Tag: BFA

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BFA selects Freediving Team for World Championships Okinawa, Japan

The British Freediving Association (BFA) has made its selection for Team GB to represent the UK at the 2010 Freediving Team World Championships in Okinawa, Japan. The event will take place from 30th June until 10th July,and Team GB will be sponsored by Elios wetsuits, Fourth Element clothing, and Suunto.

The UK will be represented by three of the most experienced athletes in the country: Sam Still, Maria-Teresa Solomons and Suzanne Pugh, making up a mixed team, which will compete in the men’s category.

To find out more about this or to download our offical press release please click here

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NoTanx freediving display in the Dubai Mall

The 12 guys and girls have just returned from performing in front of over 10,000 people in Dubai

The display was intended to raise awareness of our sport and the conservation efforts of the Dubai Aquarium. It was full supported by Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd…. “We [Sea Shepherd] are not invited to Aquariums, so your shows are a great opportunity to pass on our message to a new audience”

NoTanx ArnoWith over 1000 people coming to the Mall especially for the show it was a great success and gained TV coverage all over the Middle East and Europe.

NoTanx Arno

We would like to thank Immersion and 4th Element for supporting us, as well as Paul Hamilton and his team in the Aquarium itself.

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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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Great Northern Comp

Apneists UK are proud to announce they are hosting the BFA National pool competition on the 28th March 2010. The event will include both the Static (STA) and Dynamic with fins (DYN) disciplines. It has been officially recognised by AIDA International as a National with guests competition so all athletes will receive an AIDA worldwide ranking. This is important as many of the athletes are using the competition to gain points for the upcoming World Championships in Japan.

Many of the UKs most respected freedivers will either be competing or providing services for the smooth running of the event so it will be a great opportunity to meet some really good people. If you would like to come and support the event or spectate everyone is welcome.

Directions to the event and further details can be found by clicking here.

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British Freediving Association AGM – Sunday 15th November 2009

This years BFA Annual General Meeting is being held at the Kingston & Elmbridge BSAC clubhouse in Tolworth, Surrey, on Sunday 15th November between 14.30 – 17.00hrs.

The Agenda will be published two weeks before the AGM and will be available on this website. If you wish to add items for discussion to the Agenda, please send a brief description of the topic via email to Emedia by Sunday 1st November 2009.

There are ample parking spaces for everyone. The bar will be serving tea, coffee and light refreshments. Warm clothing is usually advised as November can be frosty and the room does not heat up in the time we have to set up.

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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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Camberwell Breath Hold – 31st May 2009

The BFA is excited that for the 2nd year running a Freediving event will be held at the atmospheric Camberwell Pool in London on sunday 31st May. The competition will be an AIDA National with guests organised by Liv Philip who has been working alongside Southwark Council and leisure centre staff.

Camberwell Breath Hold 2008
Camberwell Breath Hold 2008 – Photography by Laura Storm

This year there are over 20 athletes attending the event from as far afield as Germany and South Africa as well as freedivers from all over the UK. Liv wanted to build on the success of the first event last year. “We managed to create an event where athletes had a safe and relaxed environment where they could build on there performance in a competition.” After some fantastic performances, many athletes well exceeded their personal best and demand for a second competition was high.

This year’s event has doubled in size as Freedivers will use Camberwell to help them gain a ranking and try to qualify for the World Indoor Championships in Demark in August. Fusions’ Centre manager Simon Cooke said “Despite competition stakes being high amongst the top athletes, the UK has a great mixture of experience levels and abilities, which makes the event so unique.” Liv agrees: “The Great Camberwell Breath Hold has a fantastic, friendly atmosphere and allows new freedivers to compete alongside some of their heros, so everyone can learn from each other.”

This years event looks set to see many new freedivers in there first competition, and from the more experienced competitors, lookout for some big performances. After last years event, Liv and Dave King went on to set new national records. The UK’s Alan Barber is in training to try to break his massive dynamic with fins record of 186m. Infact the mens Dynamic events look set to be very exciting to watch, and William Trubridge is coming to show us all what Dynamic no fins is meant to look like! There are 9 female athletes attending, nearly matching the boys in numbers. There will be prizes of coaching sessions with experienced uk athletes for best 1st-3rd placed freedivers in their first pool competition to encourage them to develop and allow them to build training contacts within the UK.

The International judges coming to the Competition from Sweden and France are Peter Boivie and Francois Gaultier along with a fantastic team of Safety Divers, Doctor, and Assistants. Camberwell Breath Hold has kindly been supported by ‘Eat Natural Bars’, ‘Matrix Diving’, Fusion Leisure and the BFA.

Spectators are welcome, entrance is free with a £2 optional donation going to ‘Shark Trust’.