Suunto has been one of my principal sponsors for the last two years, and during this time they have remained the world leader for underwater depth gauges.  Their accuracy, reliability and compact, easy-to-use design has ensured that the Suunto D4 and D9 are used by AIDA as official depth confirmation devices to be worn by competitors.

Recently Suunto released a new series of instruments called the Elementum range, and this includes the Suunto Aqua, for those who spend their leisure time in the liquid element.  The Aqua is both a depth gauge and a luxury timepiece, and it is hands down the most elegant such instrument that a diver can strap to their wrist.  Manufactured from stainless steel, and with a scratch-proof sapphire crystal face, it has a solid heft to it, without feeling awkward on the wrist.
It comes with a variety of different display, strap and colour configurations, and these can all be seen on the Suunto Elementum website
    http://www.suuntocampaigns.com/Elementum/

As a depth gauge it lacks the host of functions that the D4 and D9 are equipped with, but the Aqua is designed as a cross-over timepiece, so that unless you are in a phase of delicate training and need to be able to download your dives at a one-second sampling rate then you can keep this watch on your wrist as you pass from the water to the restaurant.
The Aqua is rated to 200 meters (660 feet), and uses Suunto's super-accurate depth sensor and algorithms to achieve market-leading precision.  Functions include:
    - depth mode displays depth, dive time and max depth
    - measures temperature on the bezel with a simultaneous ºF & ºC display
    - stores last 14 dives (time, depth, and dive time)
    - beautiful LED backlight
    - time alarm

As ambassador for the brand, it's no surprise that I recommend it, but anyone who's seen me wearing my Aqua will know that I'm genuinely proud to be associated with it.  If you want something with modern style, but that still distinguishes you as a diver, then you cannot look past this beautiful piece of Finnish craftsmanship.

The planet's ecosystems are threatened on almost every front, and it is hard to assess which is the most immediate concern, or the most bona fide environmental organization.  Often serious ecological concerns go unnoticed, just because they may not have the armageddon consequences of global warming or mass extinctions.  The level of seaborne plastic is an example of this.
We have a "north Pacific rubbish patch" the size of Australia where currents have collected plastic into a giant eddy, beaches in the Caribbean have become plastic carpets and sea-creatures' digestive tracts are becoming choked with the material.

This video by Chris Jordan shows the chilling plight of Pacific albatrosses and other sea birds who are starving to death with bellyfuls of lighters, bottle caps and plastic flakes: http://www.chrisjordan.com/video/Midway%20960x720px.mov
We are all familiar with turtles mistaking clear plastic bags for the jellyfish they feed on, and six pack yokes strangling sea birds, but the concern is even more holistic.  Scientists are showing that no matter how small a filter is used there are even smaller particles of plastic that will get through it, raising concerns that the material could be blocking fish gills as well as filter feeders.
So where is all of this plastic coming from?  Researchers cite littering from boats, as well as waste being carried out to sea from beaches and via rivers.  Clean-ups, such as the worldwide effort in 1998 that collected 10.4 million items, can only remove a fraction of the larger objects.  Over the last 5 years Vertical Blue has attempted to keep Dean's Blue Hole beach, one of the worst affected on Long Island, plastic-free, and during this time we have removed an estimated 1,500kg of plastic and other trash from a stretch of beach that is only 100 yards long.

As an indication of just how severe the situation is, in the space of a single week we found a staggering 21 toothbrushes floating in the blue hole lagoon!  The type of toothbrush gives a good indication to where the trash is originating: of the 21 brushes, 20 of them were the 'straight and simple' design that these days can only really be found in 2nd/3rd world countries.  The vast majority of the other types of items recovered, such as oil canisters, paint buckets, monofilament line & polyester netting, all point to fishing boats and coastal communities as being the main culprits, at least in the Caribbean.  In central American countries such as Honduras and Guatemala, and probably large island nations such as the Dominican Republic and Haiti, water is often packaged in small half-liter plastic bags: fishermen tear off a corner with their teeth and squirt the contents in their mouth before tossing the bag in the sea.  This is probably the fate of almost all rubbish that is produced on these boats during fishing trips that can last from a day up to several weeks - after all why waste precious cargo space that could be substituted with profitable fish?

