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Alice Hickson Breaks Dynamic British Record at AIDA World Championships!

Alice Hickson Breaks Dynamic British Record at AIDA World Championships!

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

Alice swam 200m on one breath & is through to A-Finals

On Wednesday 29 June at the Individual AIDA Pool World Championships in Finland, Alice Hickson swam 200m on one breath of air using a monofin (that’s 4 lengths of an olympic size swimming pool), breaking the British dynamic national record by 14m. The previous record, 186m, was held by Rebecca Coales set on 29 November 2014 in Stockport.

Asked about how she was feeling before the swim or if she had any expectations or goals in mind, Alice had this to say:

“I just went with the same old get in and do my best, come up clean, that’s all I can do. I didn’t have a number in mind, it’s only my 3rd ever top in dynamic. I just wanted to come up clean as I knew my mum might be watching on the live stream! During the dive I was thinking about the huge Waterpark next to the pool which were going to go play on in a bit.”

Impressively, Alice now holds all three pool discipline national records: in competition she has held her breath for 6 minutes 58 seconds, swam 174m with no fins and now 200m with a monofin. Alice has been freediving for less than two years and burst onto the scene in style last year’s Pool World Championships in Serbia when she won a gold medal and title of World Champion, a bronze medal and broke 3 national records. Not bad going for competing at her second ever competition!

The Pool World Championship in Finland is not over yet – athletes compete in the three pool freediving disciplines: static apnea, dynamic no fins and dynamic. The qualifying heats are now complete and Alice has won a place in all three of A-Finals which is quite a feat – it shows what an all-round athlete in the pool she is. The A-Finals will start on Friday 1 July and finish on Sunday 3 July.

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

UK Pool National Championships - Alice Hickson  UK Pool National Championships - Adam Drzazga

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).

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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).

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Rebecca Coales takes Dynamic National Record to 179m

Rebecca Coales Dynamic National record
Picture Credit: Nick Robertson-Brown

10th July 2014; — On the 6th July, 2014 Rebecca Coales took the previous female dynamic with fins (DYN) record to 179m at the Life Leisure, Grand Central 50 metre Pool in Stockport (www.lifeleisure.net/enterprise/grandcentralpools). For those new to freediving, DYN is swimming as far as you can horizontally in a swimming pool with a mono fin or bi-fins on one breath of air. Rebecca already holds the current UK dynamic without fins record (DNF).

The DYN record had previously been held by Ruth Griffin, incredibly since 2009. Rebecca, with a very comfortable dive beat the 175m on the board, surfacing with great control and suggesting she is well within her limits. The whole dive took 2 minutes 36 Seconds.

Previous to the 2009 record, another female freediver, who also trained at Grand Central pools, had held it before Ruth: Mandy ‘ the mermaid ‘ Buckley. Many freediving champions and record holders have been coached there and it is a centre of excellence with the swimmers from Stockport Metro training there.

Rebecca is a founder member of the Bristol Freedivers group (www.bristolfreedive.org.uk), where she trains with friends. She is a relative newcomer to the competition circuit, only starting to explore her potential in the last 18 months, starting with a no-fins clinic, and mono fin clinic with Steve Millard of the Apneists UK group (www.learn2freedive.com), based in the North of the UK. Rebecca runs the Om Diver Yoga website (www.omdiver.co.uk) and runs Yoga courses which seem to be perfect cross training for freedivers. She trains with Bristol Freedivers regularly and is sponsored by Aqua Sphere (www.aquasphereswim.com), and wears the Aqua Skins suit.

The team who came and supported Rebecca and her coach Steve Millard at the event were:

International Judges: David Tranfield and Gary Lowe

Safety Divers: Matthias Ruttimann and Rebecca Warren

Surface video: Paul Butterworth

Videographer / Photographer: Martin Toole (http://mtoole.co.uk)

Photographers: Frogfish Photography (http://frogfishphotography.com/underwater.html)

Photographer: Dean Martin, Aqua Sphere (www.aquasphereswim.com)

Medic: Rebecca McCabe

Rebecca would like to thank the management and staff of Life Leisure, Grand Central Pool for their continued support and hosting of this event.

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UK National Indoor Championships 2011

The weekend of 11-12 March saw the UK freediving community congregating in Liverpool’s fabulous state of the art Aquatics Centre for the annual indoor national championships.

Saturday saw an unusual dedicated day of no fins diving, with 15 athletes invited to compete. With the movable boom in place to provide the ideal 25m pool, things were all set for the no finners. Newly qualified from the BFA’s sponsorship programme, Dave Tranfield, was joined poolside by the experienced Sue Pugh to judge the day’s events and some hopeful record attempts.

