2014 – British Freediving Association

December 9, 2014

Michael Board’s 103m Constant Weight National Record

& taking 4th place at World Famous Suunto Vertical Blue Competition

Wednesday 9th December 2014; — On the 2nd December, at the prestigious Suunto Vertical Blue competition, Michael Board pushed his national record in Constant Weight deeper still, from 102m to 103m; at this kind of depth, each meter is like a milestone. Michael lives in Indonesia, on the island of Gili Trawangan, where he teaches freediving courses and training at his, and partner Kate Middleton’s school Freedive Gili (www.freedivegili.com).

This latest national record is number 8 for Board and it seems that even at the top of their game, experienced freedivers face challenges, set backs and even knocks in confidence. A former Royal Marine, it is not surprising that Board did not allow any obstacles to stand in his way for long and was gracious enough to talk with us at BFA, at the end of the competition on Long Island (the location of VB2014) to share his experience, not only of the competition but of his year training and diving at depth:

‘I am very happy I dived to 103m and set a new British record in Constant Weight as it has been a challenging year for me in depth diving in general and also a difficult competition here in the Bahamas as well. I struggled to match my performances from last year in both the AIDA Euro Cup in Kalamata and the 2014 AIDA Team World Championships in Sardinia earlier this year, some of this was due to being unaccustomed to the water conditions but I also discovered that it can just be hard work getting back down to these deep depths again.’

Board had done several 100m dives in training before arriving in the Bahamas, and had pushed this up to 103m in training on Long Island just before the competition started. However he suffered a big setback on his first attempt at 103m in the competition:

‘The weather changed drastically with strong winds and cooler water catching a lot of us unprepared on that day in our thin tropical wetsuits. I was shivering 15 minutes before my dive and could not relax properly, but chose to dive anyway, perhaps the wrong decision in hindsight. I managed to reach the bottom but had a lot of narcosis, was slow on the ascent and then suffered a black out just short of the surface after being assisted up by the safety divers.’

His confidence bruised but not broken, Board announced the same depth 3 days later, sensibly giving himself a chance to recover and recuperate for a second attempt, for which he was well rewarded:

‘I knew I could do the dive, I just needed to stay warm so I delayed getting in the water this time until the last moment. The dive went well, I reached the bottom plate relaxed and the narcosis did not hit me too strong this time so I managed to think clearly and tell myself to ascend from depth faster, as it happened maybe a little too fast. A good dive to finish the season with, only 1 meter up on last year, but happy to end the year on a high and moving in the right direction.’

Board came an impressive 4th at the end of the competition, with a Free Immersion (FIM) dive to 95m and a Constant No Fins (CNF) dive to 56m. Also at the competition were top British Freedivers with some impressive results: Chris Crawshaw, also of Freedive Gili who placed 8th (75m CWT, 70m FIM, 68m CNF) and John Moorcroft of Apneists UK who placed 10th (71m CWT, 63m CNF).

November 30, 2014

BFA AGM 8 November 2014

BFA AGM 2014 bubble rings

The annual AGM was was hosted by Salt Free (http://www.saltfree.biz) at the NDAC (www.ndac.co.uk) on Saturday 8th November and we had a great turn out! Despite the chilly weather some of us even went for a dip before the meeting. It was a beautiful day for a dive and we were treated to 20m visibility. There was even time for a bit of bubble ring blowing to end the session before getting down to the serious business of the meeting. It’s been a great year for British freediving, we can’t mention everything, but to give you an idea we’ve seen BFA members breaking national records, winning international competitions, taking and being the subjects of beautiful underwater photography, there was a short film featured by Redbull and spreads on freediving in the broadsheets. We can’t believe it’s almost the end of the year, but its that time when the committee often changes and so we would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye and thank you to Charlotte Sundberg, our membership officer and welcome in her place Rebecca Coales. Thank you all for your continued support of the BFA and the committee; we hope we may continue to be of service to you and our aim is still the same, to help freediving flourish and grow.