Even if this is the main cause, it is hard to really put too much blame on the people of these cultures, who have probably never been educated as to the durability of plastic and it's effect on the marine environment.  Instead the blame should really rest on the shoulders of companies who ship vast quantities of disposable plastic products to countries that have no ecological practice for its disposal or recycling.  After all you wouldn't give a gun to someone who doesn't know it is a weapon, so how can you justify shipping tonnes of plastic to countries who will inevitably release it into the environment?

Since this is an issue that directly affects the Bahamas, and Dean's Blue Hole in particular, Vertical Blue is adopting the seaborne plastic problem as its major cause, and over the next several years we will work to increase the awareness of the situation as well as develop and implement methods to resolve it.  Any ideas or information would always be appreciated.

Extreme depths at the Aida individual world championships in freediving - 2009 Bahamas.

Gold medals in the no fins category landed as predicted with the current world record holders: William Trubridge and Natalja Molchanova.
In the classic fin category (CWT) nobody could challenge ruling champion Natalja Molchanova - and as expected Herbert Nitsch took the gold medal.

The drama was around the silver and bronze medals.

The world championships started with record depths demanded for a place in the final in the no fins category. Three french men announced the same depth - 73 meters (which became the qualifying depth), forcing the organization to include them all in the final. It was no surprise that the ruling world record holder William Trubridge announced the deepest depth in the final. The plate was lowered to 90 meters depth where no light reaches down. Before that the crowd on the beached had seen the Austrian Herbert Nitsch try for a world record depth of 89 meter, making it down there in a 3.40 minute dive, but failing to deliver correct surface protocol to the judges at the surface, due to low oxygen and lack of focus (and lingering narcosis). Trubridge compeeting on "home turf" did a very secure dive to 90 meters leaving the competition behind. The Canadian William Winram did an impressive come back, with first an 80 meter dive in the heats, and then 86 meter in the final, claiming the silver medal. Due to young Alexey Molchanovas short black out at the surface after a 83 meter dive, the french man Guillaume Nery took the bronze with a 78 meter dive - and remember, these are dives done with breast strokes down and up.

Among the women Natalja Molchanova was out of reach for the other women with her 62 meter no fins dive lasting 3.15. Nikki Roderick, New Zealand, claimed silver with a 55 meter dive (coached by her partner the multiple world record holder Martin Stepanek). Jana Strain Canada kept within her limits, not pushing it too far as has happened before, took the Bronze medal with a 54 meter dive coming up with blood from the sinuses.
But no one was as happy as Junko Kitahama finishing 4th with a 52 meter Japanese record (leaving her coach crying happy tears). Junko having progressed nearly 10 meter during the training week preceding the World championship.

Constant Weight dives (CWT = with monofin).
After an early turn from Jana Strains, leaving her out of the CWT (fins) final, Swedish Klara Hansson made it into the top 6 doing one of the many national records during this world championship. Japaneese Misuzu Hirai managed two national records in this competition and finished 4th with a dive to 72 meters. Jarmilla Slovencikova from Czeck republic did 74 meters national record and finished with a bronze.
Sara Campbell having lost motivation for really challenging the ruling Champion Natalja, did a (for her) easy dive to 92 meters. Natalja for the first time in years not announcing a world record depth in a world championship claimed the gold medal after a 97 meter dive.

For the men, in the classic fin category not even a 80 meter dive with monofin was enough to make it into the top 10. One of the favorites, the Japanese Ryouzo Shinomiya, turned early at 90, and missed the final, letting swedish Johan Dahlström into the top 6 and the final.
The final for the men was all clean dives, everyone making their announced depths the 6th and last place in the final with a 100 meter dive. as expected.

The Blue Hole in Long Island proved to be perfect place for performance freediving. Calm, deep, warm waters a few swim strokes from land. 51 athletes from 17 nations participated making it one of the smallest World Championships, but at the same time one of the most successful in the sense of depths achieved and number of national records.

