2016 – Page 2 – British Freediving Association

April 30, 2016

British freedivers excel at Vertical Blue freediving depth competition

Dean Chaouche National Records 74m CNF

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

British freediver Dean Chaouche set a new UK Record in Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) of 74m on the opening day of the Vertical Blue depth competition in the Bahamas. Since 22 April, the world’s top divers have been challenging each other to dive deeper, some further than anyone has been before. Three World Records were also set at what has become the premier freediving competition in the world.

Two days later (24 April), Dean then became the second British man to reach 100m in Constant Weight (CWT). Dean said on Twitter that “It’s been very hard to get here, there have been many hiccups, but I’m glad I made it!” Dean has been living on Long Island by Dean’s Blue Hole, where the competition is held. Although not named after him, it’s fitting given he’s become so comfortable diving here regularly.

Dean put his success down to working hard on swimming technique, diving regularly and training his body and mind to be more tolerant to carbon dioxide. His National Record feels all the better for the frustration he felt missing an opportunity to set the record in 2015. His persistence has paid off – along with the CNF national record he came 3rd overall in the competition and 2nd in the CNF discipline.

Fellow Brits Liv Phillip and Georgina Miller also found success at Vertical Blue, ranking 6th and 8th respectively. Despite ill health during her stay on Long Island, Liv achieved a 63m Free Immersion (FIM) dive which gave her 4th place in that discipline and Georgina performed a personal best.

The competition closed with not one, but two World Records by British-born, New Zealand freediver William Trubridge in Free Immersion to 122 and then 124m. That followed an impressive CNF World Record of 72m set by Japanese freediver Sayuri Kinoshita. The events kept us all on the edge of our seats for almost two weeks!

April 30, 2016

Dean Chaouche sets new National Record of 74m No Fins!

Dean Chaouche National Records 74m CNF

British freediver Dean Chaouche is having a great week at the Vertical Blue depth competition in the Bahamas. On the opening day (22/4) he set a new British record in Constant weight No Fins (CNF) category of 74m, which is one metre deeper than the previous record set by Dave Kent in 2014. On Sunday 24/4 he’s gone on to become the second British man to reach 100m in Constant Weight (CWT). Dean said on Twitter this week that “It’s been very hard to get here, there have been many hiccups, but I’m so glad I made it!”. Fellow Brits Liv Phillip and Georgina Miller are also competing at Vertical Blue and to date have had successful dives. We await more news from all our divers as the competition unfolds into next week.

Keep up with the latest news on our Facebook page, and watch a video of the dive here!

April 11, 2016

Winners of 7th BFA Great Northern freediving competition and UK Pool National Championships – Alice Hickson and Adam Drzazga

UK Pool National Championships - Alice Hickson

Picture Credit: Dean Martin

Monday 11 April 2016; — On Sunday 10 April, the 7th Great Northern International and the BFA UK National Pool Championships, organised by Steve Millard of www.learn2freedive.com was held at Wright Robinson School Sports College in Manchester (http://wrightrobinson.co.uk/)

The Great Northern looked and felt a little different this year, being held on one day with two disciplines in the 25m pool, however athletes from the UK and Europe flocked to this friendly event with enthusiasm, with the promise of displaying some impressive performances.

We were not let down. The UK male winner was Adam Drzazga from Blue Water freediving club with two strong performances; a huge 7.18 STA and 154m DYN. Coming in second for the Brits was Steven Tasker with 135m DYN and 4.59 STA and very close in third Paul Butterworth, with 5.02 STA and 132m DYN, both from the local Apneists UK club. Notably both Steven and Paul swam in bi-fins rather than the usual monofin. In first place for International male was also Adam Drzazga. Coming in second with an impressive performance was Aristo Vounakis from Apnea Revolution club with 5.27 STA and 130m DNF, and Marco Piccioni in third place with 113m DNF and 5.47 STA. Eoin Clarke set an Irish National Record in his dynamic swim of 117m DNF.

The UK female winner was Alice Hickson, last year’s Newbie Award winner and also DNF World Champion in 2015, with a solid 130m DNF and 6:33 STA. Alice trains with the Bristol Freedivers club along with Rose Van-Gowler who came second with a 3.39 STA and 68m DNF. In third place with a 2.31 STA and 70m DYN was Kate Goodwin. Alice also took the top prize for International female, with Go Freediving Club’s Delphine Brise from France in second, swimming 115m DYN and 3.23 STA and Rose Van-Gowler in third. Camilla Argent set an Irish National Record for the ladies, swimming 80m Dynamic.The winners of the Newbie Awards were Delphine Brise and Phillip Fennell.

The Great Northern is a competition that celebrates achievements both in the pool and the hard training effort it takes to get there. It recognizes that freediving is not always about numbers and times but about personal achievements and obstacles overcome. Sometimes dives won’t go as planned and it shows the true strength of an athlete to learn from their experience and come back stronger next time. 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.

The official kit sponsors were: Omer Breathless Emotions (http://www.omersub.com/), part of the Aqua Sphere UK and Aqua Lung UK family, Blue Orb (http://www.blue-orb.uk/) and the British Freediving Association (www.britishfreediving.org).

April 4, 2016

UK Team Selection for the 2016 AIDA Team World Championships!

