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Posts Tagged ‘freedive’

Confirmed Course Dates for October

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

October 2011

Judging Sharm El Sheikh 1st – 10th October 2011

2 Star Course – 16th – 18th October 2011

If you would like another date please mail us and we can see when we can arrange some freediving fun for you!

New Confirmed Course Dates for September 2011

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

Come and join us for some freediving fun!

September 2011

1 Star Course - 6th Septebmer 2011

1 Star Course – 7th September 2011

2 Star Course – 8th – 10th September 2011

3 Star Course – 12th – 14th September 2011

1 Star Course – 19th Septebmer 2011

2 Star Course – 20th – 22nd September 2011

2 Star Course – 24th – 26th September 2011

If these dates don’t match with your requirements then mail me to tailor sometime to suit you!

Confirmed Course Dates for 2011… So Far!

Monday, January 10th, 2011

The following are confirmed AIDA course dates so far for 2011 if you would like to join in.

If you are travelling at another time please mail me to check availability.

January 2011

1 Star Course – 19th January 2011

2 Star Course - 20th – 22nd January 2011

Freedive Safari – 23rd – 30th January 2011

March 2011

1 Star Course - 24th March 2011

2 Star Course - 25th – 27th March 2011

2 Star Course - 29th – 31st March 2011

April 2011

1 Star Course - 10th April 2011

2 Star Course – 11th – 13th April 2011

2 Star Course – 24th – 26th April 2011

3 Star Course – 27th – 29th April 2011

May 2011

2 Star Course – 5th – 7th May 2011 

Depth Training 12th – 15th May 2011

2 Star Open Water Referral Course - 22nd – 23rd May 2011 

1 Star Course - 29th May 2011

June 2011

1 Star Course – 3rd June 2011

2 Star Course - 4th – 6th June 2011

3 Star Course – 8th – 10th June 2011

2 Star Course – 21th – 24th June 2011

Depth Training 25th – 26th June 2011

1 Star Course – 27th June 2011

July 2011

Judging Sharm El Sheik – 8th – 15th July 2011

2 Star Course – 22nd – 24th July 2011

August 2011

2 Star Course – 20th – 22nd July 2011

September 2011

1 Star Course - 6th Septebmer 2011

1 Star Course – 7th September 2011

2 Star Course – 8th – 10th September 2011

3 Star Course – 12th – 14th September 2011

1 Star Course – 19th Septebmer 2011

2 Star Course – 20th – 22nd September 2011

2 Star Course – 24th – 26th September 2011

October 2011

Judging Sharm El Sheik 1st – 10th October 2011

2 Star Course – 16th – 18th October 2011

 

 

BFA selects Freediving Team for World Championships in Japan

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

 

Japan hosts 2010 Team Worlds in Okinawa
 
 Wednesday 19th May 2010 : — The British Freediving Association (BFA) has made its selection for Team GB to represent the UK at the 2010 Freediving Team World Championships in Okinawa, Japan. The event will take place from 30th June until 10th July,and Team GB will be sponsored by Elios wetsuits, Fourth Element clothing, and Suunto.
The UK will be represented by three of the most experienced athletes in the country: Sam Still, Maria-Teresa Solomons and Suzanne Pugh, making up a mixed team, which will compete in the men’s category.
Sam Still burst on to the freediving scene back in 2005 when he became World Champion in static with a breathhold of 8:14. After being caught in the Dahab bombs he took a break but came back extremely strongly at the start of this year taking first place in the qualifying depth competition run by Sara Campbell in Dahab. With both impressive depth and time capacity Sam is a great all-rounder and British freediving is excited and proud to have him back.
Maria-Teresa Solomons is the second deepest female athlete in the country. Working and living in Baja California in Mexico, she teaches freediving and yoga and has impressive personal best and competition performances of 72m Constant Weight, 120m Dynamic and 6:02 Static. MT’s passion and dedication to the sport define her as a true athlete and we expect her to be a reliable and impressive member of the team.
Suzanne Pugh has been living in Hurghada for nine years and working as a freediving instructor for the past two years. She is a veteran of World competitions, having represented the country already in Hawaii 2002, Vancouver 2004 and Hurghada 2006. Suzanne’s wealth of experience should set her in good stead to make sound announcements and decisions on her performances, and we look forward to a full set of three white cards to boost the team’s overall results. For full athlete profiles, see attached documents.
Team World Championships are as much a test of strategy and teamwork as they are of elite performance. Just one black-out from a team member can jeopardise the final results for the entire team. Conservative performances are the wisest way to go, but in close calls between teams athletes can be tempted to push themselves to their limits for a chance of a medal – but push themselves too far and they push their team-mates off the rostrum completely. The pressure is massive and it is a thrilling event to watch.
Each athlete must compete in all three disciplines; Constant Weight (CWT) – depth diving with bi-fins or a monofin; Dynamic (DYN) – distance covered underwater diving in a pool also with bi-fins or a monofin; Static (STA) – pure breathhold face down in a pool without moving, with total points from all athletes across all disciplines adding up for the final results. World records in these disciplines currently stand at:
                        MEN               WOMEN
CWT               124m              96m
DYN                250m              225m
STA                11:35              8:23
Back in 2004, the British Team won silver medals at the World Championships in Vancouver. Sam Still was part of that team, being the then British Champion, he also broke two British records within the competition. It is likely that fielding a mixed team puts us out of the range of medals, but the athletes are attending to bring home solid personal performances and prove their consistency and ability to work as a team. We suspect also that they’re looking forward to the sushi and the opportunity to dive in the tropical Asian waters of Okinawa!
To follow the event visit : http://aida2010.net/english/. Updates will also be available at www.britishfreediving.org.
Huge ‘thank you’s to our team sponsors Fourth Element, Suunto, Elios, and a mystery sponsor who contributed £1000 to the team’s expenses!
 
