft, Winners Dan Betts (UK), Matej Bergoc (SLO) & Beci Ryan (UK)

George Miller 2015 Great Northern BFA National Record STAPicture Credit: Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com)

Thursday 26 March 2015; — On Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 March, the 6th Great Northern International and the BFA UK National Pool Championships, organised by Steve Millard of www.freedivers.co.uk was held at Lifestyle Fitness Aquatic Centre in Liverpool
(www.liverpool.gov.uk/lifestyles).

The Great Northern never disappoints in terms of Dan Betts 2015 Great Northern BFA UK winnerperformance and this
year was no different. Living up to the International bit of the title, fourteen countries were represented, with one athlete, from team USA, Mandy Sumner flying in from Hawaii the night before the competition! Keeping to tradition, national records were set, this year both British, over the course of the weekend. On day one, John Moorcroft, the first diver of the day, kick started the competition with a record in dynamic no fins of 176m and on day two, Georgina Miller set her record in static with 6 minutes and 33 seconds. John swam just over 7 lengths of a 25m pool on one breath with no fins, smashing his previous record of 167m, set at lJohn Moorcroft 2015 Great Northern BFA National Record DNFast year’s competition. Georgina Miller’s previous record was 6 minutes and 27 seconds set in 2014 at the 7th Mediterranean Freediving World Cup, and she pushed it a further 6 seconds away.

The UK male winner was Dan Betts with three strong performances, white cards and big smile at the end: 115m DNF, 05:39 STA and 151 DYN. Coming in second for the Brits was Josh Walton of Bristol Freedivers and in third Jason Kirkpatrick from the Glasgow Apneists UK group. In first place for International male Matej Bergoc of Slovenia with incredible holds: 140 DNF, 07:07 STA and 183 DYN, in second Stephan Heiss and in third David Fournier.

The UK female winner was Beci Ryan with 135m DNF, 05:12 STA and 150 DYN, in second Georgina Miller and in third Lucelle Simms. And Masa Sorn also of Slovenia, training with Apneists UK Yorkshire group, came in second place for International female with three strong performances (104 DNF, 04:46 STA, 150 DYN).

The winners of the Newbie Awards were Jason Kirkpatrick (05:17 STA) and Alison Hicks (151 DYN), with already impressively big holds and swims and a lot of promise for the future. Rumour has it that both athletes look set to join the UK Team at the Pool World Championships in Serbia!

The Great Northern is a competition that celebrates achievements across the board, it recognizes that freediving is not always about numbers and times but about personal achievements and obstacles overcome. The sense of atmosphere at this year’s competition spoke volumes, with athletes from clubs all over the UK and indeed the world, coaching, congratulating and celebrating personal bests with genuine enthusiasm.

Thank you to the sponsors for their support with such generous top freediving prizes, the helpers who made it so special, the judges, safety team and the athletes for attending otherwise it couldn’t have happened. The official kit sponsors were: Aqua Sphere (www.aquasphereswim.com/uk/) and Aqua Lung (www.aqualung.com/uk/), with sponsorship also coming from Fins4u (www.fins4u.com), Tidy Tide (www.free-water.org), and the British Freediving Association (www.britishfreediving.org). For a list of sponsors please visit http://www.freedivingcompetition.com/gn-sponsors-2015.html

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Michael Board’s 103m Constant Weight National Record

Mike Board 103m CW National Record& taking 4th place at World Famous Suunto Vertical Blue Competition

Wednesday 9th December 2014; — On the 2nd December, at the prestigious Suunto Vertical Blue competition, Michael Board pushed his national record in Constant Weight deeper still, from 102m to 103m; at this kind of depth, each meter is like a milestone. Michael lives in Indonesia, on the island of Gili Trawangan, where he teaches freediving courses and training at his, and partner Kate Middleton’s school Freedive Gili (www.freedivegili.com).

This latest national record is number 8 for Board and it seems that even at the top of their game, experienced freedivers face challenges, set backs and even knocks in confidence. A former Royal Marine, it is not surprising that Board did not allow any obstacles to stand in his way for long and was gracious enough to talk with us at BFA, at the end of the competition on Long Island (the location of VB2014) to share his experience, not only of the competition but of his year training and diving at depth:

‘I am very happy I dived to 103m and set a new British record in Constant Weight as it has been a challenging year for me in depth diving in general and also a difficult competition here in the Bahamas as well. I struggled to match my performances from last year in both the AIDA Euro Cup in Kalamata and the 2014 AIDA Team World Championships in Sardinia earlier this year, some of this was due to being unaccustomed to the water conditions but I also discovered that it can just be hard work getting back down to these deep depths again.’

