National Pool Championship – British Freediving Association

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

March 14, 2015

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

Picture 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 winner performance 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 l John Moorcroft 2015 Great Northern BFA National Record DNF ast 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

November 30, 2014

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).

October 28, 2012

UK National Pool Freediving Championships needs you!

The UK National Pool Freediving Championships has been announced by Apneists UK and the British Freediving Association for next year on the 9th and 10th of March 2013. It follows the successful format of the previous three years, which is day one; a dynamic no fins competition (DNF), and day two; the UK National pool competition which is a combination of an early afternoon Static (STA) competition and an early evening Dynamic with fin(s) (DYN) competition. We are looking for athletes, judges, helpers and spectators. Please contact me at apneaboy111@hotmail.com for details.

This British Freediving Championships is now known as ‘the event!’ because it is the largest gathering of like minded UK Freedivers in the calendar. Also, because of the good vibe the group always produces. It has been attended by a few International athletes and pretty much every single group in the UK has been represented. It might as well be a family day out the way everyone interacts, what a wonderful occasion. Some pictures here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvcerCpXTIg

There were an unprecedented amount of personal bests achieved in 2012, many athletes reporting 3 PBs in three events, I think the trust in the safety staff and the relaxed atmosphere certainly helped. We have had at least two National records every year we have had the competition. It is a competition I encourage athletes from all abilities to attend, all are catered for, we aim to please.

Here is George Miller, the 2012 Female Pool champion, winning the day two event which included another National record http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_AjsC0_5YY

Next year we hope for more athletes and aim to make it a truly International event, come join us, tell your friends. I will be putting accommodation and flight details up for those coming from Europe and beyond. Anyone interested in sponsoring this well attended established event, please contact Steve Millard.