World records
Natalja Molchanova 62 meter CNF
William Trubridge 90 meter CNF

BO percentage 8%
DQ percentage 10%

VERTICAL BLUE
- WC organizer.

When asked several years ago if he had a goal in freediving, Sebastian Naslund replied without hesitation: "Sixty meters constant no fins, before I die."  He came halfway across the world, sailing the last 2500 nautical miles in an 8 meter boat, to finally reach the mark in a warm-up competition before the world championships.
Sebastian is chief organiser of this year's event, and on competition days he is found ruling a megaphone over the dive platform, announcing top times, bossing safety divers and calling updates to the spectators on the shore.  So it was even more of a feat when, on the day of the men's CNF heats, Sebastian handed his duties over to his assistant Filip, donned wetsuit and goggles, and levered his spidery frame down to 65 meters and back, for another Swedish national record.

Well done Sebastian, the athletes of the 2009 World Championships salute you!

Sebastian in an Orca swimskin suit, breast-stroking down to 65 meters (213 feet) and back.

Sebastian was overtaken by copatriot Christian Ernest, but with another mini-competition scheduled for the day off between the finals, he may yet have the last word...

Tatsuma Kitahara (left) and Jason Weller Barrett (right and below), diving to 43 and 47 meters.  Jason's was a new CNF record for Spain.

above: Pavel Alcocer of Venezuela, all smiles after a clean dive to 47 meters

Mikko Pontinen (left) swam to 50m in a time of 2:18, while Anders Larsson of Sweden (right, and below) hit 63 meters, along with 4 other divers.  This was the first of three Swedish CNF records for the day - it was followed with Sebastian Naslund's 65m and Christian Ernest's 66m.

Christian Ernest putting some muscle into the armstroke.  Below: athletes program their whole day around their 'official top time' the zero hour for their dive - Christian has written it on his hand, in which he holds the tag he brought to the surface 3 minutes and five seconds later.

Above: having made stratospheric advances in training, it wasn't to be for Kerian Hibbs on the day.  Attempting 72m (after arriving at the World Champs with a PB of 55m), he blacked out just below the surface.

Christian Maldame (above left) and Guillaume Nery (right) on their way to 73m.  Morgan Bourc'his (below left) also announced the same depth, maximising the chances for all three French CNF divers to go through to the finals.  It paid off, and they will have a chance to improve on their depth on the 3rd December.  Frederic Lemaitre, doctor and coach for the French team is on the right.

For the first time in years William Winram announced a depth in CNF that was less than his training PB.  80m, in a quick dive time of 2:58, and a new pan-American record for his favoured discipline.

William Trubridge was last to dive for the day, and had announced 85m.  He was greeted on the surface by his new wife, Brittany.

all photos copywright Igor Liberti http://www.apnea.ch/

Perhaps it was the nerves of the first day of competition, or maybe the fact that so many of the women were bunched at similar depths, vying for a spot in the finals.  Of the 13 competitors, only 6 were awarded white cards, and the Canadian safety divers had plenty of opportunity to rescue mermaids in distress...
There were some happy moments though, especially when Junko Kitahama (JAP) and Brigitte Banegas (FRA) set new national records.  Confident dives by Niki Roderick (NZL) and Jana Strain (CAN) sent a warning shot across the bows of Natalia Molchanova, who will surely be challenged to go close to or past her world record in order to clinch the title in the finals. 

aiming for the darkness...

Junko Kitahama celebrates her new Japanese (and Asian) record of 48 meters, in a dive time of 2:11.

With a dive time exceeding three minutes, Natalia Molchanova had some of the AIDA Canada safety freedivers worried during her ascent.  She drifted the last few meters of the ascent from 55 meters, and completed the surface protocol to claim a place in the finals.

The Vertical Blue dive rig seen from below.  The plaftorm is built from fibreglass by master boat builder Francis, of Chamcem boats here on Long Island.  The official competition zone is defined by a 6 meter square of rigid floating pipe.

The AIDA Freediving World Championships have begun on Long Island in the Bahamas, after a warm welcome by the local Bahamian officals and citizens at the Clarence Town Community Center.