- ends -
 
For more information contact press@britishfreediving.org or call Sara Campbell on +20 12 744 5646 or 07949 005944. Please EMAIL if unable to reach her by phone and she will respond as soon as possible. Please don’t leave voicemail.
 
ATHLETE PROFILES
 
Sam Still
- how long have you been diving?
I’ve been officially Freediving, since 2001, so about 9 years, but have been holding my breath on and off all my life.
 
- what drives your passion for freediving?
The freedom it give me in the water.
 
- what do you hope to achieve in Japan (personal and team goals)?
white cards
 
- how do you deal with the pressure of international competition?
I treat it like any other dive I do.  I have also done the dive before ie training/practice
 
- favourite food?
Sushi, so I am really looking forward to my travels through Japan after the competition
 



- best place to dive?
Dorothea, consistent diving conditions, with lots of fun stuff to see. 
 
- PBs in CWT, DYN and STA
CWT 63m
DYN 142m
STA 5:39
 
- age, job, vital stats etc :-D
28 yrs. jobs various, mainly helping out friends with their companies.
 
 
Maria-Teresa Solomons
- how long have you been diving?
About 12 yrs with kid and family in-between!
 
- what drives your passion for freediving?
It is the falling into the glide and discovering the intense focus of the mind at any given moment. It’s time in slow motion. It’s discovering a pure form of meditation – It’s a feeling of liquid motion.
 
- what do you hope to achieve in Japan (personal and team goals)?
For me it is one step towards the bigger perspective of having made the journey over several months if not years to be here at this point. I haven;t really ever been able to dedicate time or energy into real training and my journey this time will have been just that. I want it to fulfill a sentiment of being together with a team that was nearly dissolved but kept together and I would love it to be the achievement of everyone ‘s personal goals with total support and with a fantastic element of togetherness. Making it work for each one of us regardless of ‘winning’!
 
- how do you deal with the pressure of international competition?
Not too great. I do not compete often enough and this will be a striving to come to an understanding of all that that is hopefully without being too hung up about the nerves. I would like to feel like an objective observer.
 
- favourite food?
Three or four colour combinations, mostly fresh and crisp – Fish/ Japanese
 
- best place to dive?
Any crystal clear blue, warm wild waters with whalesong or mantas! Here in the Baja isn;t bad!
 
- PBs in CWT, DYN and STA
CWT – 72m
DYN – 120m
STA – 6:02
 
- age, job, vital stats etc :-D
46 in October. I teach freediving and yoga/pranayama and take on any jobs which connect with the desert and sea here in the Baja! I am also trained in sports massage therapy and am developing my skills as an aquatic therapist. I am involved in a Bon Buddhist meditation group.
I am presently working on a project to create an art-form around freedive movement and ocean awareness, to cut a long story short!
 
