This year I've entered into an exciting partnership with Tenerife Top Training (T3 for short), a state of the art training center on the main island of the Canaries (Spanish islands off the west coast of Africa).
T3 has provided all the resources I need to prepare for the AIDA World Teams Championships, to be held in Okinawa from July 1-10, where I will be competing for New Zealand with Kerian Hibbs and Guy Brew.

To list some of the features of this incredible facility:

• Two pools (25m and 50m), so I can train both with and without fins in optimal conditions.  The 2m deep pools are equipped with an incredible filtration system (I have never seen cleaner water), and kept at a constant 27ºC, ideal for apnea training.  

• The world's most advanced flume - a water channel with adjustable current to analyze technique and hydrodynamics (similar to a wind tunnel).

• A cutting edge gymnasium with hydraulic weight machines (press a button to change resistance during a set), ultramodern exercise machines and an armory of Swiss balls.

• Tennis, racquetball, squash courts, and two football fields for cross-training, or an active break from freediving!

weight training at the ultramodern T3 gymnasium

What I like best about the venue is the pervading sense of vitality: both pools are outdoors, so the air you tug into your lungs between grueling repetitions of a training table is supplied by a fresh Atlantic sea breeze, and while I row or shift iron in the gym I can admire a beautiful view out over the Atlantic ocean.

T3 collaborates with the ApartHotel Jardin Caleta, which is a short walk away through a field of wild cherry tomatoes.  The ease of access and healthy, comfortable lifestyle mean that I've been able to train as many as three times a day (static apnea at the hotel pool before breakfast, pool training at T3 before lunch, and back to T3 in the evenings for yoga & resistance training).
Tenerife is proposing itself as venue for the 2011 Individual World Champs, so you may be seeing more of it soon, but for anyone who wants to dedicate a couple of weeks to an intensive training camp before then, this is the ideal location.

Also Vertical Blue will be running a course at T3 from September 9-12.  Contact us for more information.

Mike & Arthur Trousdell write:

The strong winds and stormy weather that lashed Long Island overnight had receded leaving us with another tranquil day at the deepest Blue Hole in the world.
Carla-Sue Hanson wanted to test her sinuses with a 40m FIM dive, but turned early with vertigo and ear issues.
Alfredo Romo, looking to extend his CNF national record to 50 meters, completed the dive comfortably, but was unlucky as he lost the tag on the ascent.  With his impressive results securing all three national records as a newcomer to the table there is high expectations of more records and deeper dives on the horizon.
Niki Roderick did not show up for her dive today. She has been hampered with laryngitis which has affected her training for this competition.
Jared Schmelzer turned at 59 meters, just 6 meters short of his impressive 65 meters CWT with bi-fins target for today.

Ryuzo Shinomiya (aka the Okinawa Dragon) started his dive with his usual relaxed style, picking up a tag at 115m after a descent that took over 2 minutes.  His return to the surface was so fast that safety diver Arthur Trousdell, who met him at 30 meters, was hard pressed to keep up.  He slowed down in time to break the surface facing the platform with a total dive time of 3:33.  He completed a solid surface protocol.

Guillaume Nery breathed up on his back, letting his monofin float out in front of him. He dived with no mask and just a nose clip, maintaining his smooth style, and finishing with an exhale as he glided up the last 10 meters.  His dive time was 3:31, and he very comfortably completed the surface protocol.  Guilliame and Ryuzo now share 5th place in the prestigious CWT category.

Misuzu Hirai was first to dive after the camera break.  She started her final breathe-up with 10 seconds to go (as platform coordinator Mike Trousdell missed part of her count down).  After this set back she dived confidently to her target depth of 64 meters, breaking another national record and putting her in first place for FIM as well as CWT. She has been a very impressive performer throughout Vertical Blue 2010.
William Winram decided not to dive with a few minutes left before his top time citing sinus issues again.
Eric Fattah relaxing on the platform for his half an hour "warm-up" looked confident and relaxed before his monumental dive, an attempt at a personal best of 100 meters: 10 meters more than his previous official best of 90.  He finished his dive doing sets of three kicks, followed with a glide as his legs really felt the fatigue during the return to the surface. This successful dive puts him in 10th place for the deepest CWT freediver, along with Walter Steyn, Johan Dahlstrom and Manolis Giankos.