Mrs. Barbara Cartwright, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and Sebastian Naslund, chief organiser of the event, were the hosts for the evening.  The athletes entered with the flags of the nations they are representing, and stood for the Bahamian national anthem, sung beautifully by Mrs. Maria Watkins.  After an invocation by Father Ernest Pratt of St. Paul's Anglican Parish, addresses were made by Mrs. Salena Burrows, Minister of Tourism for Long Island, Mr. Mario Cartwright, Vice Presiden of the Chamber of Commerce, Chief Councillor Mr Ian Knowles, and Deputy Administrator Mr. Roderick Bowe.  Mrs. Ramona Taylor gave a vote of thanks, and announced the competition officially open!

The athletes assembled for the photoshoot at the opening ceremony

The site for the 2009 AIDA Freediving World Championships: Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas.

The custom built Vertical Blue dive rig

A freediver making their descent into the maw of the blue hole...


The last stroke before the freefall.

All photos courtesy Igor Liberti.

Many people have been asking, so I thought I'd simplify things by posting the dive profiles of my best performances in CNF and CWT.

best CNF dive so far, 21/11/2009

best CWT dive so far, 22/11/2009

Sebastian Naslund comments on the atmosphere 4 days out from the launch of the 2009 World Championships.

It has already started. Side by side every day on the diving platform the athletes are competing indirectly against each other. Who is progressing towards a peak, who is wearing himself out, who adds meters in training, who is stopped by lost mouthfuls, BO´s etc?  New suits are being tried out, new evaluation of weighting has to be done. Its about finding a peak in performance after months of training aiming for this one (or two) coming dives.  And all the time the unspoken question: how much will it take to get into the final, to be among the top 6, that gets a second dive to change final ranking?
Some have arrived with personal goals. Maybe expressed in a general desire to improve and set a competition PB, or be among the ten best. Others want to get as close as possible to 100 meters, or even break that barrier. We have seven athletes here that can dive to 100 meters with a monofin.

There have been some very ambitious athletes arriving early: William Winram, Jana Strain, Herbert Nitsch, Robert King, Johan Dahlstrom, Kerian Hibbs, and of course William Trubridge with the advantage of living here big parts of the year.
In a second wave we saw Guillaume Nery and the other french, Alexey Molchanov and Natalia Molchanova.

The atmosphere around the ropes is as usual friendly, relaxed with that underlying tension of being part of a group of people doing an adventure sport submerging to extreme depths. Depths that would gather the whole beach to watch some years ago are now done rather nonchalantly. As Christian Maldame pushing for 90+ setting off with only his safety Patrick B aware of the magnitude of the dive. Christian coming up slightly upset that his dive alarm preparing him for mouthfill at 30, beeped at 70.
Other athletes are more secretive about their training. William Winram always setting the rope at 100 (psychological reasons?) turning by feeling or depth alarm. And every day (almost) Trubridges´ dives done with lots of whisperings and hiding of rope markings by his safety diver Kerian and morally supporting wife Brittany. We are talking 90´s here I believe.

And day after day Herbert going down to 100 meters and usually pulling himself up, sticking to his strategy of only really pushing it on comp day. Most divers dive according to a 3 days diving and one day off. Guillaume Nery adding a day off after a confusing incident where he pushed himself in a 80+ dive in CNF, doing his in-water O2 deco for seven minutes breathing heavily after the dive - resulting in symptoms resembling DCS, but turning out to be hyperoxia. Otherwise no major setbacks seen so far. Kathryn McPhee trying to push her squeeze level deeper, Alexey Molchanov training at PB levels in CNF, failing once due to too little rest.

You can not get lost on Long island. There is one long paved road going on for hours. And while driving along this road you soon become aware of the many churches: assembly of god, first church of god, church of Christ, seventh day Adventists, Anglican church. One senses some level of competition here as well.
In such a "god-fearing" country it seems appropriate that the opening ceremony next Wednesday the 25th November will be started with an invocation by Father Ernest Pratt from St. Paul's Anglican Parish.

After that it will be like Umberto Pelizzari once said: "I seek god at the bottom of the ocean." (free quote)  In this case the bottom of the Deans Blue Hole. One last training day on the 26th and the next day the womens CNF qualification heat where we expect Natalia Molchanova, Sara Campbell, and Kathryn McPhee to come out with a lead.