First up were some solid dives by some new freedivers, including many new to no fins an encouraging sign for the growth of this often overlooked discipline. In the men’s event John Moorcroft came out on top with an impressive 130m swim, getting close to a new UK record. In the women’s event, Liv Philip extended her national record by 5m, setting a new mark of 111m.

Day 2 of the event brought the UK Championships proper, with athletes competing in static and dynamic. The dive of the day in the men’s competition was undoubtedly Dave King’s new UK dynamic record of 226m. Dave took the overall men’s championship for the second year running. Runner-up was Chris Crawshaw from the local Northern gang and in third place was Tim Money from London Freedivers in Richmond.

Liv Philip followed up on her DNF record by taking the women’s championship with two solid dives. London Freediver George Miller was second, and third in the UK championship was newbie from Apneist UK, Nikki Bream.

The highlight of the weekend however, was a courageous and successful dynamic from Mandy Buckley of 150m. Mandy has recovered from a serious illness over the last year and to see her back to her best was an inspiration for everyone present. Mandy will be swimming the Great North Swim on June 18 in aid of CLIC Sergeant and the RNLI. You can sponsor her by going to here. Last word of thanks goes to Steve Millard and his team for organising another very successful competition. The facilities at Liverpool are first class, the staff were incredibly helpful and everyone was made to feel very welcome. We look forward to competing in a major international event here soon, and fingers crossed even more sponsors will see the appeal and we will entice some continental divers over 🙂

We thank our current sponsors for helping this happen

Lifestyles Leisure
Sean Peters www.sppv.co.uk
George Stoyle www.earthinfocus.com
Orca wetsuits www.orca.com
Urban Gastropubs
Electrical lighting superstore
No-Tanx
Free divers

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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 Competition

On May 30th NoTanx held a small comp…

The objectives were two fold…
1. The opportunity for some of UK top athletes to attain AIDA points.
2. To test the organisation for the NoTanx Laurie Comp in July.

Everyone had a thoroughly good time, and although there were only 8 competitors, 4 of them gained places on the National Team.

Alan Barber set a New UK Dynamic Record of 202m.(congratulations Alan)

Thank you to the NoTanx members for running the comp, MT, Steve G and Gad for judging and to Immersion.

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Alan Barber Sets New British Record in Dynamic Apnea

On Thursday 24th July 2008, at the New Malden Centre, London, Alan Barber completed a performance of 186 metres. The new record beats the previous one of 178 metres, set by Martin Macnaughton in 2007. Alan, 35, from Yately, Hampshire is a relative newcomer to the sport and has been freediving for less than 18 months. This is his second UK record, as he also holds Men’s Dynamic Apnea Without Fins, set earlier this year.

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Liv Philip Sets New British Record in Dynamic Apnea

On Saturday 28th June 2008, at the BFA Summer Outdoor Pool Competition, Liv Philip completed a performance of 122 metres, setting a new UK record in the Women’s Dynamic Apnea discipline. The new record beats the previous long-standing one of 119 metres set by Hannah Stacey in 2005. Liv is an AIDA freediving instructor from Camberwell who also holds the British Freediving records in Static Apnea and Dynamic Apnea Without Fins.

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Martin Macnaughton Sets New British Record in Dynamic Apnea

The British Freediving Association is proud to announce a new UK record in the Men’s Dynamic discipline. On Saturday 23rd February 2008 at the 3rd German Indoor Championship in Static and Dynamic Apnea held in Berlin, Martin Macnaughton completed a performance of 178m. The new record beats the previous record of 156m, which had been the oldest of all British records, set by Dave King in 2004. The discipline of Dynamic Apnea involves the athlete travelling horizontally to cover the greatest distance on a single breath.

The record, on its own is a remarkable achievement. However three facts make this record outstanding. Macnaughton, who lives and trains in Copenhagen, has only been freediving since Autumn 2007, which makes him a relative novice. Secondly, Macnaughton’s dynamic dive is the highest result for anyone in their debut AIDA competition, an achievement that has escaped all the current top freedivers. Finally, Martin did this all whilst ill with a heavy cold.

Martin rounded off his debut with an impressive 5 minute 32 second static breath hold, securing him 4th place in the competition overall. BFA Committee member Ben Noble, who was one of four judges attending said “Martin’s performance was very strong, clean and clearly looked like he had more to give. A fantastic surprise for British freediving”.

The Berlin German Indoor Championship is part of the annual German Championship and is the 10th Berlin Master Cup. It attracts top athletes from throughout Europe to compete in Static and Dynamic.

In recent months British freediving has seen a resurgence, with national records for Dynamic and Dynamic No-Fins falling in the last month, and also the meteoric rise of triple world record holder and 2007 Constant Weight World Champion Sara Campbell.