|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2012 CompetitionsIn 2012 we have committed to support two national events in Dynamic and Depth disciplines. World Championships 2012UK Team Selection Applications for the UK Team - 2012 AIDA Team World Championships in Nice, France are now open. The competition will take place from 8 - 16th Sept and will include Constant Weight (with fins), Static Apnea and Dynamic Apnea (with fins). Each athlete must compete in all three disciplines. We hope to send a full 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 combined performance in the three disciplines. (AIDA world championship team selection will be by AIDA ranked points dated from 18 months prior to 3 months before the competition entry deadline. 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 France, please let us know by 15TH JULY. Please send an email to competitions@britishfreediving.org listing your highest AIDA ranked performances since Nov 15th 2010 in Static Apnea, Dynamic Apnea (with fins) and Constant Weight (with fins) 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 Nice as Team Captain/Coach, please let us know you are interested by 15th July, 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 2012 team, you obviously need to be available to be in France for the dates above. You also need to be sure you can afford your flights and expenses and the entry fee of 695 Euros (which includes 8 days accommodation, 3 meals/day, the arrival package , trainings, boats, access to the different competition sites (sea and pool) , ceremonies, surface and underwater pictures of you during training and competition and a comp video. You'll have also free massages and free daily Yoga and meditation.) In the meantime the BFA will be doing all it can to gather both sponsorship and logistical support for the 2012 team. All competing athletes must be over 18 years old, UK citizens and members of the BFA at the time of the competition. The 2012 British Freediving Association AIDA UK Pool ChampionshipTHE GREAT NORTHERN 2012 Hosted by 'Apneists UK' Liverpool Aquatics Centre 10th and 11th March Dynamic no fins (DNF) Static (STA) and Dynamic with Fins (DYN) The 2012 UK Pool Championship was held on the weekend of 10th & 11th March. A major annual event in the UK freediving calendar, 'it was almost certainly the best competition I have attended, particularly because of the good vibe that the group produced' said organiser Steve Millard. It was attended by a few International athletes, alongside UK freedivers who represented almost every single freediving group in the UK. It felt like a big family day-out the way everyone interacted. There were an unprecedented number of personal bests achieved, with many athletes reporting 3 PBs in three events. I think the trust in the safety staff and the relaxed atmosphere certainly helped. There were some wonderful performances from the big boys and girls, who produced three National records and some great performances from the newbies too. It's a competition where athletes from all abilities, are encourage to attend, and all are catered for. Saturday was the Dynamic No Fins event (DNF) pictures here. In the men's competition there was enormous excitement in the lead up to the event. Chris Crawshaw of freedivers.co.uk had only the Sunday before, pushed the men's record to 150metres with a beautiful dive. John Moorcroft, last year's winner and a local freediver, had swum more than that distance in training a few days prior, so it was going to be close. Alan Barber, the ex-record holder from Notanx.com, one of the sponsors at the event, was to be attending with the capability of passing the 150 metre marker too. John Swam first and broke the record with a beautiful dive of 153 metres, video here. The last divers of the day were Chris Crawshaw, alongside an excellent Hungarian diver who trains with Steve Millard's club in the northwest of England, called Mike Benke, and Alan Barber. Mike swam 125m, Alan swam 130m to get the third spot and Chris turned at 150 m swimming into new territory with great purpose. He surfaced at 163m, and with a well drilled protocol smashed the record again. The sportsmanship between the clubs and athletes was amazing, what a great start to the weekend. The second day is the UK National pool competition with a combined score from Static and Dynamic apnea. Videos can be watched here and here The three top spots in the male competition went to divers who train with freedivers.co.uk on their home territory, the three athletes were Chris Crawshaw, Mike Benke and John Moorcroft. Chris Crawshaw won a voucher for a new suit kindly donated by orca wetsuits. Second place went to John Moorcroft with a solid 150m DYN and in third place was Gary McGrath from London freedivers (Londonfreediving.org). There was a nice performance from Adam Drzazga of with a 6'15min static. John Moorcroft was given a 200 euro voucher from www.polosub.com for services to UK Freediving over the last decade. He has represented his country, gained NRs, attended and helped at competitions; he is an active AIDA Instructor at his club and is a keen spearfisherman. During the weekend, he got on the podium