William Trubridge turned at 10m after having trouble with his nose clip. The momentous 100 meter depth will have to wait for another day.
Dave Mullins looked confident as he chatted to the judges about his new possible sponsorship deal with just five minutes left before his top time. He reached the platform at 2:19 and spent four seconds there looking for tags, while Judge Grant Graves felt the line move from his searching. He completed his impressive dive of 118m without a tag (video revealed there were four on the bottom plate).  It's an unlucky result considering that he has finally sorted his equalizing technique and felt like he had more in the tank at that great depth.

Herbert Nitsch decided not to dive today after believing false rumors about a lack of oxygen.  The 130 meter FIM will also remain out of reach, maybe until next Vertical Blue 2011.
I at least am already excited about the possibilities next year will bring!

Final results for the Suunto Dive-Off:  William Trubridge takes first place with 290, followed by Herbert Nitsch in second with 200 and Ryuzo Shinomiya in third on 179. 

after arriving a week late due to Europe's ash cloud, platform coordinator Michael Trousdell reports from Dean's Blue Hole:

The second to last day of Vertcial Blue 2010 had 9 divers inititially set to hook their lanyards on and descend into the eye of Dean's Blue Hole.
Carla Sue-Hanson was not able to dive as she is still recovering from a sinus squeeze and slightly perforated eardrum.
So Alfredo Romo was first up.  Yesterday he completed a free immersion (FIM) dive of 49 meters (his first competition dive in this discipline) .  Today he was aiming to take the third and last Mexican national record in this discipline.  Alfredo looked poised and prepared, using a technique of breathing up on the platform until the last two minutes before his official top time.  The dive was flawless, and finished with a subtle smile that was mirrored by deep safety freediver Brian Pucella for the last 20 meters of the ascent.  This newcomer who learnt how to use fluid goggles two weeks ago is now the king of depth in Mexico.  Uno, dos, tres!!  Enhorabuena a Alfredo!

Robert King decided to rest this morning and so the next diver to the line was Ryuzo Shinomiya.
Ryuzo taped up his toes today and pulled out the Monofin for the first time in this competition.  His coach Mimi was there to support his preparation and the professionalism and focus of these two compatriots is impressive.  He completed a 108 meter freedive in full control, for a new Japanese national record in constant weight.  Congratulations Ryuzo!!
Mimi Hirai turned early today as she lost her mouthfill close to the plate and was not able to get any deeper.  With one more day left and the CWT national record already extended in a series of remarkable performances, Mimi has decided to go for the national record in free immersion tomorrow.

William Winram turned early at 56m with his third attempt at the CNF world record (his target depth was 93m) that has thus far eluded him.
With four world record attempts in quick succession, and the necessary depth-setting work between each, the platform was a hive of activity while William Trubridge calmly prepared for his dive.  Sporting his purple rubber bands (worn around the thighs in order to hook his thumbs in so he can relax his arms) he swam breaststroke to the outrageous depth of 95 meters (311 feet).  On the return, safety diver Brian Pucella met him with a 'grouper call' (swallowing noise made at the back of the throat) at 30 meters.  From there he ascended to the surface in complete control, looking up for a moment and rotating around the line so as to exit away from the boom.  With a clearly coherent surface protocol, it was just a matter of waiting out the 30 seconds before white cards were shown and the crew erupted, splashing water around him and congratulating him for his second no fins world record in Vertical Blue 2010.


Herbert Nitsch turned at 74m and pulled up the line, and will leave this Vertical Blue without completing a dive in the CNF discipline, meaning he cannot now win the Suunto Dive-Off.
Dave Mullins also stopped short of his target dive, turning at 108 meters with the equalization problems that have been holding him back throughout the competition.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for everyone diving with, several more world record attempts and numerous national records on the line.