Suzanne Pugh
- how long have you been diving? 
Scuba Diving for 14 years and Freediving for 9 years.
 
- what drives your passion for freediving? 
Being at one with the ocean and having the unique experience of so many underwater close encounters with the marine life.  Joining a Whale Shark for lunch, playing catch the coral with dolphins, staring competitions with Big Eye Jacks (they win).
 
- what do you hope to achieve in Japan (personal and team goals)?
Japan is a going to be a wonderful experience for all of us.  I look forward to competing for the UK again and seeing what Japanese waters have to offer!
 
how do you deal with the pressure of international competition? 
When I dive I have my own little bubble where everything else disappears and it is just the countdown and me.  I have been lucky enough to have some amazing team mates and coaches who guide me to where I need to be when I need to be there so I can just zone out and enjoy the breathhold.
 
- favourite food?
Cadbury’s chocolate, I am from Birmingham though so guess it was inevitable!
 
- best place to dive? 
 The Red Sea of course!  This is where I dive most of the time teaching new people the freediving way!  We have so many dive sites from the coast of Hurghada there is always something to see.  A Manta Ray from the boat just 2 days ago for example!
 
- PBs in CWT, DYN and STA
CWT 38 metres
DYN 83 metres
STA 4.58
 
- age, job, vital stats etc :-D
Age 30 something, stopped counting after 30 really.  Job: Freediving Instructor for FreediveEgypt based in Hurghada on the Red Sea Coast, spending time teaching, safety diving, guiding and introducing guests to the wonders of the Red Sea. A lot of time is also spent updating the website www.FreediveEgypt.com connecting to new customers and keeping in contact with other Freedivers all over the world via Facebook. I also spend my time making hand made greeting cards and jewellery to channel my creativity and allow my mind to be free. 
 
Notes to editors
 
About the BFA (www.britishfreediving.org)
Freediving is the sport of breath-hold diving in which the freediver descends under water on a single breath of air. Freediving includes leisure activities such as spearfishing and snorkelling as well as competitive disciplines: Constant Weight, Free Immersion, Variable Weight, No Limits, Dynamic and Static Apnea. Freediving has many benefits and can be compared to a martial art. It promotes increased lung capacity, deeper levels of awareness and perception and control over your body.
The British Freediving Association (BFA) is the UK governing body of the international freediving organisation AIDA. We promote recreational and competitive freediving, ratify freediving records, and sponsor events for our members. The BFA also supports a growing network of affiliated freediving clubs throughout the UK.
 
About freediving
As with any extreme sport, there are dangers connected to freediving. However, with training, and education, and ensuring you always train with a partner or coach, it is fun, challenging and extremely rewarding. It is a growth sport that attracts women as much as men, as it is as much about beauty, grace and nature, as it is about strength, power and fitness.
Freediving dates back at least 4500 years to the pearl hunters and fishermen of the South Pacific. More recently, its popularity can be traced to the film The Big Blue, a fantasy documentary about the ‘fathers of freediving’, Enzo Majorca and Jacques Mayol, and in the present day, Tanya Streeter’s recent BBC series on freediving with whales and dolphins.
Part of the fascination of the sport is that humans train their body to become more like fish. We all carry a natural ‘dive reflex’ which traces our origins as humans back to the oceans millions of years ago. With training, this reflex response can be increased, slowing the heart and constricting the peripheral blood vessels, ensuring oxygen-rich blood is directed to the essential organs of the brain and heart and away from other ‘non-essential’ organs.
 
ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
 
Fourth Element (www.fourthelement.com)
Fourth Element began in 1999 with a conversation over a post dive beer in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt. We set out to design high quality clothing with a simple yet diving oriented style. With backgrounds in design and human physiology, we spent a year and a half researching designs and fabrics for a range of casual and technical diving clothing.


 
The Fourth Element Technical range is designed around the principles of performance, function and innovation. Using the latest fabric technology in unique combinations and designs, the Fourth Element Technical range revolutionises thermal protection for both Wetsuit and Drysuit diving.
 
Elios (www.eliossub.com)
Elios is THE freediving wetsuit manufacturer, producing tailor-made freediving suits in the highest quality materials. Having provided all of Sara Campbell’s wetuits, Elios is very generously supporting Team GB for 2010 in Japan.
 