10 days are left before the opening of the 2009 Aida Freediving World Championships.  Many of the hopeful medallists have already arrived in the Bahamas, and have quickly begun their campaigns with dives past 100m in CWT and beyond 70m in CNF.

After being lashed by 35 knot winds - the coat tails of Hurricane Ida - the weather on Long Island has finally calmed, and the surface of Dean's Blue Hole is once again a mirror that reflects and contains the hopes of the freedivers preparing on the dive platform.
photo © Chris Marshall

The main organizer, Sebastian Naslund, and his assistant Filip, arrived after navigating the width of the Caribbean, surfing down giant swells in a tiny sailboat.  Together with a dedicated team of coordinators, safety divers, medics and photographers they will be responsible for moulding the event into the shape of a Swiss timepiece and ensuring the athletes have the safest conditions possible for their freedives.

Already training groups have formed, between romantic partners, compatriots and friends.  But even across the borders of these groups there is still a spirit of generosity and sociability.  Perhaps closer to the event the surreptitious surveillances and rumor-mongering will begin, but for now the waters are calm and the Blue Hole is smiling on its guests.

Over the weekend a team of local high school students descended on the blue hole beach to remove the seaborn plastic that washes up on the sand and rake up the sargasso seaweed.  Below are a couple of photos, with everything being closely documented by a Japanese film crew.

This years Freediving World Championships in the Dean's Blue Hole will be the first competition to use an incredible new product that has an enormous application to our sport.
Glow in the dark rope.

In March this year Dean's Blue Hole was covered by a thick layer of seaweed that had blown in from the Sargasso Sea on the spring tradewinds.  It meant the sunlight couldn't penetrate to depth, and any dive past 50 meters was in almost total darkness.  We were assured by the locals that this much seaweed had never before been seen on Long Island, but that didn't help our situation.  I remember sitting despondently on the dive platform and saying to my training partner, "What we need is glow in the dark rope..."
Now that dream has become possible, and although we don't expect to have a problem with light at depth during world championships, this product will have us covered for if we do.

Its greatest application however will surely be in the lakes and quarries of North America and Europe, where light is lost after 10 meters, and deep freedives are conducted in complete darkness.  Glorope only needs a couple of minutes of charging in sunlight (in our tests even a few seconds was sufficient!) in order to stay glowing for hours.  It is true that after a period the charge starts to wear off, but although the line may not  exactly be radiant it is still clearly visible in darkness, which is all that is required.  Furthermore there is even a reflective weave, which makes it stand out like a beacon in any kind of projected light.

Glorope kindly agreed to sponsor the World Championships with a spool of 3/8" (10mm) dyneema glorope.  The dyneema core means that the rope has a five figure breaking strength (>10,000kg!) and is about as stretchy as a brick tower, perfect for accurate line measurements.  They have also sent us sheets of glowing vinyl stickers to cover the base plate so that the black tags are clearly visible.

At $2.33/ft ($7/meter) Glorope is not really any more expensive than standard dyneema rope of its thickness, and the glowing property will last as long as the rope does.
Visit their website at http://www.glorope.com for more information, or to buy online.

Orca has been involved in freediving for several years, and is the wetsuit brand of choice for a large fraction of all the top performing freedivers, including the NZ and Russian mens and womens teams.  Recently I have been collaborating with Orca to develop THE freediving wetsuit.  We had a list of priorities that we would not compromise on, and they have all been met and combined in one suit:
           ORCA FREE...
- greatest hydrodynamic quality possible: realised with Orca's silicon-coated SCS neoprene.
- greatest flexibility possible: using superstretch lining to reduce any resistance to movement to almost zero.
- minimise water entry into the suit: an inner back panel with a hole for the head to pass through funnels any water that enters at the neck back out of the suit.
- maintaining thermal protection while keeping buoyancy to a minimum: 2mm Yamamoto neoprene panels, and a super-tight fit mean this suit can be used in water down to 20°C, but has less buoyancy than a single 3mm jacket.
- stylish graphics: well... judge for yourself!

