From November 25 - December 5 Vertical Blue hosted the 2009 AIDA Freediving World Championships in Dean’s Blue Hole on Long Island, Bahamas. 53 athletes from 17 nations competed with and without fins (CWT and CNF) with the top 6 in each discipline (CNF & CWT) going through to the finals to decide the medal positions.
Vertical Blue founder and director William Trubridge (pictured) finished on the podium in both disciplines, with 90m in CNF to earn a gold medal and new world record, and 110m in CWT for a bronze finish and new national record for New Zealand.
click here for the official World Championship website
Vertical Blue is a freediving team and school based on Long Island, in the Bahamas, running courses from introductory to high performance freediving in the stunning waters of Dean's Blue Hole, the deepest blue hole in the world.
The love of the diver for his world of wavering light. His world of pearls and tendrils and his breath at his breast. Born as a plunger into the deeps he is at one with every swarm of limegreen fish, with every coloured sponge. As he holds himself to the ocean's faery floor, one hand clasped to a bedded whale's rib, he is complete and infinite. Pulse, power and universe sway in his body.
- Mervyn Peake