twice, and broke a National record. He is a well-respected UK Freediver, well done John! In the women's competition Georgina Miller of londonfreediving.org broke her own Static National record with an excellent 6:20 hold and added a solid Dynamic performance for top spot. This earned her an Orca suit as well. A new talent took the second spot with two great performances, well done Allie Crawford, and Germanys Meike Holzmann took third spot overall. Sam Kirby once again got on the podium in the UK Championship after a couple of years away from competing, with two great performances. The organiser says 'Well done to all those who got involved and competed, and thank you to the British Freediving Association www.britishfreediving.org and its members for their support of the event!' It is hoped that even more people will join the event next year and that it will continue to grow in its enormous success for British freediving. Thanks also to Notanx and Emma Farrell who provided some other goodies for the athletes. We would like to thank the sponsors of this competition; www.orca.com International CompetitionsAIDA WORLD DEPTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 Monday 10th October 2011 : - The British men faced their toughest competition for records this year, with three strong athletes fighting for the No Fins title; Dave Tranfield, two-times holder of the title, newcomer Ed Wardle who took the record from Dave this summer at his first event; and Dave Kent, new to competitive freediving, who came through and surprised everyone, including himself. At the 4th Mediterranean World Cup 1st-14th September athletes gathered from around the world to compete and prepare for the World Championships, taking place from 15th-25th September. Liv Philip shone for the women by taking Silver Medal overall in the women's with CWT 61m, FIM 62m and CNF 46m. Liv, who coaches and trains at London Freediving Club in Richmond, said: I've been working long hours back home to allow me to compete this summer and it's been tough to fit training in, so I'm doubly pleased to have got a Silver Medal with so many strong athletes around. On 14th September, the final day of the first comp, Dave Tranfield, or Tranny as he is affectionately known, although he prefers 'Sheffield Steel', and Ed Wardle who had ambitiously announced 65m, went head to head to push Ed's 55m record deeper. Tranny, due in part to his greater experience, kept his cool and successfully dived to 56m in two minutes 25 seconds, breaking Ed's former record by one metre. Dave said: My dive started badly with a poor duck dive due to nerves and then my neck weight nearly knocked off my nose clip which barely hung on during the entire descent. But luckily equalisation went ok to the bottom and as soon as I took the tag I knew I had the dive. Unfortunately Ed didn't make his dive, having announced 10m deeper than his former record, and making an early turn. On 19th September, the first comp day of the AIDA Depth World Championships, Dave Kent joined the action, putting further pressure on Tranny and Ed, and the tables turned in Ed's favour. Tranny made the most conservative announcement with 58m, followed by Ed with 60m and Dave Kent with 62m. Tranny was up first but didn't make it. Ed completed a 60m dive, claiming his second National Record in two minutes 19 seconds. Ed said: I trained hard this year and it paid off, I managed to focus and it was as close to a perfect dive as I could have wished for, a solid 60m. Ed's glory was short-lived as minutes later his record was broken by a Dave Kent, who made a clean and easy dive to 62m in two minutes 20 seconds. Kent, at his first ever major comp said: The world's were awesome, it was great to meet so many athletes that up until then had just been names from hours of watching YouTube footage. My time in Kalamata has only reinforced my desire to attend further championships, and improve as a no fins freediver. The other disciplines at the event were Free Immersion and Constant Weight. In the Mediterranean Cup on 13th September Mike Board did a 77m FIM to regain the National Record from Dave King who had set it at 73m in June in France. But on the 24th September the final day of the AIDA World Depth Championships, Mike extended this record by a further six metres setting a new record in FIM of 83m in a dive time of two minutes 55 seconds. Mike said: "It's been a fantastic month of training and dive performances for me that far exceeded my expectations. Training went well and I felt strong and confident enough to try new depths on the competition days." The team was sponsored by Elios wetsuits (www.eliossub.com) who donated the full team a brand new wetsuit each for the Worlds. Thank you, Elios! Congratulations to all nine British athletes attended these two amazing events. For more information contact press@britishfreediving.org For images contact Hungry Eye Images: www.hungryeye.co.uk, email - matt.green@hungryeye.co.uk , tel - 07767 848133 Indoor Freediving World Championships 2011 - Italy on 16th October Monday 24th October 2011 : - Georgina Miller has increased her lead on the other British women in static breath-hold with a stunning performance