Board had done several 100m dives in training before arriving in the Bahamas, and had pushed this up to 103m in training on Long Island just before the competition started. However he suffered a big setback on his first attempt at 103m in the competition:

‘The weather changed drastically with strong winds and cooler water catching a lot of us unprepared on that day in our thin tropical wetsuits. I was shivering 15 minutes before my dive and could not relax properly, but chose to dive anyway, perhaps the wrong decision in hindsight. I managed to reach the bottom but had a lot of narcosis, was slow on the ascent and then suffered a black out just short of the surface after being assisted up by the safety divers.’

His confidence bruised but not broken, Board announced the same depth 3 days later, sensibly giving himself a chance to recover and recuperate for a second attempt, for which he was well rewarded:

‘I knew I could do the dive, I just needed to stay warm so I delayed getting in the water this time until the last moment. The dive went well, I reached the bottom plate relaxed and the narcosis did not hit me too strong this time so I managed to think clearly and tell myself to ascend from depth faster, as it happened maybe a little too fast. A good dive to finish the season with, only 1 meter up on last year, but happy to end the year on a high and moving in the right direction.’

Board came an impressive 4th at the end of the competition, with a Free Immersion (FIM) dive to 95m and a Constant No Fins (CNF) dive to 56m. Also at the competition were top British Freedivers with some impressive results: Chris Crawshaw, also of Freedive Gili who placed 8th (75m CWT, 70m FIM, 68m CNF) and John Moorcroft of Apneists UK who placed 10th (71m CWT, 63m CNF).

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Freediving record is broken by Rebecca Coales at Manchester Competition – 186m Dynamic with Fins

Rebecca Coales 186m Dynamic National Record

On Saturday 29th November, Rebecca Coales, trained by Steve Millard of the freedivers.co.uk group, extended her own national record of 179m in Dynamic apnea, to an impressive distance of 186m, at Grand Central pool operated by Life Leisure (www.lifeleisure.net). Rebecca’s underwater swim with a monofin took 3 minutes and was overseen by internationally qualified judges from the main Freediving agency, AIDA International (www.aidainternational.org).

When asked about breaking her 5th national record, Rebecca had this to say:

“As always Steve’s competition ran very smoothly and I had nothing to worry about apart from my dive. Safety, judging and organisation was very slick. I had a warm-up dive in Berlin two weeks before this one and that gave me more confidence in extending my personal best. It was also a chance to try my new Aqua Lung Freedive suit, which has performed well in both competitions, and looks really stylish. A big thank-you to Aquasphere UK for providing me with a suit, goggles and training aids. I’ll continue to work with my coach Steve Millard who has supported me over the last two years. We also look ahead to the AIDA pool World Championships in Belgrade where I hope to compete against the world’s best. I can’t wait!”

The national record was part of a larger competition, where athletes from around the UK and representing a variety of nations, came to Stockport to compete in one of three disciplines: Dynamic apnea with fins (DYN), Dynamic no fins (DNF) or Static apnea (STA). In DYN the athlete swims the length of a pool as far as they can on one breath and with the use of either a monofins or bi-fins; with DNF the athlete swims a style of breast stroke under the water without the use of fins; and with STA, the athlete lies stationary, face down on the surface of the water.

Rebecca won the overall female competition, but an excellent swim by Beci Ryan of 163m was a very respectable second position. In third place was Scottish number one no fins diver, Katey McPherson, with a swim of 107m DNF, no mean feat in a 50m pool which is much harder than the usual 25m pool as you do not get the benefit of as many push offs from the wall.

Adam Drzazga won overall for the men, with a 136m DYN swim, in second place Lorenzo Baldecchi for a 05:07 STA and in third place was Hungarian freediving champion Mike Benke. Eoin Clarke swam a solid and easy 104m DNF and broke the second national record of the evening, this time for Ireland! Jason Kirkpatrick was the ‘opener’ and therefore not officially a competitor into the competition, put in a 05:22 STA which would have won the men’s title; after only a few months training in the sport he is one to watch out for.

The competition was a small National competition, part funded by the BFA (www.britishfreediving.org), and was great practice for the athletes to get ready for the International competition we have on the 21st and 22nd March 2015 in Liverpool (facebook.com/Apneistsukfreedivingcompetitions).

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Helena Bourdillon Wins Bronze at Triple Depth

Helena Bourdillon Wins Bronze at Triple Depth

And ranks 2nd for UK in CNF!