From all of us at the BFA, we wish you a Merry Christmas and lots of exciting, wonderful and safe dives for 2015!

Minutes from the Meeting

Location: Salt Free divers, NDAC

Apologies: Adam, Charlotte, David, Liv, Martyn

Present, George, Beci, Bart, Tim, Rebecca, Luke, Jay and Daan

2013/14 Committee
Chair – Adam Dzraga
Clubs Officer – George Miller
Competitions Officer – Bart Lubecki
E Media Officer – Tim Money
Membership Secretary – charlotte sundberg
Press Officer – Beci Ryan
Records & AIDA Liaison Officer – David Tranfield
Secretary – care taken by Georgina Miller
Sponsorship Officer – Jay Cluskey
Training & Safety Officer – Liv Philip
Treasurer – care taken by Martyn Jones

1) Thanks to Charlotte for her time on the committee and warm welcome to new committee member Rebecca Coales who is the new Membership Officer.

2) Apologies were received.

3) Minutes of last meeting were reviewed with no comments or objections.

4) Notification of Committee Members for 2014/15 were announced:

2014/15 Committee
Chair – Adam Dzraga
Clubs Officer – George Miller
Competitions Officer – Bart Lubecki
E Media Officer – Tim Money
Membership Secretary – Rebecca Coales
Press Officer – Beci Ryan
Records & AIDA Liaison Officer – David Tranfield
Secretary – care taken by Georgina Miller and Beci Ryan
Sponsorship Officer – Jay Cluskey
Training & Safety Officer – Liv Philip
Treasurer – care taken by Martyn jones

5) Committee reports, condensed versions were read out.

6) Announcement of Fees – it was unanimously agreed that there would be no change to Membership Fee for 2015.

7) Team Selection for 2015 – AIDA Individual Pool World Championships will be in Belgrade in June. It was proposed that we aim to send maximum number of athletes possible to this event (top three by AIDA ranking plus reserves, captain and coach). Maximum number of athletes is to be confirmed. The individual team members will be chosen based on AIDA Ranked performance from 18 months prior to cut off date. Cut off date 3 months before entry deadline. The Depth World Championships are to be held in Cyprus. Team selection will be the same as for the Pool World Championships.

8) Announcement of UK Champions – Congratulations to Mike Board and Liv Philip. Results gathered by Georgina Miller according to AIDA ranked points (Nov 2013 – Nov 2014)

ChairIt was suggested that the Chairman and Secretary collaborate more closely to ensure that emails and responses are organised and seen through to an end point. It was agreed that the Chairman organise quarterly meetings along with a To Do list for each role.

Membership

To get an operating e-membership system up and running with up to date database to allow membership communication via mail chimp to members from all roles.
Build Membership, invest a budget amount for marketing, i.e. advert in Dive Magazines, a stand at the dive show. A suggestion was made to attend a Triathlon show.
What can we offer our members? It was agreed that a quarterly newsletter go out to members and possibility of a members get together.

Clubs

How to build Clubs and members?
Ways in which to include, or not include, other freediving agencies or organisations on the BFA listings of affiliate clubs was discussed. At the moment we list SSI Clubs only if they have AIDA instructors and are teaching AIDA courses. Should we also include other freediving clubs who do not teach AIDA courses on our affiliate clubs in our listings? The topic was discussed and it was suggested that the Club’s Officer build a proposal to be discussed at a later date.
How can we encourage Clubs to recommend BFA membership to their club members, should this be mandatory? It was agreed that it should not be mandatory but we should invite organisers to encourage their members to join by sending information out to them of promotional offers and / or flyers to hand out (maybe for inclusion as part of a welcome pack if already done so by the club).