Suunto (www.suunto.com)
Suunto is the leading manufacturer of sports instruments for a variety of sports, including skiing, hiking, diving, sailing and golf. Our strategy is to focus on sports activities where advanced measurement technology, data processing, and specific algorithms can create significant benefits for active participants.

Suunto’s mission is to be the world’s most desired sports instrument brand.


 

 

Making Dreams Come True!

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

After wishing and dreaming about trying freediving, this week Suzanne made Dan’s dream come true in Hurghada on the Red Sea Coast of Egypt.  With no previous freediving experience Dan had a natural ability to hold his breath.  On the first day of training after been given instruction and undertaking breathing relaxation techniques he was able to hold his breath for more than 3 minutes!  He said it felt like about a minute!  So he was amazed when I told him it was more than 3!  So much so that he thought I was joking!

The wind was blowing in Hurghada during this week so the first day we were due to go out on the boat had to be cancelled and instead we enjoyed diving from the beach and gave Dan the chance to practice Duck Dives and get used to being relaxed under the water.

 dan-relaxingboatsdan-on-the-boat

We then had a day off as there was just too much wind and no chance to go out on the boat.  But the next day we were ready for the blue, but things didn’t go to plan.  I discovered what sinus squeeze felt like and Dan just couldn’t equalise head down.  Feet first was working slowly but headfirst just wouldn’t work!  So we decided Dan would have a day off again and he took this chance to have some fun Scuba Diving where he was able to equalise and exercise his ears.

We then had another try!  Dan’s ears works and my sinuses were clear too and Dan successfully performed a beautiful constant weight dive to 19 metres!  The whole boat cheered when he returned to the surface with a VERY big smile :-)

                                                              dan-and-suecaterpiller

Big Congratulations!  We hope Dan enjoys the rest of his stay and visits to Cairo and Luxor and will be back again to do his 3 * course soon!

World Championship Final Results CNF

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Wow what a result! 2 new World RecordsWow what a result!  2 new World Records

http://www.verticalblue.net/events/img/CNFRESULTS.jpg

Another World Record for Natalia

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Natalia Molchanova of Russia did it again, a NEW World Record in the discipline of Free Immersion!  She reached the amazing depth of -90 meters. This was 5 meters deeper than her old record, 85 meters from 2008.

With this Natalia has acheived the title of being the Athlete with most World Records, a total of 26 WR. One record more than the flying fish from Austria, Herbert Nitsch.

This dive took place in Sharm El Sheikh on 27th of September 2009

New World Record – Molchanova CWT 101m

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Natalia Natalia Molchanova of Russia, became the first woman in the world to successfully dive to a depth of 100 meters on one breath in the discipline of Constant Weight. Natalia actually surpassed the triple digits with a dive to 101 meters in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Her total dive time was 3 minutes and 50 seconds. The previous CWT record was held by Sara Campbell, from the UK. Sara made a dive to 96 meters at the Vertical Blue competition earlier this year.

This is the 25th World Record for Natalia Molchanova, and everyone from Freedive Egypt wish her big congratulations!

Road Trip – Hurghada to Hamata

Friday, September 18th, 2009

We decided to go on a road trip down to Hamata to see the Mangroves and enjoyed looking at the amazing views of the Read Sea Coastline along the way.

Hope you like the pictures 

More pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122948&id=126647496996&l=d81cf541cc

Road to NowhereDesertBeach in Hamata

 The MangrovesTrees in the SeaSalt Flats

 Desert and SeaVisitors on the way backEntrance to Port Ghalib

Come and play on our Dolphin Safari 7th September

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Due to a cancellation because of swine flu we now have some extra spaces on this safari.  If you only want to do a couple of days rather than the whole week this can also be arranged.

September 7th 2009 Autumn Dolphin Safari
Suitable for all divers, freedivers, snorkellers and swimmers
  • Northern Reefs and Dolphin Houses – the itinerary is loose because we go where we think the dolphins are that day.
  • Up to 3 guided dives per day
  • One guided night dive.
    Zodiac to take divers off to different sites.
  • Accommodation, food, soft drinks, permissions included.
  • 7 nights 6 days diving, shore based final day.
  • One evening on island for beach BBQ
550 Euros per person
Marine Park Fees (if applicable – probably Giftun Island only), equipment hire, courses, NITROX, alcohol, additional guided night dives are charged extra.

Mail me at freedive@freediveegypt.com for more information.

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