Tag: Depth

Posted on

New British NLT record

Harry ChamasBritish freediver Harry Chamas has set a new national record of 120m depth in the No Limits freediving discipline in Kalamata, Greece.

The previous British record of 101m was set byJ im Lawless in 2010 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.On 18 September 2017, Harry descended on a weighted sled running along a rope to a depth of 120m, under the supervision of a safety team. The sled incorporates a scuba air cylinder and a large air bag. On reaching the target depth, the freediver inflates the air bag with air from the cylinder, which then rushes to the surface, taking the freediver with it.

Harry said: “As a coach, I believe in breaking diving down and mastering each aspect of freediving individually. This can be done by focusing on specific skills, the different stages of a dive or the mental processes that occur on a dive. I do the same with my own diving and this No Limits dive means I have experience of extreme depths before ever venturing therein the traditional disciplines. The dive itself was fantastic and I am honored to have had this moment in the depths of the ocean. I plan to spend the next few years exploring new questions about my physical and mental capabilities and reach 100+m in CWT and FI. I would like to thank everyone I have spent time with in the water. I have learned something from everyone and I thank the whole team here at Freedive Club Greece, David Tranfield and the British Freediving Association.”

Harry began freediving in Australia eight years ago and is a freediving coach. He set a national record last year in the Variable Weight freediving discipline reaching a depth of 105m (descent on weighted sled with ascent by finning or pulling on the rope to the surface).Harry’s freediving coaching site is at (www.freedivepassion.com).Harry Chamas

 

Posted on

UK team for the 2017 AIDA Depth World Championships

Former Royal Marine Michael Board extends his British national freediving record. Michael Board and freediver Dean Chaouche set additional national records in two other freediving disciplines.

The British Freediving Association (BFA) is delighted to announce that three new UK national freediving records have been set at the annual Vertical Blue international freediving competition held in the Bahamas which ended on 10 May 2017. The records have now been officially confirmed by the international freediving association, AIDA. Three British freedivers competed at the nine-day competition: Michael Board, Dean Chaouche and Georgina Miller. Key freediving disciplines in the Vertical Blue competition are: CWT = constant weight; a dive with fins or monofin; CNF = constant no fins; a dive with no fins; and FIM = free immersion – the freediver uses a rope to descend and ascend without fins. All three athletes performed exceptionally well during the course of the competition, achieving the following final results in their chosen disciplines:

Michael Board: CWT: 108m (new British national record); FIM: 100m (new British national record)

Dean Chaouche: CNF: 80m (new British national record)

Georgina Miller: CWT: 54m CNF: 33m FIM: 44m (Georgina placed sixth overall at the competition amongst a strong field.)

Michael Board, a former Royal Marine Commando, was the first British man to freedive to 100m in 2013. He owns and runs a freediving school and yoga center in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia called Freedive Gili and Gili Yoga. With his performance, Dean Chaouche is one of the top 10 deepest divers in the world in the CNF discipline. He is a freediving instructor at Team Vertical Blue in the Bahamas. Georgina runs Aquacity Freediving in Cornwall and is a six-time UK national freediving record holder. Commenting on his performance, Michael Board said: “After two years of struggling to find the way to dive deeper, this year seems to be a breakthrough year for me. Vertical Blue was a tough competition this year with so many good deep freedivers from around the world really pushing hard and trying to dive deeper than ever. However, I trained well for this competition. After rupturing my eardrum last year just before the competition started and not being able to compete I was really motivated to come back strong. My training this time focused a lot on being in good physical shape as you would expect, but equally on being mentally prepared with a strong emphasis on meditation. ”