Sponsorship

Report was given on this year’s sponsors: Elios, Prawno, Beet-it and Bounce Balls.
Ideas for next year’s National and World Championship sponsors were discussed. It was suggested and agreed that the Sponsorship Officer along with the Press Officer should start targeting potential sponsors for 2015.
It was requested that the following be voted upon:
Should the BFA should cover shortfall in sponsorship – i.e. currently, if there are not enough suits provided for all athletes, the team splits the cost between them to ensure all the team are provided for.
Decision: It was voted that the BFA would not cover the shortfall
Should the BFA cover the cost of any extra bags or weight costs incurred by athlete/s to carry kit to an event?
Decision: It was voted that the BFA should in principal cover the costs of transporting goods but covering the shortfall should be done on a case-by-case basis.
Should the BFA pay for a Media package if offered at a World Championship event, to be used by BFA for sponsors and given to athletes for their use, and our promotional material.
Decision: It was voted that the BFA would vote upon this on a case-by-case basis.

Press

It was suggested that we should get sponsorship offers out to members. This could go out with renewals for membership? Offers could also be shared on the Face Book page and website.
A vote was requested on the BFA covering the costs of dive shows.
Decision: Yes but on a case-by-case basis but only with enough information and plenty of time to organise. It was also stipulated that the data base of personal information and contact details go back to the BFA ONLY and not to individual clubs. It was proposed that the BFA pay for one dive shoe and one tri show.
The possibility of a media page for the website was suggested.

Training and Safety: A report was read out at the meeting.

Treasurer: Statement was emailed to committee members on-line. It was decided that rather than set budgets in advance, decisions on finances would be made on a case-by-case basis of proposals. It was agreed that quarterly statements would be very useful to help consider spending. Report on monies spent.

Competitions

The first competition grant was awarded to Apnea Revolution, a London based club. This was their first competition. The first competition grant generated new membership to cover the cost of the grant. The grant and competition were deemed to have been a success.
Grant maximum amounts were agreed:
Pool Competition Grant (maximum £250 Grant)
Depth Competition Grant (maximum £400 Grant)
National Championships Grant (Pool or Depth, maximum £250 Grant each)

AOB:
The possibility of organising an outdoor happening in the summer for freedivers to meet, take part in workshops and take part in games. Bart and Rebecca agreed to have a look into this and report back to the committee.It was proposed and agreed to have a meeting every quarter via Skype to ensure ideas and projects run smoothly and are progressed efficiently.

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).

November 6, 2014

Apnea Revolution Cup BFA Pool Competition

A day of Firsts for Apnea Revolution and the BFA

Thursday 6 November 2014; — On Saturday 1st November, Apnea Revolution (www.apnearevolution.com), organised their first pool freediving competition: the Apnea Revolution Cup BFA Pool Competition at the Queen Mother Sports Centre (www.better.org.uk. Apnea Revolution received sponsorship from BFA in the form of a pool competition grant, which is the first time the competition grants system has been introduced. There were some fantastic performances all around. Tim Money (UK) won with 154m DYN out of the men and Beci Ryan with 134m DNF for the women; in second place were Eoin Clarke (IRE) with 107m DNF and Rebecca Coales (UK) a very close second with 130m DNF; in third place were Deividas Stankevicius (LTU) with 105m DYN and Ana Vadillo (ESP) with 104m DYN, both personal bests.

Twenty athletes signed up to compete in either Dynamic with Fins (DYN) or Dynamic No Fins (DNF) in the beautiful 25m pool in Victoria, Central London. There were 11 countries represented with freedivers from 4 clubs across the UK.

Apnea Revolution is run by a group of experienced freedivers, made up of competitors, instructors, safety divers and judges. An ideal group to organise a competition, the team worked together seamlessly, from start to finish, creating a relaxed and fun environment for the athletes, many of whom were competing for the first time.

It was a beautiful if unseasonably warm afternoon as the athletes congregated around the pool to register for the competition. After a brief by the organisers on how the competition would run and a review of the rules, the athletes drifted off to stretch and mentally prepare for their ‘Official Top’ (the time of their dive). There was wonderful air of calm with an undercurrent of excitement as the experienced and new athletes mingled and prepared, offering one another advice and coaching when needed.

In the pool, there were no shortage of safety divers on hand to keep an eye on the athletes, helping to alleviate nerves and boost confidences in the water – eight safety divers were in attendance no less! The safety team were always there when needed but never in the way, their hard training clearly paying off.