Applications for the UK Team for 2016 AIDA Team World Championships in Kalamata are now open!

AIDA Team World Championships, Kalamata, Greece, 16th September – 25th September 2016

Applications for the UK Team for 2016 AIDA Team World Championships in Kalamata are now open!

UK Team Selection
The competition will take place from 16th to 25th September 2016 and will include Dynamic with fins (DYN), Constant Weight (CWT) and Static apnea (STA).

We hope to send a team of 3 men and 3 women, plus up to 2 additional athletes of each gender as substitutes and a Team Captain/Coach (who may or may not be part of the competing team).

Selection will be based on the highest proven performances in the three disciplines. AIDA world championship team selection will be by AIDA ranked points dated from 18 months prior to 9th May 2016. In case of candidates wishing to be considered who do not have AIDA ranked points a performance witnessed by an AIDA Judge or AIDA UK Instructor will stand at 80% of the resulting outcome.)

Application
If you are interested in competing for the UK in Greece, please let us know by 9th May. Please send an email to competitions@britishfreediving.org listing your highest AIDA ranked performances since November 9th 2014 in Dynamic with fins (DYN), Constant Weight (CWT) and Static apnea (STA) with details of where this ranking was obtained. If you do not have a ranked performance in any or all of these disciplines, please let us know your current best performances in training, and when you anticipate seeing those ratified officially. If you anticipate achieving a higher ranked performance in any of the disciplines in the next few months, please also let us know that in your email. If your geographical location makes it difficult for you to gain a ranked performance, please let us know and we will take this into consideration.

If you are interested in going to Greece as Team Captain/Coach, please let us know you are interested by letting us know your experience in this area, and why you think you would be good for the job. Applications for the Team Captain/Coach position will be considered by the team once they have been selected, and appointed within one month of final team selection.

Availability and costs
If you make the decision to apply for the 2016 Team, you need to be available in Greece for the dates above.

The BFA will be doing all it can to gather sponsorship and logistical support for the 2016 team. However, you also need to be sure you can afford your flights and expenses and the entry fee of 240 Euros and accommodation costs.

All competing athletes must be over 18 years old, UK citizens and members of the BFA at the time of the competition.

January 30, 2016

The 7th Great Northern competition and the UK BFA Pool championships has been announced for the 10th April, 2016

The competition has reduced to one day for this year, and will be two disciplines over two sessions.

Static (STA) will be held on the first session, and the second session will be a choice of Dynamic with fins (DYN) or Dynamic no fins (DNF). In the dynamic no fins sessions points will be multiplied by 1.3 to even out the fairness in the point score.

For example, a Freediver getting 130m DYN will be the same points as a Freediver getting 100m DNF (100 x 1.3 = 130m)

The competition winners are those athletes with the biggest point score over the two disciplines. AIDA rankings are given for all disciplines competed in. The AIDA rankings for DNF will NOT be multiplied by 1.3, this is purely to decide the competition winner.

Please visit the site www.freedivingcompetition.com to see more details and enter the competition.

Video from Apneists UK’s last competition: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fu9GhxeU7sk

January 1, 2016

UK Team Selection – 2016 AIDA Pool World Championships

BFA AGM

Individual AIDA Pool World Championships Turku, Finland 25th June – 4th July 2016

UK Team Selection
Applications for the UK Team -2016 AIDA Pool World Championships in Turku, Finland are now open. The competition will take place from 25th June to 4th July and will include Dynamic with fins (DYN), Dynamic without fins (DNF) and Static apnea (STA).We hope to send a full team of 4 men and 4 women per discipline and a Team Captain/Coach (who may or may not be part of the competing team).Selection will be based on the highest proven performances in the three disciplines. AIDA world championship team selection will be by AIDA ranked points dated from 18 months prior to 15th March 2016. In case of candidates wishing to be considered who do not have AIDA ranked points a performance witnessed by an AIDA Judge or AIDA UK Instructor will stand at 80% of the resulting outcome.)

Application
If you are interested in competing for the UK in Finland, please let us know by 15th March. Please send an email to competitions@britishfreediving.org listing your highest AIDA ranked performances since September 15th 2014 in Dynamic with fins (DYN), Dynamic without fins (DNF) and Static apnea (STA) with details of where this ranking was obtained. If you do not have a ranked performance in any or all of these disciplines, please let us know your current best performances in training, and when you anticipate seeing those ratified officially. If you anticipate achieving a higher ranked performance in any of the disciplines in the next few months, please also let us know that in your email. If your geographical location makes it difficult for you to gain a ranked performance, please let us know and we will take this into consideration.

If you are interested in going to Finland as Team Captain/Coach, please let us know you are interested by letting us know your experience in this area, and why you think you would be good for the job. Applications for the Team Captain/Coach position will be considered by the team once they have been selected, and appointed within one month of final team selection.

If you make the decision to apply for the 2016 team, you need to be available in Finland for the dates above.The BFA will be doing all it can to gather sponsorship and logistical support for the 2016 team. However, you also need to be sure you can afford your flights and expenses and the entry fee of 350Euros and accommodation costs.

All competing athletes must be over 18 years old, UK citizens and members of the BFA at the time of the competition.