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Freediver blacks out during competition following depth measurement error

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French freediver Guillaume Nery suffered a black out before reaching the surface at a freediving competition being held in Cyprus earlier today while attempting to break a World Record.

It’s understood that the depth measurement at the event, which is a precursor to the AIDA World Championships, was set 10 metres deeper than the announced depth.

Mr. Nery was assisted to the surface by safety divers, where he was administered oxygen for at least 30 minutes.

It’s said that Mr. Nery has made a full recovery, although some sources have claimed that he may have suffered a lung squeeze (which has yet to be verified).

To break the World Record, Mr. Nery had to reach a depth of 129 metres – a depth that many thought was well within the reach of the freediver, who’s personal best is a depth of 126 metres.

It’s said that his dive computer showed he had reached a depth of 137 metres during the attempt.

AIDA have issued two statements following the incident – one from the organisation’s President, Kimmo Lahtinen, and the other by the competition jury who were present at the time the incident took place.

Mr. Lahtinen’s statement reads as follows:

Guillaume Nery´s world record attempt on 10th of September.

In a pre-competition related to the Aida World Championships there was an incident today; the competition rope was set +10 meter deeper than the announced dive depth. Consequently the experienced athlete had a black out before reaching the surface. Judges in this pre-competition were Ute Gessman, Robert King, and Savvas Savva.

After reading the initial posts about this incident on the France Apnee Facebook wall this morning, I have requested a report from the Aida judges/representatives at the location (Ute Gessman and Robert Kind) as well as from the athlete (Guillaume Nery). I have already received some information from Ute Gessman and from Carla Hanson who was traveling to Cyprus when the incident happened. I am awaiting further information from Robert King and from Guillaume Nery.

After speaking with Ute Gessman on Skype a moment ago about the incident, my conclusions at this point are:

  1. We will ensure that the Aida World Championships competition will be safe. This kind of incident will not happen in the upcoming Aida World Championships. Actioned: I have contacted the head of the Aida World Championships competition Jury president, Jean-Pol Francois, and agreed that he will take care of this most important task. These actions include re-measuring the rope and marking with Aida officials (according to Aida competition rules).
  2. We will investigate what happened in this pre-competition as soon I have received the official reports from the location (organizer, Aida judges involved and the athlete, Guillaume Nery). There may be further action taken as a result of this incident, as soon we have been able to ensure that the safety in the upcoming World Championships competition has taken care of.
  3. We will find a solution to prevent this issue from happening in Aida competitions in the future. Some preliminary thoughts: we need a clear “code / standards” how competition and record attempt ropes will be marked. This will make it possible for the judges and athletes to understand the marks on the rope. We also need to discuss and question if we should use tape to mark the competition ropes.

This information has been posted to the Aida Board, Aida Assembly and on the Aida Facebook wall. If there are any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Kimmo Lahtinen, AIDA president

And here is the statement from the competition jury:

From: Jean-Pol François, World Championship Jury President; Robert King, World Championship Jury Vice President; Savvas Savva, World Championship Organizer

Date: 10 September 2015

Regarding: Safety Incident at World Championship Pre-Competition

As many of you know, there was a safety incident this morning at the PreCompetition in Limassol, Cyprus: the competition line was set 10m deeper than the announced depth (which was 129m–a world record attempt). This was a serious error. Fortunately, due to the level of his conditioning, the athlete was not seriously injured. However, he may not dive at the World Championships (which is itself serious).

Two factors contributed to this error. First, the competition line was lowered faster than it should have been, and shallower markings were not correctly noted. Second, the line was stopped with two red tape lines and three white tapelines above the surface (the marking for 129m). However, one piece of white tape had come off: meaning the line was actually set at 139m. In addition, the sonar unit may have failed to track the athlete below 110m. We will work over the next days to ensure athlete safety at the AIDA Depth World Championships:

1) All competition lines have been removed from the water, and will be remeasured and marked with paint or permanent marker (in addition to tape), so that even if a piece of tape comes off, the marking will still be clear. This will be done before training starts on Saturday (there is no training Friday).

2) At the start of each competition day, each line will be lowered into the water with depth gauges to confirm that markings match depths. Lines will be lowered slowly enough that intermediate markings can be noted (each 10m).

3) On each competition day, there will be a starter on each line. This will allow the depth to be checked before the first athlete, and the line lowered slowly to the first competitor’s depth.

4) We will work with the sonar unit to ensure either than it can track athletes to 130m, or get another sonar unit that can. Athletes and coaches should feel free to contact any of us with any questions you may have.

Jean-Pol Francois

We will bring you more on this story as it comes in.