There were some brilliant performances and it wasn’t necessarily the bigger swims that were any more enjoyable or impressive to watch than the not so big. Competing can be both a terrifying and exhilarating experience and it was great to see so many new faces braving the water under official conditions.

Apnea Revolution have already expressed an interest in hosting another pool competition and the BFA will be sure to keep you updated with any news. The next and final competition of the year will be run by Apneists UK (www.freedivingcompetition.com) and will happen in Stockport on Saturday 29th November.

Apnea Revolution and the BFA would like to thank all of the staff and lifeguards at the Queen Mother Sports Centre for not only allowing us to use their wonderful pool and facilities, but also for making everyone feel so welcome.

The BFA are offering a number of Grants to promote freediving in the UK, the following grants can be applied for pool, depth and national championships. The grants are discretionary and may be awarded dependent upon the review and acceptance of an application submitted by the competition organiser.

November 2, 2014

Helena Bourdillon Wins Bronze at Triple Depth

And ranks 2nd for UK in CNF!

Sunday 2 November 2014; — From 14th to 20th October, Freedive Dahab (www.freedivedahab.com) ran it’s 10th annual Triple Depth competition. British Freediver Helena Bourdillon, of Apnea Revolution (www.apnearevolution.com) and Freedive 2000 (www.freediving2000.co.uk) took part in her first ever freediving competition, securing third place on the podium and ranking number 2 in the UK for a tremendous 40m no fins dive! The BFA caught up with Helena to congratulate her on her achievements and ask if she would share her experiences with us of her first competition.

Helena arrived in Dahab at the end of September for the start of a 12-week trip. The idea was to spend three weeks training and then compete. Over the three weeks, training, Helena built up some great friendships and had some, she says, ‘fabulous dive buddies’. Prior to the competition, there were three morning training sessions and then a rest day before the competition. Over the three competition days, Helena would learn some valuable lessons and go through some steep learning curves:

‘All three training days were not particularly good but then it was my first competition so I didn’t really know what to expect. Lack of decent sleep and a diet borne of nervousness probably didn’t help. By the time of the competition, I was a nervous wreck but hiding it reasonably well, I think.

Day 1 was Free Immersion (FIM). Conditions were perfect with blue skies and calm seas. Alas a Red Card as I managed to tangle my lanyard in the noodle I was breathing up on. Didn’t even get to 4m. Lesson learnt – get a coach and ask them to keep checking!

I was very annoyed with myself but then realised that all of the pressure I had piled on myself had gone away so I could think about trying to enjoy myself a little bit and push myself a bit further.

Day 2 was Constant Weight (CWT) and I announced 50m. It was not a good dive. I’ve never had any issues with mouth-fill and I heard / felt the darn thing disappear into my stomach leaving me with pretty much nothing. I went a few more metres and then grabbed the line, took a sneaky peak to the bottom plate and decided I was going to get the tag. Back up to the surface and a White Card for protocol but the grab cost me a Yellow Card and 5 point deduction.

Day 3, Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) and I had announced 40m, which was 2m further than my PB. The swell was rather larger that day and it took a lot of focus to remain calm before the dive started. Once the countdown had started it was familiar and easier. I was super happy with the dive. It was relaxed and strong and I felt like I wanted to go again when I got back to the surface!

I went to the Triple Depth wanting to get 3 white cards. I came away with a full colour selection and a number of experiences and lessons that I’m glad I had during my first competition and not further down the line (hopefully!).’

November 1, 2014

Stockport Pool Competition November 29th

There will be a Pool Freediving competition held by ApneistsUK (www.freedivers.co.uk) on November 29th 2014 in Manchester. The organiser will be Steve Millard. There will be both complete beginners and current record holders attending, and anyone is free to join in whatever their level. If you don’t feel like competing, come and watch or even help out for the experience. There are viewing galleries for spectators. It will be an excellent warm up competition for the 6th Great Northern in 2015 on March 21st and 22nd in Liverpool.