at the Indoor Freediving World Championships in Lignano, Italy on 16th October 2011, when she set a new British Record of six minutes 11 seconds. George, as she is known to everyone, said: It was seven seconds over my old record but felt comfortable and strong. I had a good deal of help from my coach and training partners Liv Philip and Daan Verhoeven, which has given me confidence to extend my breath-hold. I hope to keep up with my training in this discipline over the next year. This performance brought Georgina in at fifth place overall against some of the strongest indoor freedivers in the world. Georgina previously held the record at six minutes and four seconds. She was coached by the wife of multiple World Record holder William Trubridge, Brittany, who is herself making waves in the freediving community with her yoga teaching. (www.brittanytrubridge.com) Georgina attended both the Indoor and Depth World Championships this year demonstrating her commitment to the sport across the board. She trains at Richmond pool with Londonfreediving. The BFA congratulates her on her performance and wishes her well for her training and many more records to come. Congratulations to all four British athletes attended the Indoor Worlds. Georgina Miller STA NR 6:11Liv Philip CNF 114mAnna Parayiar first major comp, DYN 134mChris Crawshaw first major comp, STA 6:46, DYN 173m For more information contact press@britishfreediving.org RIGA FREEDIVING CUP 2012 On the weekend of February 11th & 12th 2012 three British athletes set out in the London snow, headed for an even more wintery destination. They were off to the AIDA Riga Freediving Cup 2012 to compete in the biggest indoor competition of the year in Eastern Europe. The competition invites you to take part as an individual and as a team. It was the third time that Riga gathered freedivers from the Baltic nations Sweden, Estonia, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Poland & Finland, and the three UK athletes put on a good show. Liv Philip, Tim Money and Gary McGrath who all train with London Freedivers in Richmond www.londonfreediving.org, competed on the first day in static and dynamic no fins. Liv won the static event with the best static she has done in a competition of 5:58. Later in the day Gary did one of his first DNF competition performances swimming a very stylish 82m. Tim swam an easy 111m to put him in 5th place, and Liv won the women's event and was placed 6th overall in the DNF with an easy 110m swim. After exploring a frozen lake where fishermen cut holes in ice which creaked underfoot as you walked on it, and your face froze after a few minutes in -10, the three cold Brits decided that freediving in Riga was best done in swimming pools and headed off on day two to the 50m pool complex. A memorial to its former soviet days, the pool had real atmosphere. The Dynamic competition is always tough when you are amongst Eastern European Freedivers as they have access to great pools and many experienced athletes who train this discipline. The World Champion Goran Colak was at the event and swam a smooth 225m dynamic. Feeling inspired by watching other great divers, Tim did 163m dynamic performance to put him into 5th place in that event, his best competition distance to date and in beautiful style. Gary and Liv put in two solid performances of 115m & 134m respectively. Liv Philip won the women's competition overall and Goran Colak topped the men's ranking both winning new tailor made Elios freediving suits. Tim, Liv and Gary hope to see some of the freedivers they met in Riga at the UK Championships in Liverpool in March. AIDA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012 2012 World Championships will be held in Nice and applications for team places are open. To qualify for selection free divers must have accumulated ranking points, be a member of the BFA, hold a UK passport and be over 18 years of age and have a valid dive medical signed by a doctor. Ranking points are gained in AIDA recognised competition and record attempts where the freediver is a member of an AIDA national such as the BFA... To qualify for team selection, the closing date for ranking-points accumulation is 9th June 2012. Any points already gained after 12th December 2010 will also count. 5th Med WORLD CUP Organised by is open to all with no entry requirement for ranking points, The Mediterranean World Cup is run annually by the Freediving Club Greece and in 2012 will be held in Crete. For more info and entries contact Stavros at info@freediving-club.gr Also new for 2012, AIDA with the collaboration of the top freediving event organizers around the globe will create the first ever AIDA World Cup Circuit. The 5th Mediterranean World Cup will be the first event of this 2012 World Cup circuit. |
|
Freediving is a potentially dangerous activity. This website exists only to provide general information about freediving and does not constitute any form of instruction. Individuals interested in freediving are strongly encouraged to undertake a course with a qualified instructor and to never freedive alone. The BFA accepts no liability for injury or death resulting from the use of information on this website.