“I started the competition well on the first day (30 April) with a dive to 104m in the constant weight discipline, which was one meter deeper than my British record of 103m from 2014. However, I got a penalty point for losing the tag on the swim up and so it did not qualify as a new record. This was disappointing but gave me confidence as I had achieved the depth and knew I could dive deeper. On the second day of the competition fellow British freediver, Dean Chaouche, dived to 98m in Free Immersion (diving by pulling up and down the rope) breaking my own national record in this discipline by one meter. This threw down the gauntlet and I knew I would have to try and dive deeper to regain it later in the competition. On the 4 May, Day 4 of the competition, I did a dive to 106m in Constant weight in a dive time of just 2’59. This bettered my last British record which was a dive to 103m in December 2014. After the success of this dive I decided to have a crack at taking back the British free immersion record on Day 5. So on 5 May, I did a dive to 100m, adding two meters on the record set by Dean Chaouche just 5 days before on Day 1. Finally, on Day 9 of the competition, the last day, I decided to try for an even bigger dive in constant weight and dived to 108m, also in 2’59, adding a further two meters to the British record I had set a few days before. This also put me in the third place position with a bronze medal in the constant weight discipline – my first podium finish after five years of competing at Vertical Blue!”

Michael Board and Dean Chaouche will be competing again as part of the mixed, six-strong UK freediving team at the AIDA Freediving World Championships in Roatán, Honduras. This competition will take place from 22 August to 2 September 2017.

Posted on

National Record #2 for Dean Chaouche 78m CNF dive set at Blue Element, Dominica

Dean Chaouche 78m CNF National RecordDean Chaouche 78m CNF National Record

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

Dean Chaouche claimed his second British record in Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) diving to a depth of 78m at the inaugural Blue Element International freediving competition, adding 4m to his previous record of 74m, set at Vertical Blue in the Bahamas on 22 April this year. Many believe CNF to be the purest freediving discipline; the athlete relying on strength and technique, may only use his arms and legs to propel himself through the water, in a style of breaststroke, down a weighted guideline and back.

The record was broken on day 3 of 6 and was a boost to Dean’s confidence after an unsuccessful Constant Weight national record attempt on day 1 of 104m:

“I knew after the first day I needed to do a dive which I knew I could do and it did the trick. It felt easy on the way down it felt good on the way up so I feel confident now that I can proceed into the competition and reattempt the first dive on the first day. The island is beautiful, this amazing back drop and the conditions in training were awesome.”

And after giving the above quote, the next day Dean completed a 91m FIM dive, so it appears that the record holder has regained control and focus and is on track to attempt the CWT dive.

Blue Element International is taking place on the island of Dominica, in a huge volcanic crater where water drops to depths of hundreds of meters, just a short distance from the shore. Athletes taking part in the competition have the choice of competing in any one or all of the competition depth disciplines: Constant Weight (CWT), Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) and Free Immersion (FIM). The competition started on Friday 4 November and will finish on Friday 11.

Posted on

British freediver Harry Chamas has set a new National Record of 105m depth in variable weight

Harry Chamas Variable Weight National Record

Picture Credit: By Denys Rylov (Den GC) at (http://Dengc.photos)

British freediver Harry Chamas has set a new National Record of 105m depth in variable weight in Kalamata, Greece. On Friday 14 October, Harry took a weighted sled down past 100m to reach his target, before swimming all the way back to the surface. This exceeds the previous variable weight record of 80m, held by Mark Harris since 2007.

Harry started freediving in Australia seven years ago and this year became a staff instructor at the Freediving Club in Greece, which has allowed him regular access to the sea. He was head of safety at the recent AIDA World Championships held in Kalamata. However, he’s not always had access to such depths. Harry says “most of my time I have not had access to depth below 30m, but it was all I needed to learn how to put myself into deep states of relaxation and to master my technique”. He added that “visualization can be just as valuable as diving for your training. Being confident is the key”.

You may not see Harry around the competition circuit, however, as he explains that “I’ve never enjoyed competition, I don’t handle the nerves very well, and the idea of doing an official attempt did make me nervous. But each time I thought about the attempt and would get an adrenaline rush, I would use it as an opportunity to control myself and used meditation to drop my heart rate and enter a place of peace, which was fantastic training”.

“On the day of the attempt I was in a perfect place mentally and was well rested, the ocean was calm, and I was amongst friends. It didn’t take me long to get prepared, in fact I didn’t have any nerves”.

Despite poor water visibility and cold water, Harry achieved a “perfect descent” and despite having few visual references on the way back up, he says he felt “fresh as a daisy” on the surface.