It is the 12th AIDA recognised event by the group over the past 5 years. This competition will be small, relaxed and informal, no large prizes, but will hold AIDA ranking status. It is supported by the Freediving grant from the British Freediving Association (BFA www.britishfreediving.org) It will be held in Greater Manchester at the Life Leisure Stockport Grand Central pool. This is a long course, 50 metre pool. It will take the form of a single event with the possibility of a second. The choice is between swimming distance with a mono fin (DYN), swimming distance without fins (DNF) or maximum stationary breath hold (STA).

Registration will be from 5.30pm. The pool is booked the pool from 7.00pm – 9.00pm. The first dive will be around 7.45pm for spectators.

A video of Rebecca Coales Dynamic with fins record held here earlier in the year showing the pool and facilities can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3pQjrvaI_w

Please e-mail Steve Millard, apneaboy111@hotmail.com or visit http://www.freedivingcompetition.com/stockport-2014.html to book your slot or more information as it becomes available.
Location:
Grand Central Square, Wellington Road South, Stockport, SK1 3TA
(Directly opposite Grand Central Train Station for an easy journey in)

November 1, 2014

Dave Kent Continues to Push Greater Depths

Dave Kent 73m National Record in CNF

Earning himself a New 73m National Record in CNF – Read the story in Dave’s own words Saturday 11 October 2014 – On 6th October 2014, Dave Kent beat his previous Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) national record, by diving to 73m at the Little Blue Hole competition in Dahab. In fact he had already broken his own national record a week earlier by 1m. Dave’s previous national record, from 27 July last year, stood at 70m (again at a Little Blue Hole competition). Dave was kind enough to give us here at the British Freediving Association (BFA), a report on his recent national records:

I came out to Dahab on the 20th August with not the greatest preparation, as 1 week earlier I cracked my head open which required 3 stitches. I had these removed the day before my flight.

I planned on 10 training days, spread over two and a half weeks, ending with my record comp on the 6th; however there was a competition happening at the end of my first week which I used as a warm up. In hindsight, I wish I had announced much deeper for this dive. The competition date was 30th August. I announced 71m, as I just wanted to get a white card. The dive though was by far the easiest competition dive off my life. Completed in 2 minutes and 28 seconds, very comfortably. Unfortunately in the time between this dive and my next competition on the 6th September, I caught a touch of the ‘Dahab Bug’ which clearly affected my final announced performance (AP), this being 73m. The dive was still quick, 02:35, though I had clearly lost a bit of strength that week, and it showed during the dive.

What I am most pleased about now though is how quickly I can get to these depths coming from the UK. Within 4 days of arriving I was comfortably back in 70m territory. I attribute this to three things: My dry strength and conditioning training programme; the weekly use I have of a 4m dive pit with my local scuba club Sovereign Aquatrek (www.sovereignaquatrek.co.uk); and the equalisation dry training programme that I have developed having worked over the last 12 months with the likes of Jonny Sunnex; Andrea Zuccari and Aharon Solomon. What used to be the weakest part of my dive is now my strongest. For both dives I set my alarm at 21m to charge the mouth-fill, and this took me comfortably to the plate each time.

I feel very confident about a competition doing an 80m plus CNF dive in 2015.

I also need to thank my good friend and coach when I am in Dahab, Brian Crossland, for amending the finer points in my technique, and the calmness he brings every time I hook on the line.

Finally a huge congrats to British Freediving. Seriously, there have been some amazing achievements over the last 12 months, pool and depth. I don’t see many of you very often, and some I haven’t met at all, but to all concerned a huge well done.

The BFA would like to congratulate Dave on his continued success and dedication to the sport of freediving and to British freediving, your support is very much appreciated and valued.

November 1, 2014

BFA 2014 Annual General Meeting

The committee would like to say thank you to David Tranfield for his time as records officer over the last years. We are sad to see him leave and wish him all the best with his diving in the future. Also we should say another big thank you to Charlotte Sundberg, who will be stepping down as membership Officer. Your help will be missed!