For photos from today's dives visit: http://www.facebook.com/verticalblue

Tomorrow is the last day of Vertical Blue 2010, and it could end with some fireworks.  The numbers speak for themselves, but talk is easy... Are the athletes up to the task of making words actions?  Find out tomorrow when we report live from Dean's Blue Hole on:
http://www.facebook.com/verticalblue
http://twitter.com/onebreathdive

One more day left in Vertical Blue 2010.  William is still in the lead with points, but Herbert is still yet to do a no fins (CNF) dive.  If William doesn't earn any more points tomorrow then Herbert would need a dive to 86m in CNF in order to draw ahead.
Never before has a freediving event been so much like a poker game - the difference is that if you declare an Ace of Spades you've got to back it up with an Ace of Spades dive!
Announcements for the ninth and last day will be made in 2 hours time...

Today's world record in Free Immersion by Herbert Nitsch means he has maximum points in FIM and CWT.  However he still has to do a deep CNF dive in order to beat William Trubridge in the Suunto Dive-Off.  Meanwhile William will be looking to add meters to his depth in any of the disciplines in order to require a bigger CNF performance from Herbert.  The last two days promise suspenseful diving as these two competitors go to the wire in an attempt to be crowned the best all-round freediver.

Conditions yesterday could have been described as perfect, but today Dean's Blue Hole outdid itself, with a jewel of a day: clear blue skies, the perfect ambient temperature and water as still as a mountain lake.  It was a day for successes and celebratory conch salads, and both were delivered on time.

Alfredo Romo was aiming for his second national record, this time without fins.  William Trubridge was coaching him, but he would have been fine by himself, as he swam confidently down to the bottom plate at 47 meters, and returned to make a flawless surface protocol to the judges.  He has done very few CNF dives, but as an ex-swimmer his technique is already very defined, and he did not look like he was close to his limit this morning.
Carla-Sue Hanson followed, with a CWT dive to 58 meters.  She swam all the way down to the plate, and all the way back in a time of 2:02.  Carla is awaiting sinus surgery, so for the meantime she has to put up with a slightly bloody nose at the end of her dives, but her surface protocol was strong, and given that she has still only done a handful of monofin dives we can expect a lot from the intrepid Californian.
Carolina Schrappe was attempting yet another Brazilian record.  Like Carla, she kicked through the entire dive, surfacing from 72 meters in the incredible time of 1:56.  This ranks her as the 8th deepest freediving woman of all time, and cements her position as the top freediver of Brazil and the South American continent.

Guillaume Nery was attempting 108 meters today.  Despite the sunny day, Guillaume had to wear his "spearfishing wetsuit," as the thin 1mm suit he used for his last dive meant that he became too cold and narcosis on the bottom was intense.  Guillaume easily completed the dive, with a confident surface protocol, so evidently this means that he is now qualified to spear fish at 100 meters - maybe he can bring up one of the delicious Black Snapper that can be found at those depths in the Bahamas!
Misuzu Hirai was once again attempting a national record for Japan, inching through the 70's with a dive to 74 meters.  She surfaced and effected a perfect protocol to AIDA judges Grant Graves and Linden Wolbert.  This places her as the 6th equal deepest woman freediver of all time.
Walter Steyn and William Winram were both non-starters today, so Robert King was next, with a big announcement: 90 meters in Constant Weight.  He completed the dive in 2:58, meaning he now shares the continental record for North America with Eric Fattah.

Herbert Nitsch was last to compete, and he was looking to take back the Free Immersion (FIM) record broken by William Trubridge yesterday.  The two appear to be moving in jumps of two-meter intervals, with Herbert announcing 118 meters today.  It took him a full 2:17 just to get to the plate, and then the slight dipping of the platform evidenced that somewhere far down there a man was pulling himself up from a depth that equals the height of this radio mast in Poland (the tallest wooden structure in Europe).  Herbert appeared on the surface after 4:38.  He made the OK sign to the judges, but when asked if he had the tag, he dipped his mouth to try and find it on his leg, thus disqualifying himself (by rule, airways must be maintained above the surface for at least 30 seconds).  The tag had actually detached from the velcro on his legs during the ascent, and was retrieved by safety diver Brian Pucella, so the dive could not have been a world record anyway.  A disappointment for Herbert Nitsch, but he now knows that he is capable of this depth should he wish to attempt it again.

