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Another Freediving record falls during Huddersfield competition… this time Dynamic No Fins (DNF)

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Scubaverse’s freediving editor Steve Millard reports on the North of England’s first AIDA freediving competition

Rebecca Coales, trained by the freedivers.co.uk  group, managed to extend her own record from 120 metres to 134 metres distance underwater swimming doing just breast stroke. The total dive time took 2 minutes and 52 seconds at the Huddersfield Stadium health and fitness complex run by Kirklees leisure kirkleesactive.co.uk/stadium on Sunday the 17th November. It was overseen by internationally qualified judges from the main Freediving agency, AIDA International.

rebecca coales dnf record

Rebecca is a yoga teacher and uses a wide range of yoga techniques in her training to build physical strength for swimming, mental focus and relaxation. Rebecca said “The competition atmosphere was very relaxed and so focusing on my dive felt easy. My main problem has been shaking off a winter cold in time for my performance”. Rebecca prepares for her dives with gentle stretches, music and a deep guided relaxation.  She is a founder member of the Bristol Freedivers group and also trains with a local fin swimming club… omdiver.co.uk/   bristolfreedive.org.uk

A number of athletes from around the UK came to Huddersfield to compete in one of three disciplines. Dynamic apnea with Fins (DYN), which is swimming horizontally, as far as one can, wearing a single mono-fin or bi-fins. Dynamic no fins (DNF), swimming as far horizontally as one can with breast stroke. And static apnea (STA), lying stationary holding your breath for as long as you can. Each discipline has a point score, the highest point score wins, simple. We also have depth disciplines but this competition just concentrated on the pool.

bart and dt

Other notable results were a 152 metre swim from Bart Lubecki of our Liverpool club using a mono-fin. Masa Sorn took the overall second place turning at 150 metres, also mono-fin propelled. And 5 minute 10 second breath hold from relative newcomer Jason Amson-Orth, and a 4 minute 46 second breath hold from Deb Gaskell, who only started freediving in the last few months.

As Freediving grows steadily in the North of England, we have been running professional courses and have had groups operating for well over a decade. Freediving however isn’t just about competition; it is also an enjoyable recreational activity taking us to all parts of the country. freedivers.co.uk started in Manchester but we have clubs in Liverpool, some in Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland and Crewe with people travelling to us from far afield. There are many opportunities for people to start to try Freediving nowadays. It is a great sport for increasing fitness and losing weight, as a confidence builder for Scuba divers, for snorkelers we can give you an improvement in style and ability helping those wanting to explore the reefs on holiday and of course it holds the exciting possibility of records for those who have good swimming style.

reb swim to cut down

Freediving is an extremely personal sport, you do your own dive on the day, but at the same time you never dive alone without someone properly looking after your safety. I think this, in part, is one of the reasons for the  strong, welcoming community spirit within the sport, and all divers encourage the best out of their peers whatever their goal may be.

This competition was also be a good opportunity to make sure every wrinkle is ironed out of the background organisation for the International competition we have on the 22nd/23rd March 2014 in Liverpool. We have some camera testing to do to make it really special. Here is the intro video from this year’s competition, youtube.com/watch?v=ZcgHwawzYE0. Videos of Huddersfield will go up on the Apneists UK facebook page in the next couple of days: facebook.com/Apneistsukfreedivingcompetitions

Contact us, and come and join us for training, recreational diving or competition.
Steve Millard

+44(0)7940998915

Apneists UK Head Coach

AIDA Instructor Trainer

AIDA Education Committee

AIDA UK Chair

www.freedivers.co.uk

www.learn2freedive.com

www.freedivingcompetition.com

Steve Millard is a leading UK based AIDA and PADI Freediving Instructor Trainer who is the owner of Apneists UK freediving group - www.freedivers.co.uk. Currently Press officer to the British Freediving Association and Performance mermaids lead coach.

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Jane Morgan Joins Scubaverse’s Underwater Photography Team

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jane morgan

Scubaverse is proud to announce that renowned underwater photographer Jane Morgan is the first to join our newly launched underwater photography team, alongside team lead Saeed Rashid.

With a career spanning over two decades, Jane brings a wealth of experience, creativity, and passion for the ocean. After learning to dive in 1991, Jane’s early work in marine conservation and scuba instruction in the Philippines and Borneo laid the foundation for what would become a distinguished career in underwater photojournalism.

A chance encounter with a film camera in Egypt in 2001 sparked a lifelong passion for underwater photography. Since then, Jane’s captivating imagery has been featured in top publications around the world, from major magazines and newspapers to books and exhibitions. She has worked with the BBC, judged prestigious competitions, and earned accolades including the Plongeur d’Or at the Festival Mondial de l’Image Sous-Marine.

Now based in Cornwall, Jane dives the UK coast year-round, championing its often-overlooked marine biodiversity. She is also a proud ambassador for DYNAMICNORD and Fathoms Free, lending her voice and lens to ocean conservation efforts.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Scubaverse underwater photography team,” says Jane. “It’s an exciting opportunity to share stories from beneath the surface and connect more people with the incredible beauty—and fragility—of our oceans.”

Scubaverse founder Dave Alexander adds, “Jane is one of my absolute favourite underwater photographers, and having her on board is a huge moment for us. Her talent, passion, and dedication to marine storytelling make her an ideal fit for the team.”

We’re just getting started… come back tomorrow to meet the next member of our underwater photography dream team!

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Marine Life & Conservation

Double Bubble for the Shark Trust

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This week only – your donation to the Shark Trust will be doubled – at no extra cost to you!

The Shark Trust are raising vital funds for their Community Engagement Programme: empowering people to learn about sharks and rays, assisting the scientific community take action for elasmobranchs, and bring communities together to become ambassadors for change.

Every £1 you give = £2 for shark conservation. A donation of £10 becomes £20, £50 becomes £100! Help us reach our target of £10,000, if successful, this will be doubled to £20,000 by the Big Give.

Every donation makes DOUBLE the impact!

Monty Halls is backing this week of fundraising “Cousteau called sharks the “splendid savage of the sea”, and even through the more benign lens of modern shark interactions it remains a good description. The reefs I dived thirty years ago teemed with sharks, the perfect result of 450 million years of evolution. Today those same reefs are silent, the blue water empty of those elegant shadows. But hope remains that if one generation has created such devastation, so the next can reverse the damage that has been done. The Shark Trust are at the forefront of that fight.

Donate Here

To find out more about the work of the Shark Trust visit their website here.

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