In these photos I am at Tenerife Top Training Center (Canary Islands, Spain), where as well as state of the art 50m olympic and 25m pools they have one of the most advanced flumes in the world.  A flume is like a wind tunnel, but for the liquid element.

I tested the Orca Free for both DNF and DYN and it's performance was incredible.  With the monofin on we dialed the water speed up to 2.5m/s and I clung to the railing while a river seethed around me.  I expected to be flung against the back grating, but as soon as I let go and started moving I found I was able to stay in the same place, and even make headway into the current.  The incredible silicon surface of the Orca Free meant that I felt like I was invisible to the water - it parted effortlessly around my body.

During DNF trials I was able to complete laps of a 25m pool with 2.5 relaxed strokes, and still maintain a speed of 1.0m/s.  This suit performs, and the clever inner back panel means that you are warmer than one-piece wetsuits twice its thickness.

Now I am back in the Bahamas, and have starting depth training in the lead-up to the AIDA freediving world championships.  Already I have cut 2 ascent strokes off (in an 80m dive) from what I was doing at this time last year.  Anyone who was watching Vertical Blue 2009 might recall I had difficulty in CWT with water entering the neck seal and pooling in the suit I was using, but Orca have solved this problem as well as many other minor details, creating the ultimate performance freediving suit.
The suit will be officially released in January 2010, but Orca are doing a limited run of suits in time for the World Champs, so stay tuned to this space to see if you can pick up an advance model.
You can see more about what Orca are doing for freediving at this link.

Two weeks ago Vertical Blue held the 2nd Master Class, organised by William Trubridge and Brittany Vanacore, with Simon Borg Olivier and Robert King as guest instructors.

The course was a huge success, with 10 students from all over the globe thriving on the new techniques, knowledge and expertise of the instructors as well as the perfect training conditions offered by Dean's Blue Hole.  Personal best performances weren't sought out, but occurred almost daily for most students, and by the end of the course everyone had increased their operating depth by between 5 - 25m.  The yoga classes with Simon gave students a new approach to becoming in control of their own body, as well as insights into diet and breathing strategies.

Here is one warm description of the course and the Long Island experience from a close friend and Apnea Academy Instructor, Glenn Venghaus:

click here

From September 21-25, 2009 Vertical Blue will again hold its once-yearly Master Class, a chance for elite-level freedivers to extend their skill base and capacity in the three major areas of the sport:

• in water technique and dive strategy, with practical lessons and theory classes run by world record holder William Trubridge
• sessions of advanced yoga and pranayama with world-renowned Ashstanga instructor and expert in the physiology and diet of yoga, Simon Borg-Olivier.
• guided meditation and formative exercises with Brittany Vanacore

Pictures from the 2008 course

pre-dive stretching exercises on the beach in front of Dean's Blue Hole.

The class hanging out on the Vertical Blue dive platform.

Ascending under the watchful eye of instructor William Trubridge

Master Class instrucors Tim Carroll, Simon Borg-Olivier and William Trubridge

Sessions of pranayama and meditation on a rock promontory overlooking the Atlantic.

For more information visit http://www.verticalblue.net/school.php or write to info@verticalblue.net

A CELLPHONE FOR FREEDIVERS

This year Sonim released its new ultra-rugged cellphone, and the first cellphone with IP-57 certification, which means it is fully submersible to 1m for up to 30 minutes.  Although this doesn't mean you can send texts at 30m you can use this phone comfortably on boats, dive platforms and around the water.  The unit is also resistant to salt, humidity, thermal shock and transport shock (i.e. getting dropped several times a day from up to 1.65m is routine for the XP3).

There is a 2.0 megapixel camera, and ultra long-life 1180 mAh battery that delivers 5.5 hours of talk and over 9 days of standby time.  All this is covered by an unconditional 3 year warranty.

I tested my Sonim XP3 during a freediving course at Marettimo on the weekend, and it functioned perfectly in the boat, and even in the water.  There is a YouTube video of the phone lighting up with an incoming call whilst being boiled in a pot alongside the pasta...