For photos from Day 6 of Vertical Blue 2010, please visit the Facebook page http://facebook.com/verticalblue

Here are the results from Day 6 of Vertical Blue 2010, and the standings in the Suunto Dive-Off at the end of Act 2.

Due to the sheer volume of photos, and the fact that blogs aren't the best place to view them, we are keeping the majority of photos from Vertical Blue 2010 on the Facebook page.
You can see them by following this link:
    http://www.facebook.com/verticalblue
be sure to join the group by clicking the Like button!

Day five at Vertical Blue 2010, and Long Island woke to one of those days that have postcard photographers scrambling for their cameras.  In the warm and calm morning air, Dean's Blue Hole was a glassy iris.  If Shakespeare was right in saying that the eyes are windows to the soul then this morning the Blue Hole's crystal waters invited athletes of Vertical Blue to perform a dive into both it, and their own soul, testing their courage, determination and aquaticity.  And the athletes responded to the call, with another historic day of competition involving two new world records and two other clamorous national records.

There was some early drama to the day, when the bottom plate camera attachment sheared off an hour from the first official top.  Luckily resident mechanical genius Kris Newman had a spare part in his palatial workshop, and Vertical Blue team member Charlie Beede whisked it to the dive site: under the circumstances the 45 minute delay was much less than anticipated.
Having dispatched the Mexican CWT record, Alfredo has started pursuing the no fins (CNF) record, and he started his campaign with a confident dive to 40 meters.  Another 7 meters separate him and the record, and given his previous leaps in performance he may even attempt it on his next dive.  Alfredo is diving with a new Orca Alpha Free wetsuit which was gifted to him for this trip by his close friend Alexis Silva Brisset.
Carolina Schrappe and Walter Steyn followed, and both turned early in their dives.  Carolina said later that she had too much going on in her head, while Walter had a tangle between his noodle float and lanyard while he was packing at the end of the breathe-up, followed by difficulty equalising during the dive.
After two very close misses at 46 meters CNF, Carla decided the number must be jinxed, and moved on to announcing 47 meters.  To her great frustration she lost her nose-clip at 41 meters into her descent today, and couldn't equalize further.
Misuzu Hirai finally triumphed with a great CWT dive to 73 meters, cementing her position as the deepest Japanese woman.  After the judges flashed their white cards she was splashed in celebration by Ryuzo, who has been coaching her in her dives.
William Winram took a break from his CNF campaign today for a dive in the more relaxed discipline of free immersion (FIM).  He had announced a new national record attempt of 96 meters, the deepest he has ever been, and the first north american dive past 300 feet in any discipline.  Still not a fan of the freefall, and with constant sinus quarrels, Winram continue pulling occasionally all the way to the plate, before returning to the surface in a time of 3:24.  A slight cough belied possible difficulty equalising at the bottom, but his surface protocol was strong and lucid.  This ranks him sixth in the all time list of FIM divers.
Dave Mullins announced 118 meters, attempting to regain the national record in CWT from William Trubridge, as well as continue his progress towards a possible dive in the 120's.  His equalisation ran out eight meters short of the plate, and, frustrated with his ears, he proceeded to take it out on his legs, ascending from 110 in a time of 1:14, with a peak velocity of 1.7m/s!  If he can master his equalisation then Dave has the oxygen and the leg power to go much deeper in the remaining 4 days of Vertical Blue.

