Shark Freediving

I guess Goran Colak from Croatia didn’t expect that the whole freediving community would notice his small 254 meter status message on Facebook today! Apparently Goran has done a 254 meter dynamic with monofin in training today and is showing the freediving world that he’s ready for his own competition in a few weeks.

The Croatian team is getting stronger and stronger each week and apparently Lidija Lijic is improving big time as well. The Croatian competition has world record status and it’s clear that some big numbers and possibly some new world records are coming.

The current world record in Dynamic with fins is 250 meters and in hands of Alexey Molchanov. For the women the distance is 214 meter by Alexey’s mother Natalia Molchanova.

I saw a message on Deeperblue by Rory who is in the progress of setting up AIDA Ireland. He’s searching for Irish Freedivers. Because I see in my analytics from the website that I’ve got quite a few Irish visitors, I thought I would put his message below. Topic on Deeperblue can be found here.

Hi All,

We are trying to organise an AIDA Ireland so that we can start to get some structure for all you freedivers / spearos out there who would like to compete. Currently bacause we don’t have any AIDA recognition we can’t compete or create any Irish Records. To get AIDA Ireland up and running we need to submit an application to AIDA. One of the requirements is a list of the members. Can I ask all you guys/girls out there who are interested in getting this set-up and would like to join to please send me your emails. This way I can get an idea of the numbers and also I can keep you informed of the progress. Ultimately we may need more information later on but emails are good for now. Can I also ask that you spread the word on other forums likely to attract the attention of other Irish freedivers / spearo’s.

If we can get this set-up I think it will lead the way to more structured freediving in Ireland with pool sessions and regular dives not just a hopefully email to 2 or 3 people looking for a quick dip.

Hope to hear from you all.

Thanks
Rory
rorykearns@hotmail.com

On august 10, 4 freedivers from Portugal are going to try to break 4 national portugese freediving records. Decio Leal is going to try to do a 47 meter free immersion dive, Simone Martens is going for a 30 meter constant without fins dive.

Paulo Nobrega is going for a 70 meter variable weight dive and Francisco Gautier for a 82 meter constant weight dive. Good luck to them all!

Also the Dutch have selected their national team that will represent the Netherlands during the Pool World championships in Denmark.

Men

• Eric van Riet Paap (Wildcard)
• Arjen Costerus
• Erik Skoda

Women

• Nanja van den Broek

There is still room for more. With the men there is a place left for static and dynamic without fins. For the women there is still space for 2 static, 2 dynamic with fins and 2 dynamic without fins places. Anybody with a Dutch nationality who wants to go to the worlds, this is your change. Contact the Dutch Freediving Association as soon as  possible!

Another two AIDA national have selected their national team for the upcoming pool world championships in Denmark. This time it’s AIDA Czech Republic and AIDA Ukraine.

I hope that Google translated the Ukraine names correctly, otherwise let me know.

(Thanks go to Ivo Truxa for providing this news and tweeting it to me. And congrats to Ivo for making it into the team!)

AIDA Ukraine

Women:

1. Zharkova Natalie (Kharkiv)
2. Almazova Anna (Kiev)

Men

1. Alexey Sokolov
2. Paul Morozov
3. Spartak Golovach
4. Dmitry Zholud

AIDA Czech Republic

Women

• Jana Oujezdská
• Jarca Slovencíková
• Jana Škrobová
• Alena Zabloudilová

Men

• Jan Honysch
• Martin Petrisko
• Ivo Truxa

For anybody that lives in or near Poland, there is good news if they want to attend a depth competition in that region. I received the announcement below, and I must say that already based on the competition name I want to go. Pretty nice competition website by the way!

Between 27th and 31st of July, 2009 crystal clear waters of Lake Hancza will be a place for “Crystal Clear Water Competition”.

This will be the first competition in polish lakes that’s going to be included in the official AIDA ranking.

The event will feature 3 major Freediving disciplines:

• Constant weight
• Free immersion
• Unassisted

The competition will take five days with a break after the second day (total of 4 diving days). Each competition day the competitor will have the option to choose the discipline they dive. The diver that’s going to collect the deepest tag will be a winner of each discipline. Results will be collected per discipline and will not be summarized. Due to the limits of the lake, maximum depth is set to 100 m.

There will be a counter weight system responsible for the safety of freedivers.

More info about this competition here.

As said before, local freediving news is as of much importance as international  freediving news. So for everybody that freedives in Argentina; you’ve got a new place to visit! AIDA Argentina just renewed their website, filled with all information with regards to freediving in this country.

