News
The UK Female Dynamic No Fins (DNF) Freediving record is broken.
Freediver Rebecca Coales broke the current female DNF record at the Total Fitness centre in Walkden, North Manchester on the 31st July, 2013 at 10.05pm.
For those new to Freediving, DNF is swimming as far as you can horizontally in a swimming pool without the aid of fins.
The record had previously been held since 2007 continuously by Liv Philip. Rebecca, with a very comfortable dive, beat the 116m that was on the board and pushed the distance to 120m, which is well within her Personal best (PB), in a dive time of 2’24 minutes.
Rebecca is a founder member of the Bristol No Tanx Freedivers group where she trains with friends. She is a relative newcomer to the competition circuit, only starting to explore her potential in the last 6 months, starting with a no-fins clinic, and mono fin clinic with Steve Millard of the Apneists UK group www.learn2freedive.com , based in the North of the UK. Recently she earned the right to represent her country in the World Freediving Pool Championships, and with this new record it has placed her firmly on the map. Rebecca runs the http://www.omdiver.co.uk/ Yoga website and courses which is the perfect cross training for Freedivers.
The video of the dive can be found here:
http://www.freedivingcompetition.com/female-dnf-record-rebecca-coales.html
Some pictures and a more complete story can be found here www.freedivingcompetition.com. Record attempts can be organised for those wishing to gain National records in the UK.
Thanks to the dream team who came and supported the event.
Athlete: Rebecca Coales
Organiser: Steve Millard
Judge: Gary Lowe
Judge: David Tranfield
Judges Assistant: Fiona Cahill
Safety Diver: James Cluskey
Safety Diver: Steve Millard
Videographer / Photographer: Sean Peters http://www.sppv.net/
Surface Coach: John Moorcroft
Medic: Dr P. Taylor
Thank you to the management and staff of Total Fitness Walkden for hosting the event and their continued support of UK Freediving athletes and students. Please visit http://www.totalfitness.co.uk/ for more details to join the gym.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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