Next up to the line was Herbert Nitsch, with an announcement of 124 meters in constant weight.  Taking 17 seconds just to get to 10 meters, he slowly built up speed to 1.2m/s as he relaxed into the freefall, reaching the plate at 2:13.  Powering off the bottom at 1.4m/s his legs started to fail 35 meters from the surface, and he began his trademark armstroke-legkick alternations.  At 3:57 he surfaced, but on the wrong side of the rope, hitting his head on the underneath of the boom.  For most freedivers this would tip them over the edge on a difficult dive, but although Herbert's neck and chin dipped under, the waterline stopped just below his mouth as he struggled back to the line, saving himself from disqualification (athletes must keep their airways above the water after surfacing).  Herbert admitted to still being a little dazed from narcosis or fatigue, even after finishing decompression 10 minutes later.  This was the 30th world record for the Austrian, and the deepest self-powered freedive of all time.

William Trubridge was last to compete, with an announced 116 meter world record attempt in FIM.  After going deep yesterday, he didn't decide whether he would attempt the dive until the morning, when he finished helping to resolve the camera problem.  At 11:54 he began his descent, with 12 long strokes to 30 meters, from where he hooked his thumbs under elastic thigh-bands and relaxed into the freefall.  William reached the plate at 2:04, but didn't leave it until 5 seconds later, struggling through narcosis to detach a tag and fasten it to the velcro on his leg. 42 long arm strokes brought him back to the surface, where he proceeded to hook his legs on the rope and take the weight off his tired arms.  The judges' ritual question "do you have a tag?" was answered with a display of the tag itself, and as the white cards were shown William was mobbed by the celebrating Italian safety divers.  This is his tenth world record, and his first FIM record since 2008.
Four days remain in Vertical Blue 2010.  What new feats and revelations await in the coming days of competition?  Stay tuned...

Platform coordinator Arthur Trousdell writes:
Improving visibility made the presence of the resident Tarpon known when they ventured out from the ledge at around 15 meters while the crew were setting up early this morning.  Heavy cloud cover seemed to be a factor on day one of act two of Vertical Blue 2010, with a number of divers getting cold, however it was still a successful day, with four new National Records.

Eric Fattah from Canada set a new national record today in CWT.  He had to power down to 30 meters, having forgotten to put on his 1.7 kg neck weight before the dive.  After overcoming the extra buoyancy he relaxed into the freefall and focussed on keeping his legs as streamlined as possible.  At 90 meters he managed to find a tag without his torch, which was attached to the neck weight lying redundantly on the platform.  After his dive Eric told me that when he realized his predicament a minute before official top, his first instinct was to abort the whole attempt, but then he decided that he would go ahead with it, as training dives without a neck weight had been difficult at depth but things had always been conversely unproblematic on the surface. Once he had the tag he was filled with a renewed confidence and ascended to the surface, completing a strong surface protocol with a dive time of 2:55 - only 5 seconds slower than the announced time.
Congratulations to Eric and his wife Maggie on the new Canadian CWT record!

Robert King is on an impressive roll and set another USA national record!  87 meters in CWT in 2 minutes 44 seconds. Congratulations to Rob whose convincing dive leaves us wondering how much further he might be able to extend this record!!

Carolina Schrappe’s dive to 69 meter was a new CWT national record, cementing her post as the top Brazilian freediver.  She was lucid and strong on the surface afterwards and her record was loudly cheered on by the crowd and crew.  With a flawless dive today, perhaps she will look to extend her record in the coming days.  Today she only brought one tag up from the bottom plate (she retrieved two and three respectively on day two and three of act one).
Congratulations to Carolina and her family for her national record!!

William Trubridge continues to impress, securing valuable points in CWT for the Suunto Dive-Off, and simultaneously reclaiming the national record from Dave Mullins (who broke Wills record of 110 meters, extending it to 114 on day two of Act one).  Will was visibly shivering before his dive and said he had never been that cold in a competition dive before.  Will kept it together once he surfaced, with audible support from Australian competitor Walter Steyn and force of habit prevailing to earn him the White Card.  