A direct link to the national records can be found here.

AIDA Hellas organized the first nocturnal freediving event on june 7. It was held in pigadi vouliagmenis in Limanakia, which is a natural underwater cave that starts at 10 meters and goes to 30 meters. When you dive in, it’s pitch black and it gives you an whole different experience. (Like diving in the Netherlands! only warmer water)

Phoevos, who attended the competition, says: it was fun!!! Magical beauty that can not be shown through some photos or videos. U must try this one! ! !  The best part of nocturnal freediving is the absence of light. In fact the fewer lights, the better the sensation (it helps you relax more, even better than closing your eyes while diving at day). Sounds scary but in reality you may see underwater without a flash light.

Take a look at a video impression he made from the event.

Danish national team for the pool World championships in Denmark is selected and they are looking STRONG! Below you can find the list of freedivers who are going to compete in which discpline.

Women

Maria Livbjerg

Dynamic with fins

• Josefine Jørgensen – Wildcard – 172 meters
• Maria Livbjerg – Wildcard – 158 meters
• Christina Kuemmel – 123 meters
• Nanna Kreutzmann – 100 meters

Dynamic without fins

• Maria Livbjerg – 139 meters
• Josephine Jørgensen – 131 meters
• Nanna Kreutzmann – 100 meters

Static

• Maria Livbjerg – 5:11 minutes
• Josephine Jørgensen – 5:11 minutes
• Cristina Kuemmel – 5:04 minutes

Men

Rune Hallum (18 years old)

Dynamic with fins

• Henning Larsen – Wildcard – 217 meters
• Stig Severinsen – Wildcard – 215 meters
• Jesper Stechmann – 211 meters
• Rune Hallum – 196 meters
• Lars Strandridder – 177 meters

Dynamic without fins

• Lars Strandridder – 157 meters
• Rune Hallum – 153 meters
• Stig Severinsen – Wildcard – 150 meters
• Henning Larsen – 144 meters

Static

• Jesper Stechmann – 7:38 minutes
• Stig Severinsen – Wildcard – 7:29 minutes
• Henning Larsen – 6:33 minutes
• Jakob Hansen – 6:29 minutes

AIDA Sweden has also announced their national team that will go to the Pool Freediving World Championships. There are competitors who are directly qualified, and competitors who are at the top of the ranking. This combined, they will send 3 competitors per discipline per sex. You can find the list of the strong Swedish competitors below. As soon as the final team is announced, I’ll let you know.

MEN

Ulf Dextegen

Static

• Q: Ulf Dextegen 2: ai World 2008
• Q: Weiner Gustavsson 8: ai World 2008
• 1. Peter Boivie 7.35
• 2. Johan Dahlström 7.04
• 3. Per Westin 6.59
• 4. Tomas Schiffer 6.38
• 5. Christian Ernest 6.37

Dynamic with fins

• Q: Martin Wikström 10: ai World 2008
• 1. Per Westin 202m
• 2. Weiner Gustavsson 198m
• 3. Ulf Dextegen 165m
• 4. Jens Schou 165m
• 5. Tobias Nilsson 164M

Dynamic without fins

• Q: Anders Larsson 9: ai World 2008
• 1. Christian Ernest 129m
• 2. Ulf Lindberg 129m
• 3. Jens Schou 125m
• 4. Rikard Larsson 125m
• 5. Johan Isaksson 118m

WOMEN

Lotta Ericson

Static

• Q: Lotta Ericson 8: ai World
• 1. Klara hansson 5.06
• 2. Annelie Pompe 4.33
• 3. Sofia Tapani 4.32
• 4. Yamina Enedahl-Meki 4.21
• 5. Emma Nordin 4.19

Dynamic with fins

• 1. Lotta Ericson 130m
• 2. Annelie Pompe 130m
• 3. Yamina Enedahl-Meki 129m
• 4. Klara Hansson 116m
• 5. Emma Nordin 105m

Dynamic without fins

• Q: Yamina 7a of the World 2008
• 1. Sofia Tapani 114m
• 2. Klara Hansson 100m
• (3. Yamina Enedahl-Meki 91m)
• 3. Emma Nordin 57m
• 4. Fanny Schagatay 49m

The athletes will be asked in ranking order about their participation. Sweden may send a total of 5 men for static, 4 in dynamic with fins and 4 without fins. With the women the may send 4 for static, 3 for dynamic with fins and 4 dynamic without fins.

(Thanks to Eric van Riet Paap for the link!)