It’s that time of year again. This year’s British Freediving Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Saturday the 8th You are all very welcome to come to the AGM, listen, take part and give your views. We will meet first for a dive session at 1100 am and the AGM will be after that. So please come along have some fun! Diving is open to anyone qualified to AIDA 2 Star or equivalent. Please sign up at http://www.saltfree.biz/8novag letting us know what kind of maximum depth you’d be diving to (max on the day is 50m). Please note there will be a £7.50 entry fee to NDAC on the gate and £5 payable to Saltfree on the day. You will need to have your own kit, including a lanyard. If you need to hire anything, please contact sam@saltfreedivers.com who may be able to help out.

The AGM is your chance to find out what the British Freediving Association has been up to over the past year and express your views on what it should be doing in the year ahead. Most importantly, it is your chance to stand for a Committee position and get involved!

We need to fill quite a few gaps in the BFA Committee this year and really hope you will use this chance to give something back to the sport you love. Without the BFA, we may not be able to compete at International level or organise recognised competitions, will struggle with teaching insurance and won’t get our records recognised properly. If the Committee positions are not filled, then there is a good chance the BFA won’t be able to continue – so please consider whether you might be able to give an hour or so a week to give something back. To continue, according to our Constitution, we must appoint at least a Chair, Membership Secretary, Training & Safety Officer and a Treasurer. There are lots of other roles to fill! At the moment we desperately need a membership officer, records officer, treasurer and secretary, there are others standing for the other roles but if you are interested do stand up to be counted! The Committee posts can all be managed wherever you live, as long as you have internet and email access a couple of times a week. Whilst it would be helpful, to us and to you, you do not need to attend the AGM to stand for a position.

The BFA Committee positions are:

Chair – Currently Adam Drzazga, who will stand again. The Chair manages the organisation of the Committee in terms of the AGM, leads discussions on new developments for the organisation, keeps a bit of an eye to make sure all the Committee members are fulfilling their post’s requirements and generally keeps email and other discussions under control. The Chair sometimes also ends up covering roles in the short-term when vacancies arise and acting as a point of contact for other Committee members when they are on leave.

Clubs – Currently Georgina Miller, who will stand again. The Clubs Officer manages the recognition of BFA affiliated clubs, answers questions from club organisers and members, supports the clubs in developing their activities and advises on how to set up new clubs.

Competitions – Currently Bart Lubeki, who will stand again. The Competitions Officer supports anyone in the UK organising AIDA-ranked competitions, oversees the competition from the BFA’s point of view and may work with the E Media and Press Officer to help promote the competition. If organisers do not come forward, the Competitions Officer may be required to proactively seek out and encourage members to organise competitions.

E Media – Currently Tim Money, who will be standing again .The E Media Officer runs the BFA website and e-communications. This is the face of British freediving!

Membership – Currently Charlotte Sundberg who will be stepping down. The Membership Officer keeps track of who the current members are, processes membership applications, sends out membership e-cards and works with the Sponsorship Officer on building member benefits. Some IT knowledge is a help in this role.

Press Officer – Currently Becky Ryan, who will be standing again. The Press Officer liaises with the media (mostly the UK dive press and dive websites) to publicise records, competitions and other freediving stories and acts as a point of contact for media with queries about freediving. A new appointee will be provided with lists of contacts but it would be helpful if they had some previous PR or writing experience. The Press Officer needs to work closely with the E Media Officer and the Sponsorship Officer, to ensure all stories are covered on the website and that Sponsors get sufficient coverage in return for their support. They also manage the face book page- Phew!

Records and AIDA Liaison Officer – Currently David Tranfield, who will be stepping down. This position is responsible for liaising with the AIDA International Board and AIDA Judge list, sending information on any AIDA International Level votes (about 10 a year) out to the Committee, monitoring responses and sending back our reply. This post also handles the management and recognition process for UK records, based on the UK record rules you can download from the BFA website, and liaises with the Press and E Media Officers to make sure the records are publicised. It would be helpful if the person appointed to this post were an AIDA Judge.