 

Gear News

Introducing the Aqua-Trek Evo Drysuit from BARE

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drysuit

This lightweight Aqua-Trek Evo drysuit from BARE is patterned after the flagship X-Mission Evolution using the company’s exclusively engineered Cordura® Nylon Oxford 4-Layer fabric for a durable and breathable design. The Aqua-Trek Evo is ready for wherever your adventure takes you.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

  • Lighter weight breathable material that offers enhanced flexibility over current butyl trilaminate
  • Lightweight low-profile plastic dry zipper
  • 2mm nylon/smoothskin “Smart Collar” with vented neck drain provides an improved seal with the BARE dry hood
  • Low-profile valves Lightweight low-profile plastic dry zipper and offset protected zipper flap to avoid contact between dry zipper and outer flap
  • Anatomically shaped torso, arms and legs
  • M-PADz knee protection with 2mm neoprene backing provides added padding for comfort
  • 2 needle “felled seam” construction increases seam integrity, is low-profile and less prone to abrasion, and finishes for a clean look
  • Flexible double-taped reinforcement at “critical wear” seam points for added durability
  • Bellow Pocket with D-ring and drain grommets on each thigh
  • Field replaceable 4-point suspenders and crotch strap
  • Tech dry boots installed

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Material:

  • Exclusively engineered and durable Cordura® Nylon Oxford 4-Layer fabric
  • Lighter weight, breathable material that offers enhanced flexibility, abrasion and puncture resistance

Find out more about BARE products at www.baresports.com.

Sea & Sea is the home of BARE and other Huish Outdoors diving brands in the UK.

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Reef-World marks two decades of marine conservation: strengthening impact amid coral reef threats

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reef world foundation

Empowering ocean stakeholders to tackle future challenges and ensure the survival of coral reefs and humanity

2024 marks the 20th Anniversary of The Reef-World Foundation’s tireless efforts for global coral reef conservation. The UK charity is the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative, known as the leading voice in sustainable marine tourism. Today, Reef-World released its 2023-2024 Impact Report outlining a year of substantive growth and impact in its marine conservation programmes. 

Impact Report Highlights:

  • Impressive improvements in environmental behaviours to protect coral reefs by the marine tourism industry as the global participation of Green Fins increases.
  • Continued capacity building for government and NGO staff to effectively manage marine tourism activities in Asia, Caribbean and Red Sea regions. 
  • For the first time in Green Fins’ 20-year history, tourism operators have achieved ‘Best Environmental Performer’ status by demonstrating the lowest possible environmental impact in their environmental assessments. In 2024, three dive operators achieved this challenging milestone. 
  • Significant increases in global participation of Reef-World’s innovative digital conservation tools.
  • 138 Green Fins dive operator members achieved the strict threshold for PADI Eco Center recognition.
  • Developed four new educational materials and translated two into 16 languages to support the marine tourism industry in achieving sustainability targets.
  • Establishing a new Reef-World Development strategy and recruiting new roles – Development and Programmes Managers. 
  • Reef-World’s board welcomes new Chair and Trustees strengthening organisational leadership. 

Reef-World started as a one-person mission to inspire and empower communities to act in conserving and sustainably developing coral reefs and related ecosystems. Today, the team of 12 continues to meet this mission by inspiring and empowering the global marine tourism community to be exemplary sustainability leaders by using the Green Fins guidelines and tools to simultaneously use and protect the world’s precious reefs. 

In April 2024, the fourth global coral reef bleaching event was confirmed. Reef-World’s work has never been more urgent as the marine environment, and the benefits they provide humanity, continue to be eroded by global threats. The reduction of local threats, like those from the marine tourism industry, is an essential step to ensuring a future where coral reefs survive and continue to support the millions of people who depend on their ecosystem benefits. Reef-World’s work buys time for coral reefs and related ecosystems to be resilient to the impacts of global threats. 

 

“Right now our corals are facing the greatest fight of their existence as the terrifying predictions of the steps towards their complete extinction are starting to come true. But all is not lost, reefs are resilient and they have existed on this planet for millions of years. We must take action now, to buy time for reefs by reducing threats facing them and allowing them to react and adjust to the changing environment they need to survive in.” – Chloe Harvey, Executive Director

Looking Forwards: 

Like coral reefs, the Reef-World team needs to be resilient in the face of the complex challenges of the conservation sector. Reef-World has invested significantly in developing a Culture of Care to ensure the well-being of its team on a daily basis, continuing to be an exemplary employer to enable its team to best achieve the mission for coral reef conservation.

With the foundations of a Culture of Care and organisational development laid, Reef-World is emerging from the end of a natural organisation life cycle, that brings the challenges of growth and scale, stronger than ever. With a new strategy in place to generate much needed resources, Reef-World is excited for the opportunities to leap forward, continue to scale our impact and lean into new innovations and untapped opportunities for marine conservation. 

We continually strive to become a forward-thinking organisation that delivers on our goals and commitments to our stakeholders with fresh approaches and not being afraid of steering away from a “normal approach.” This approach is not only applied to our programmes of work but also internally and carries over to our Culture of Care for our team.” — JJ Harvey, Operations Director

reef world foundation

The Reef-World Foundation is immensely grateful for the continued support of its grant funders: UN Environment Programme, IUCN’s Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility, Adventure Travel Conservation Fund, PADI Aware Foundation, and World Nomads Footprints Program.

Reef-World would also like to express its gratitude to international partners whose vital support has resulted in significant tangible benefits for our work and mission: PADI; Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS); Explorer Ventures; 1% for the Planet; ZuBlu; Snorkel Venture, GSTC; Dive O’Clock; Seven Dragons; DiveAssure and Eco Beach, without whom these achievements would not be possible.

The full 2023–2024 Annual Impact Report is available on Reef-World’s website.

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