Sunday 2 November 2014; — From 14th to 20th October, Freedive Dahab (www.freedivedahab.com) ran it’s 10th annual Triple Depth competition. British Freediver Helena Bourdillon, of Apnea Revolution (www.apnearevolution.com) and Freedive 2000 (www.freediving2000.co.uk) took part in her first ever freediving competition, securing third place on the podium and ranking number 2 in the UK for a tremendous 40m no fins dive! The BFA caught up with Helena to congratulate her on her achievements and ask if she would share her experiences with us of her first competition.

Helena arrived in Dahab at the end of September for the start of a 12-week trip. The idea was to spend three weeks training and then compete. Over the three weeks, training, Helena built up some great friendships and had some, she says, ‘fabulous dive buddies’. Prior to the competition, there were three morning training sessions and then a rest day before the competition. Over the three competition days, Helena would learn some valuable lessons and go through some steep learning curves:

‘All three training days were not particularly good but then it was my first competition so I didn’t really know what to expect. Lack of decent sleep and a diet borne of nervousness probably didn’t help. By the time of the competition, I was a nervous wreck but hiding it reasonably well, I think.

Day 1 was Free Immersion (FIM). Conditions were perfect with blue skies and calm seas. Alas a Red Card as I managed to tangle my lanyard in the noodle I was breathing up on. Didn’t even get to 4m. Lesson learnt – get a coach and ask them to keep checking!

I was very annoyed with myself but then realised that all of the pressure I had piled on myself had gone away so I could think about trying to enjoy myself a little bit and push myself a bit further.

Day 2 was Constant Weight (CWT) and I announced 50m. It was not a good dive. I’ve never had any issues with mouth-fill and I heard / felt the darn thing disappear into my stomach leaving me with pretty much nothing. I went a few more metres and then grabbed the line, took a sneaky peak to the bottom plate and decided I was going to get the tag. Back up to the surface and a White Card for protocol but the grab cost me a Yellow Card and 5 point deduction.

Day 3, Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) and I had announced 40m, which was 2m further than my PB. The swell was rather larger that day and it took a lot of focus to remain calm before the dive started. Once the countdown had started it was familiar and easier. I was super happy with the dive. It was relaxed and strong and I felt like I wanted to go again when I got back to the surface!

I went to the Triple Depth wanting to get 3 white cards. I came away with a full colour selection and a number of experiences and lessons that I’m glad I had during my first competition and not further down the line (hopefully!).’

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Dave Kent Continues to Push Greater Depths

Dave Kent 73m National Record in CNF

Earning himself a New 73m National Record in CNF – Read the story in Dave’s own words Saturday 11 October 2014 – On 6th October 2014, Dave Kent beat his previous Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) national record, by diving to 73m at the Little Blue Hole competition in Dahab. In fact he had already broken his own national record a week earlier by 1m. Dave’s previous national record, from 27 July last year, stood at 70m (again at a Little Blue Hole competition). Dave was kind enough to give us here at the British Freediving Association (BFA), a report on his recent national records:

I came out to Dahab on the 20th August with not the greatest preparation, as 1 week earlier I cracked my head open which required 3 stitches. I had these removed the day before my flight.

I planned on 10 training days, spread over two and a half weeks, ending with my record comp on the 6th; however there was a competition happening at the end of my first week which I used as a warm up. In hindsight, I wish I had announced much deeper for this dive. The competition date was 30th August. I announced 71m, as I just wanted to get a white card. The dive though was by far the easiest competition dive off my life. Completed in 2 minutes and 28 seconds, very comfortably. Unfortunately in the time between this dive and my next competition on the 6th September, I caught a touch of the ‘Dahab Bug’ which clearly affected my final announced performance (AP), this being 73m. The dive was still quick, 02:35, though I had clearly lost a bit of strength that week, and it showed during the dive.

What I am most pleased about now though is how quickly I can get to these depths coming from the UK. Within 4 days of arriving I was comfortably back in 70m territory. I attribute this to three things: My dry strength and conditioning training programme; the weekly use I have of a 4m dive pit with my local scuba club Sovereign Aquatrek (www.sovereignaquatrek.co.uk); and the equalisation dry training programme that I have developed having worked over the last 12 months with the likes of Jonny Sunnex; Andrea Zuccari and Aharon Solomon. What used to be the weakest part of my dive is now my strongest. For both dives I set my alarm at 21m to charge the mouth-fill, and this took me comfortably to the plate each time.

I feel very confident about a competition doing an 80m plus CNF dive in 2015.