There were two attempts in Free Immersion (where the diver uses the line to descend and ascend, pulling with their arms):
Ryuzo had another valiant attempt at the world record: he turned at 101 meters, making the decision on how he felt as opposed to an equalization problem.  With ears not being the reason this time, it’s a good sign that Ryuzo could well extent his FIM performance  in the coming days.
Jared Schmeltzer completed a solid FIM dive to 63 meters in 2minutes 30 seconds.

Guillaume was unlucky today, diving to 106 meters but failing to retrieve a tag from the bottom plate.  He complained that there were none there, but it must have been narcosis, as when the plate was pulled to the surface there were still 6 tags attached, so his dive incurred a one point penalty.  He still secures himself valuable points in the Suunto Dive-Off.

Mimi Hirai decided not to dive today due to encountering an ear block during her warm-up.  Everyone is hoping that this will clear up and she will have another opportunity at the Japanese national record soon.
A number of divers turned early today:
Dave Mullins turned with an equalization issue due to the coldness but with 5 opportunities left and a determined “tomorrow” as he left the official perimeter Dave will be looking to have another go for the National Record.  He also had a slight problem with vision during the dive, as Walter handed him my drink bottle to fill his fluid goggles, thinking it contained normal tap water, when there was actually the juice of half a lime inside!
William Winram turned at 74m, in his 88m CNF attempt at the Canadian National Record and pulled up the line to save himself for the next dive.
Two minutes from his official top, Herbert Nitsch made a verbal adjustment to his world record announcement, telling AIDA judge Grant Graves “100 meters,  3:45," but he turned at 51, also due to problems with cold, and pulled his way back up the line.

Carla Sue-Hanson made another valiant attempt at 46 meters without fins.  After completing the dive she stayed above the surface and removed her goggles and nose clip but didn't quite finish the surface protocol fast enough.  Her determination is commendable and with a few adjustments there is a good chance she will come up trumps before the competition is over.

Due to popular demand we have started a women's category in the Suunto Dive-Off.  The current leader is Carla Sue-Hanson, but that lead will be threatened if the other girls start making forays into CNF and FIM.

Alfredo Romo set a National Record for Mexico on Day three of Vertical Blue 2010.  The young Mexican from Puerto Vallerta has only just begun his freediving career, and is a recent graduate of the Vertical Blue Master Class, where he reached a depth of 52 meters with bi-fins and no wetsuit.  In only his third competition dive, he used a monofin to break the Mexican Constant Weight record, with a depth of 60 meters (200 feet).

Alfredo writes: It was  good news from William Trubridge that i got invited to Vertical Blue 2010 because  it was an opportunity  for me to be  in a formal Freediving competition for the first time and to attempt a National Record.
My plan was to start with shallow dives so that I would be able to do a confident target dive. After my second dive to 45 meters, I felt I was ready to go to 60 meters in constant weight: a new national record attempt for Mexico.
I felt really good in the morning.  Just before my top time i got in the water.  I felt good until 50 meters, then it took me quite a big effort to do my last equalization.  Finally  I got to the plate and  the way back  felt easier.
This new personal best motivates me to keep on training and learn  more about freediving. Thanks to everybody that helped me to accomplish this goal.

Dave Mullins was back for his second Vertical Blue, after missing the 2009 edition.  An over-acheiver in the pool, Dave had near misses in a couple of world record attempts between 2007-2008 at 113 meters in Constant Weight.  It seems he has left those events far behind him as he made it all look easy on day two of Vertical Blue this year, with a comfortable dive to 114m
Dave writes: At the last depth competition I attended back in 2008 I had problems with severe narcosis, equalisation, and the fatigue of last-minute acclimatisation to depth and pressure. At that competition I set a national record in Constant Weight at 108 meters, but failed in a world record attempt of 113m. Two more years spent training in the pool are now paying off, and with more thorough preparation in lake Taupo, New Zealand, I'm finding depth much easier to achieve.  My 114 meter dive on Sunday felt very controlled, with little narcosis, and my aim now is to continue pushing deeper in this discipline.