Harry dedicates this national record to his Granddad who is sick in hospital at the moment. He thanks Stavros Kastrinakis, Roxane Nicholls, David Tranfield and Brian Crossland for making this dive possible.

Posted on

British freedive team perform at the World Championships in Kalamata, Greece

Carl Atkinson - Static at the 2016 AIDA World Championships, KalamataAdam Drzazga - Constant Weight at the 2016 AIDA World Championships, Kalamata
Georgina Miller - Dynamic at the 2016 AIDA World Championships, KalamataTim Money - Static at the 2016 AIDA World Championships, Kalamata

British divers Adam Drzazga, Tim Money and Carl Atkinson, with Adam Mustoe in reserve, formed the men’s team, finishing in 8th place behind winners Czech Republic, second place France and third place Russia.

Georgina Miller and Beci Ryan formed the women’s team, however Beci was unfortunately injured in training and didn’t compete, however she became a valuable team coach and assisted the organisers. Well experienced at top-level competition, Georgina gave three impressive performances including a new personal record in dynamic on the final day.

These World Championships are a team event, and everyone needs to work together to get a good result. The men’s team discussed a strategy and aimed at good, but not reckless, announcements in their depth dives (known as constant weight). Carl Atkinson, at his first World Championships, dived to 80m and Tim Money to 63m. Adam Drzazga reached 55m but unfortunately got a red card due to a technicality. Georgina Miller reached 51m.

This added some pressure on the men to “go big” in the next event, static apnea, which was Adam’s strongest and the team decided to be more aggressive with his performance to try and claw back some points. Carl achieved 4:57, Tim 5:47 and Georgina 6:31 which put her in 4th place for static amongst the ladies. Unfortunately, the men’s team strategy didn’t work, and resulted in a disqualification for Adam, so the team regrouped and ended in the final event dynamics with strong performances and white cards across both teams – 167m for Tim, 141m for Georgina, 130m for Carl and 123m for Adam.

Despite some setbacks, the British team enjoyed the calm, relaxed and inspirational atmosphere at the event. The race for gold in both sexes gave a nail-biting finish. The Japanese women’s team all pushed themselves to personal records to win gold, followed by the Czech Republic in second and Russia in third. Martin Valenta (CZE) swam 250m dynamic to ensure his men’s team won.

The British freediving team was kindly sponsored by Elios, DiveSangha, Saltfree divers and Orbiloc dive lights.

Posted on

The BFA are delighted to introduce the UK Team for the 2016 AIDA Team World Championships!

elios Divesangha Salt Free Orbiloc

The 2016 AIDA Team World Championship in Kalamata (www.aidaworldchampionships.com), which will run from 17th to 25th September, in Kalamata, Greece.

The team comprises of 6 athletes: Georgina Miller, Beci Ryan, Carl Atkinson, Adam Drzazga, Tim Money and Adam Mustoe.

Athletes will compete in 3 disciplines, Static, Dynamic (both pool) and Constant Weight (depth) to achieve best possible combined point score. BFA is confident the team will perform to the best of their abilities and we wish them well.

All of our athletes are self-funded, and we are pleased to announce some fantastic sponsors for this year’s World Championships, helping them to perform to their full potential:

Elios Sub (www.eliossub.com), established in 1977, prides itself on its continuous innovation, evolution, improvement and refinement of comfort in its suits. Elios are a loyal sponsor of the British Team and many British Freedivers wear their suits across the UK because of the quality and feel of materials used. Team GB wear their suits with pride and are grateful for Elios’ continued support.

Divesangha (www.divesangha.com), manufacture ethically and locally, trade fairly, design wisely and consume responsibly. Their latest collection is made using ECONYL (a yarn that comes from 100% regenerated nylon from fish nets and other waste material). Motivated by passion, uniqueness, innovation and a love for the sea. This is the second year Divesangha have sponsored the Freediving Team and this year they invited the team to have a say in the design!

Saltfree (www.saltfree.biz), 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 80mof 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 have generously supported our Freediving Team GB over the years with their fantastic set-up and facilities.