I also need to thank my good friend and coach when I am in Dahab, Brian Crossland, for amending the finer points in my technique, and the calmness he brings every time I hook on the line.

Finally a huge congrats to British Freediving. Seriously, there have been some amazing achievements over the last 12 months, pool and depth. I don’t see many of you very often, and some I haven’t met at all, but to all concerned a huge well done.

The BFA would like to congratulate Dave on his continued success and dedication to the sport of freediving and to British freediving, your support is very much appreciated and valued.

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Rebecca Coales takes Dynamic National Record to 179m

Rebecca Coales Dynamic National record
Picture Credit: Nick Robertson-Brown

10th July 2014; — On the 6th July, 2014 Rebecca Coales took the previous female dynamic with fins (DYN) record to 179m at the Life Leisure, Grand Central 50 metre Pool in Stockport (www.lifeleisure.net/enterprise/grandcentralpools). For those new to freediving, DYN is swimming as far as you can horizontally in a swimming pool with a mono fin or bi-fins on one breath of air. Rebecca already holds the current UK dynamic without fins record (DNF).

The DYN record had previously been held by Ruth Griffin, incredibly since 2009. Rebecca, with a very comfortable dive beat the 175m on the board, surfacing with great control and suggesting she is well within her limits. The whole dive took 2 minutes 36 Seconds.

Previous to the 2009 record, another female freediver, who also trained at Grand Central pools, had held it before Ruth: Mandy ‘ the mermaid ‘ Buckley. Many freediving champions and record holders have been coached there and it is a centre of excellence with the swimmers from Stockport Metro training there.

Rebecca is a founder member of the Bristol Freedivers group (www.bristolfreedive.org.uk), where she trains with friends. She is a relative newcomer to the competition circuit, only starting to explore her potential in the last 18 months, starting with a no-fins clinic, and mono fin clinic with Steve Millard of the Apneists UK group (www.learn2freedive.com), based in the North of the UK. Rebecca runs the Om Diver Yoga website (www.omdiver.co.uk) and runs Yoga courses which seem to be perfect cross training for freedivers. She trains with Bristol Freedivers regularly and is sponsored by Aqua Sphere (www.aquasphereswim.com), and wears the Aqua Skins suit.

The team who came and supported Rebecca and her coach Steve Millard at the event were:

International Judges: David Tranfield and Gary Lowe

Safety Divers: Matthias Ruttimann and Rebecca Warren

Surface video: Paul Butterworth

Videographer / Photographer: Martin Toole (http://mtoole.co.uk)

Photographers: Frogfish Photography (http://frogfishphotography.com/underwater.html)

Photographer: Dean Martin, Aqua Sphere (www.aquasphereswim.com)

Medic: Rebecca McCabe

Rebecca would like to thank the management and staff of Life Leisure, Grand Central Pool for their continued support and hosting of this event.

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New Static National Record for Georgina Miller at the 7th Mediterranean Freediving World Cup!

Georgina Miller beat her own static national record
Picture Credit: Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com)

Saturday 28 June 2014; — On the 20th June 2014, Georgina Miller beat her own static national record, holding her breath for an incredible 6 minutes and 27 seconds at the 7th Mediterranean Freediving World Cup (www.freediving-club.gr), hosted by Stavros Kastrinakis. The previous record she set was in 2012 of 06:20.

On the morning of the static competition, George, who has been suffering from bouts of competition nerves of late, dealt with them beautifully by she says ‘concentrating on one step at a time, rather than looking at it as a target’. A lot of thought, training and energy goes into a long static performance and George is very positive when talking about the discipline which she genuinely enjoys tackling. Georgina freely offers advice and openly shares her experiences with fellow athletes, genuinely wanting to help them improve and see them succeed. She credits her partner and coach, Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com), with her success: ‘I give enormous thanks to Daan for all of his help, love, advice, incredible pictures and fantastic coaching.’ George also reflects that a calm environment is essential to performing at your best and at such a high level: ‘Stavros Kastrinakis has organized an amazing 7th Med World Cup series, making the athletes feel relaxed and supported. Good performances and records are only possible with the help of friends, coaches, safety and organization. So thanks to my friends at London Freediving too for your support!’ As well as gaining a new national record, Georgina also came 2nd out of the women for the main depth event.

For higher resolution versions of the images attached, or for other official images of Georgina Miller at the 7th Mediterranean Freediving World Cup, please contact Daan Verhoeven at: info@daanverhoeven.com

The official video of Georgina Miller’s static national record is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbqJQpkkKbU