Limassol – British Freediving Association

September 24, 2015

2015 AIDA Individual Depth World Championships Team of 8 Fly the Flag for Team GB

John Moorcroft 2015 Team CNF

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

The 2015 AIDA Individual Depth World Championships have now closed and this year were hosted in Limassol, Cyprus from 11 – 19 September, on a spectacular 500m2 barge, with up to 40m visibility. A team of 8 British athletes represented the country: Liv Philip, Georgina Miller, Helena Boudillon and Beci Ryan for the women and Michael Board, Tim Money, John Moorcroft, George Close for the men. Michael Board came to the competition with 2 Wild Cards one in constant weight (CWT) and the other in free immersion (FIM), meaning he ranked Top Ten in the World last year (in those disciplines). All the athletes are self-funded and were grateful to receive sponsorship from Elios, Divesangha and Bounce Energy Balls.

Strong currents and changeable weather effected this year’s World Championship competition. Because the currents had a tendency to build in the afternoon, the deepest athletes competed first, which meant extremely early starts and a change in routine (at short notice) for these elite contenders – this was reflected in conservative announcements and a high level of disqualification for some. But of course the sea is the sea and not known for being tamed so all the athletes had to adapt their performances and announcements and it made for an interesting and not at all predictable competition.

There were three competition days, one for each of the competitive depth disciplines: constant weight no fins (CNF), constant weight (CWT) and free immersion (FIM). Day one was CNF. Sayuri Kinoshita (JPN) and Mandy Sumner (USA) shared gold for the women with dives of 58m, Estrella Navarro (MEX) took silver with 50m and Jennifer Wendland (GER) won bronze and a national record with 46m. Alexey Molchanov (RUS) won gold for the men with a dive of 85m, Mateusz Malina (POL) and Miguel Lozano (ESP) shared silver with dives of 76m and Stig Prys (DEN) took bronze with a 75m dive. The UK’s John Moorcroft came in 8th for the men with a strong clean dive of 64m.

Day two was dedicated to CWT. Misuzu Okamoto (JPN) swam down to 90m for gold; Sayuri Kinoshita (JPN) won silver with 88m and Natalia Zharkova (UKR) bronze with 87m. Liv Philip placed 11th with 64m, Helena Bourdillon 13th with 60m and Georgina Miller came 15th with dive to 51m. Alexey Molchanov won his second gold with a dive to 122m for the men, Samo Jeranko (SLO) and Goran Colak (CRO) shared silver with dives to 108m and George Panaglotakis (GRE) won bronze with 103m. Tim Money came in 16th with a dive to 68m and newcomer George Close swam a comfortable 50m dive at his first World Championships.

The third and final competition day was for FIM. Jeanine Grasmeijer (NED) won gold with an 82m dive, Kate Middleton (NZL) and Hanako Hirose (JPN) shared silver with 76m dives and Natalia Zharkova bronze with 70m. Liv Philip came in 4th with 68m and Helena Bourdillon 7th with 57m. For the men William Trubridge (NZL) took gold with a dive to 112m, Miguel Lozano silver with 107m and Mateusz Malina bronze with 103m. Tim Money came 13th with a dive to 62m and Michael Board had set a new UK national FIM record in the pre-comp event of 97m.

There are two World Championships set for 2016: the AIDA Individual Pool World Championships in Finland and the AIDA Team World Championships (which combines pool and depth: static, dynamic and constant weight).

August 14, 2015

UK Depth Team Announced for 2015 Individual AIDA Depth World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus Proud to be sponsored by Elios Sub, Divesangha, Bounce Energy Balls & Saltfree

The BFA are delighted to announce the UK Team for the 2015 Individual AIDA Depth World Championship (www.freedivingcyprus.com/wc-2015), taking place in Limassol, Cyprus.

Athletes will compete in 3 depth disciplines: Free Immersion (FIM), Constant Weight with fins (CWT) and without fins (CNF) during the 9-day long event in September (11th to 19th).

The UK is sending the following strong and experienced team of 8: Liv Philip, Michael Board, George Miller, John Moorcroft, Helena Bourdillon, Tim Money, Beci Ryan and George Close.

It is well worth mentioning that Mike Board was invited to the event as a Wild Card holder in CWT and FIM (meaning he was ranked Top 10 in the world last year in those disciplines).

The UK Team are all self-funded and to help them perform their very best they are being generously supported by sponsors Elios Sub (www.eliossub.com) Divesangha (www.divesangha.com), Bounce Energy Balls (www.bouncefoods.com) and Saltfree (www.saltfree.biz).

Elios Sub was established in 1977 and prides itself on its continuous innovation, evolution, improvement and refinement of comfort in its suits. Elios have sponsored the British Team for a number of years and many British Freedivers wear their suits across the UK because of the quality and feel of materials used. We are extremely proud and grateful for Elios’ continued support to our athletes.

Divesangha is made up of designers based in London; they are motivated by passion, uniqueness, innovation and a love for the sea. The word “sangha” means “association” or “community” in Pali and Sanskrit. They design and create basic, easy to wear clothes that give divers a proper identity. They call it “divewear” or “surface gear” and the designs mix fashion and sportswear, using functional fabrics and neutral colours. They manufacture ethically and locally, trade fairly, design wisely and consume responsibly. The divewear clothes are made in the UK as an exclusive, limited edition and they don’t use any plastic bags in their packaging when you buy from the website. This is the first time that Divesangha have sponsored the UK Team, we are delighted to have them on-board and the athletes will be proud to wear their surface gear!

Bounce Energy Balls are an amazingly convenient and tasty way to nourish your body, satisfy your hunger and sustain your energy. Bounce Energy Balls are a special combination of high quality proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and essential fats. After a freediving session, recovery is of great importance and the Bounce Energy Balls have all the necessary ingredients to help our athletes do so. This is the second year running that Bounce have supported our athletes and we are pleased to have them back this year.

Saltfree, based at the NDAC, Chepstow, is a freedive school and training facility with the largest purpose-built freedive platform in the world, offering four training lines over 80m of water. Founded in 2003, SaltFree offer courses from beginner to instructor level and run regular training meets for qualified freedivers. Visit www.saltfreedivers.com to find out more! Saltfree sponsored the UK Team in 2012 and we are over the moon to have such a brilliant set-up available for our athletes to use.

Would you like to sponsor the UK Team? If so please visit our website for more information, or contact our Sponsorship Officer Jay Cluskey: sponsorship@britishfreediving.org

April 1, 2015

Individual AIDA Depth World Championships Limassol 2015 – Team Selection

AIDA 2015 World Depth Championships Cyrpus

UK team Selection

Applications for the UK Team – 2015 AIDA Depth World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus are now open. The competition will take place from 11th-20th September and will include Constant Weight without fins (CNF), Free Immersion (FIM) and Constant Weight with fins (CWT).

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 4 months before the competition. 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.)

If you are interested in competing for the UK in Cyprus, please let us know by 11th May. Please send an email to competitions@britishfreediving.org listing your highest AIDA ranked performances since November 11th 2013 in Constant Weight without fins (CNF), Free Immersion (FIM) and Constant Weight with fins (CWT) 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 Cyprus 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 2015 team, you obviously need to be available to be in Cyprus for the dates above. You also need to be sure you can afford your flights and expenses and the entry fee of 160 Euros per discipline and accommodation costs.

In the meantime the BFA will be doing all it can to gather both sponsorship and logistical support for the 2015 team.

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