Secretary – currently care taken by Georgina Miller. The Secretary manages communications with members, takes minutes at the AGM and provides secretarial support to the other Committee members as required.

Sponsorship – currently Jay Cluskey, who will be standing again. The Sponsorship Officer manages our relationships with sponsors and builds new sponsorship agreements. Sponsorship normally relates to the UK Team but it would be great to achieve more general sponsorship for freediving in the UK.

Training & Safety – currently Liv Philip, who will be standing again. This post oversees freedive training within the UK, working with the AIDA Education Committee to advise instructors on matters of training. It also has a wider remit, usually working with the Clubs Officer and sometimes with the Competitions Officers, to advise on matters of safety and is responsible for keeping the Open Water and Confined Water BFA safety advice sheets up to do date. The Training and Safety Officer needs to be a qualified freedive instructor.

Treasurer – currently Martyn Jones, who will step down if a replacement can be found. The Treasurer produces the annual BFA accounts for the AGM, keeps an eye on our finances, makes a final decision with the Chair on major expenditures, runs the BFA bank account and PayPal account. The treasurer ideally would have experience of keeping accounts, or accounting qualifications.

ALL the Committee members are actively involved in voting on AIDA International matters, discussing and putting forward the UK’s views on the development of the sport through AIDA, selection and support of the UK Team at AIDA International competitions and supporting the BFA in various ways in its purpose of “promoting freediving recreationally and competitively, in safe environments”.

Voting Process – In line with the BFA Constitution, anyone who wishes to stand (or re-stand) for a post, should send an email submission, stating the post or posts for which they would like to be considered along with a short CV or manifesto explaining why they think they would be suitable. This should be sent in by the 18th committee@britishfreediving.org. Where more than one person stands for a post, it will go to a majority vote of BFA members. Any vote will be sent to all BFA Members by the 25th October. You have two weeks to vote and the results will be announced at the AGM on the 8th November.

Thanks again for your support and we look forward to seeing you at the AGM.

British freediving committee

October 12, 2014

Team GB at 9th AIDA Team World Championships

Sponsored by Elios Sub, Prawno Apparel, Beet-it and Bounce Foods

Sunday 12 October 2014; — From the 16th to 27th September, the ninth AIDA Team World Championships took place in the Gulf of Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia, organised by Blue World Apnea School (www.blueworldchamp.it).

This year the UK was represented by a team of 3 men and 3 women: Georgina Miller, Liv Philip, Beci Ryan, Mike Board, Tim Money and Adam Drzazga. Jay Cluskey acted as a fantastically organized and supportive coach to all the athletes; attending the daily Event Committee meetings, keeping everyone up to date with competition news and ensuring people had what they needed throughout.

The team had fantastic sponsors in the form of Elios Sub (www.eliossub.com), Prawno Apparel (www.prawnoapparel.co.uk), Beet-it (www.beet-it.com), and Bounce Energy Balls (www.bouncefoods.com).

Team events takes place every other year (alternating with the individual events), and as one of the UK team put it this year, the team event is a very different kind of beast! Being a member of the team requires thought and work both before and during the event – tactics and intentions need to be discussed openly and honestly, for example are individuals aiming for personal bests (therefore increasing the risks of a yellow or red card), or are they open about working together, setting aside their own goals and potentially pulling back their performances in the hope of gaining a place on the podium?

Because of rough weather at sea, the competition started with Static (STA). Ordinarily Constant Weight (CWT) is the first event, followed by STA and ending with Dynamic (DYN). The change in order put everyone on their toes, the athletes because they thought they had plenty of time to practice STA in between the other disciplines and the Organiser because it was uncertain when the CWT would fit in, if at all.

On the evening before the announcements for STA, the team sat down together. Each person was given a chance to talk about their expectations and aspirations of the event; by the end it was agreed that athletes be given the freedom to go out and do own best performance under their own judgment. The idea was to then reconvene after the first performance day had finished and re-evaluate the situation accordingly.