Orbiloc Dual Safety Light (www.orbiloc.com), is a Danish-made high quality lightweight LED safety light that helps to maintain visibility in low light conditions, particularly when freedivng away from the line. They are low profile, easy to wear and very powerful underwater. Waterproof to 100 meters (IPX8 certificate), extremely resistant to impact (can withstand a pressure of 100 kg), with a 3-year warranty. The light comes in 5 different colours (red, white, blue, green and yellow), in 3 models and with 2 operating modes (steady-on and flashing). The base of the light is the same, but the attachment differs between the models with either an arm strap or a clip that fits a weight belt.

Posted on

British freedivers excel at Vertical Blue freediving depth competition

Dean Chaouche National Records 74m CNF

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

British freediver Dean Chaouche set a new UK Record in Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) of 74m on the opening day of the Vertical Blue depth competition in the Bahamas. Since 22 April, the world’s top divers have been challenging each other to dive deeper, some further than anyone has been before. Three World Records were also set at what has become the premier freediving competition in the world.

Two days later (24 April), Dean then became the second British man to reach 100m in Constant Weight (CWT). Dean said on Twitter that “It’s been very hard to get here, there have been many hiccups, but I’m glad I made it!” Dean has been living on Long Island by Dean’s Blue Hole, where the competition is held. Although not named after him, it’s fitting given he’s become so comfortable diving here regularly.

Dean put his success down to working hard on swimming technique, diving regularly and training his body and mind to be more tolerant to carbon dioxide. His National Record feels all the better for the frustration he felt missing an opportunity to set the record in 2015. His persistence has paid off – along with the CNF national record he came 3rd overall in the competition and 2nd in the CNF discipline.

Fellow Brits Liv Phillip and Georgina Miller also found success at Vertical Blue, ranking 6th and 8th respectively. Despite ill health during her stay on Long Island, Liv achieved a 63m Free Immersion (FIM) dive which gave her 4th place in that discipline and Georgina performed a personal best.

The competition closed with not one, but two World Records by British-born, New Zealand freediver William Trubridge in Free Immersion to 122 and then 124m. That followed an impressive CNF World Record of 72m set by Japanese freediver Sayuri Kinoshita. The events kept us all on the edge of our seats for almost two weeks!

Posted on

Dean Chaouche sets new National Record of 74m No Fins!

Dean Chaouche National Records 74m CNF

British freediver Dean Chaouche is having a great week at the Vertical Blue depth competition in the Bahamas. On the opening day (22/4) he set a new British record in Constant weight No Fins (CNF) category of 74m, which is one metre deeper than the previous record set by Dave Kent in 2014. On Sunday 24/4 he’s gone on to become the second British man to reach 100m in Constant Weight (CWT). Dean said on Twitter this week that “It’s been very hard to get here, there have been many hiccups, but I’m so glad I made it!”. Fellow Brits Liv Phillip and Georgina Miller are also competing at Vertical Blue and to date have had successful dives. We await more news from all our divers as the competition unfolds into next week.

Keep up with the latest news on our Facebook page, and watch a video of the dive here!

Posted on

UK Team Selection for the 2016 AIDA Team World Championships!

Applications for the UK Team for 2016 AIDA Team World Championships in Kalamata are now open!

AIDA Team World Championships, Kalamata, Greece, 16th September – 25th September 2016

Applications for the UK Team for 2016 AIDA Team World Championships in Kalamata are now open!

UK Team Selection
The competition will take place from 16th to 25th September 2016 and will include Dynamic with fins (DYN), Constant Weight (CWT) and Static apnea (STA).

We hope to send a 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 performances in the three disciplines. AIDA world championship team selection will be by AIDA ranked points dated from 18 months prior to 9th May 2016. 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.)

Application
If you are interested in competing for the UK in Greece, please let us know by 9th May. Please send an email to competitions@britishfreediving.org listing your highest AIDA ranked performances since November 9th 2014 in Dynamic with fins (DYN), Constant Weight (CWT) and Static apnea (STA) 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 Greece 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.

Availability and costs
If you make the decision to apply for the 2016 Team, you need to be available in Greece for the dates above.

The BFA will be doing all it can to gather sponsorship and logistical support for the 2016 team. However, you also need to be sure you can afford your flights and expenses and the entry fee of 240 Euros and accommodation costs.

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

Posted on

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).