It was a real mixed day for both UK teams as everyone did valiant performances, with some huge holds. Michael Board held his breath for 07:01, Tim Money for 05:55 and Liv Philip and Beci Ryan did competition personal bests (PB) of 06:05 and 04:58 respectively. Georgina Miller did a massive hold of 06:30, however the surface protocol (SP) stood in her way for a very minor error. Adam Drzazga did a brave hold of 07:15 but he too lost out to the SP. I think it’s important to say that both athletes had the full support of their teams for their fantastic efforts.

There is a silver lining in receiving a red card for the teams, in that it allows athletes the option of going all out for personal glory for the rest of the competition. The Brits were not the only team to receive red cards, five other countries also got them – the Italian team got two, both in women’s team for the touch rule (it is forbidden for an athlete to be touched by anyone upon surfacing), which is especially bitter as both athletes did clean performances and nothing wrong, it’s rather like the home goal rule in football.

Next up was CWT and the competition day saw near perfect conditions in the beautiful blue waters of Sardinia. The harbour, a short walk from the hotel, had a host of speedboats scheduled to ferry the athletes to and from the dive site where two competition lines were setup to ensure a slick and speedy day of diving. The competition started with the deepest divers and ended with the shallowest and second up to dive that morning was Michael Board who went down to 95m; Tim Money did a solid swim to 61m and Adam went to 55m and came back with a PB. Liv swam an impressive 70m, another PB for her in the competition, Georgina swam with ease to 50m and Beci to 40m. Everyone received white cards and there were smiles all round.

The third and final competition day was reserved for DYN. This is always an exciting discipline to end on and is often when the goal posts for podium places change, this World Championships was no different. Usually if a team receives a red card at any point in the competition they forfeit the chance of a medal, yet the Russian Men’s team proved an exception to the rule by taking home gold! The UK men’s team put in fantastic efforts with Michael pulling out a big 201m swim, Tim Money a PB of 176m and Adam Drzazga 175m, which is a long way to swim and a lot of turns in a 25m pool! Georgina Miller swam a comfortable and easy 126m, but both Liv and Beci were not so lucky and got red cards. Beci Ryan received her first red card in competition, she swam 168m, which is a big distance, but failed with her recovery breathing upon surfacing.

Overall everyone walked away deservedly pleased with their performances. New boundaries were discovered, lessons learned and training and freediving relationships cemented.

Competition season is not over yet for this year, in fact we are pleased to announce that there are two pool competitions happening in the UK next month: the Apnea Revolution Cup BFA Pool competition (www.apnearevolution.com), in London on Saturday 1st November and the 3rd BFA Madchester Classic (www.freedivingcompetition.com), in Stockport on Saturday 29th. Both competitions have benefited from the BFA’s newly introduced Pool Grant aimed at promoting freediving in the UK.

September 10, 2014

Liv Philip Wins 2014 Euro Cup

Michael Board and Georgina Miller take 2nd Places

Liv Philips wins AIDA Freediving World Cup Curcuit 2014 Georgina Miller 2nd place AIDA Freediving World Cup Curcuit 2014 Mike Board 2nd place AIDA Freediving World Cup Curcuit 2014
Picture Credit: Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com)

10 Sept 2014; — Liv Philip wins the 2014 Freediving Cup Circuit and AIDA Euro Cup!

Liv Philip has done it again and taken first place at the AIDA Euro Cup in Kalamata, with strong, confident dives across all the competition depth disciplines and even managing to pop in a personal best at the end with a big Constant Weight (CWT) swim of 67m, showing that Liv has not yet reached her limit.

For those who are not familiar with the freediving depth disciplines, CWT is when a freediver swims down a rope, to a pre-agreed depth with the use of a monofin, without pulling on the rope and without changing weight.

British athletes Georgina Miller and Michael Board took second place on the podium for the women and men. George competed in all of the depth disciplines, even putting in a competition personal best to 51m in CWT. Mike Board is on form with dives in the 90’s in CWT, one to an impressive 95m. With the World Championships in Sardinia a mere week away, and Liv, Mike and Georgina making up half of the team, these are exciting times for the British athletes!