The phone is a little heavier than phones generally are these days, but this in itself is a fashion statement, as are the chunky lines and big buttons that can be used easily with gloves.

Best of all you can buy it unlocked so you can easily swap your SIM card over to the phone when you go traveling or on a dive trip.

Sonim XP3 will be the phone used at the AIDA World Championships by the organisational team and medic.

Check out the Sonim page on http://www.sonimxp3.com for more information

Thanks to everyone who showed concern when the Vertical Blue site was listed as being infected with badware.  It looks like a maliciious Chinese site somehow created a link within our site which would take your computer there without your knowing it...

Anyway the problem is resolved now, and we will be working to update the website soon with new pictures, videos, course dates and more.

Pleasant diving to everyone!

William Trubridge.

Part of the beauty of this event, and freediving in general, is that because it is such a small sport there is not enough people in it to have enemies or any kind of antagonism.  You quite often find yourself safetying the very person who has intentions to attempt your record, or discussing training techniques with your potential rivals.  This is nowhere more evident than in Vertical Blue, where the event was founded on the concept of a group of freedivers working together to achieve mutual goals.

Photos courtesy of Frederic Buyle (www.nektos.net), Dave Button & Blue Eye FX and Ryuzo Shinomiya.

Herbert, Sara, Ryuzo and Tomoko in the garden at Ellen's Inn, where half of the athletes were staying.  The Ellen's Inn cat (foreground) never knew so much love!

(from left to right) Mads, Walid and Leo discuss their training on the beach next to Dean's Blue Hole.  Walid is wearing an Orca Apex 2 wetsuit, Mads an Orca Alpha, and Leo used an Orca Pflex in the competition.

Walter transports William from the platform to the oxygen station after a deep constant weight dive.  Most of the freedivers found partners amongst the other athletes to coach them during their dives.  Coaching entails looking after the athlete, giving them time cues leading up to their official top time, carrying any equipment needed, transporting on the surface, and reminding the athlete to breath and do the surface protocol upon completing the dive.

PR manager and comic relief Dave Button (middle) is courted by the lovely ladies of Vertical Blue, from left to right Kathryn McPhee, Jana Strain, Olivia Phillip and Georgina Miller.

(above and below) a pot luck dinner held at William's apartment during the training days of Vertical Blue.  Never before has Long Island seen such diversity of ethnic dishes all under one roof!

(above and below) William, Herbert and Alex Sarasitis (Herbert's coach) went on a spearfishing trip after the competition was finished.  They are holding 2 hogfish, a conch shell and 2 yellowfin rockfish - some of the most tasty seafood the Caribbean has to offer, and served up on a barbecue later that night.

The Vertical Blue athletes and crew together at the midway barbecue at Kris and Jean's private beach in Salt Pond.  Conflicting goals, common spirit.

In February we opened a competition (see Suunto "Pick the World Records" challenge for the original post) to pick which, if any, world records would be broken during Vertical Blue 2009, by whom and with what depth.  The closest entrant would receive a new Suunto D4 freediving depth gauge and a Vertical Blue team shirt, second prize would receive the team shirt.

 AIDA judge Grant Graves checking the depth on the official depth gauge for Vertical Blue 2009, a Suunto D4.  Photo courtesy Frederic Buyle.

Vertical Blue saw 5 world records in 4 events, and the correct answer in the competition, for total of 14 possible points was:

male CWT: broken, Herbert Nitsch, 120m
male CNF: broken, William Trubridge, 88m
male FIM: broken, Herbert Nitsch, 109m
female CWT: broken, Sara Campbell, 96m
female CNF: unbroken
female FIM: unbroken 

Two entrants both finished with 11 points: They were LEONARDO D'IMPORZANO from Italy, who picked:

male CWT: broken, Herbert Nitsch, 114m
male CNF: broken, William Trubridge, 88m
male FIM: broken, Herbert Nitsch, 111m
female CWT: broken, Sara Campbell, 96m
female CNF: broken, Sara Campbell, 61m
female FIM: unbroken 

and STEFAN DROGUET, who picked:

male CWT: broken, Herbert Nitsch, 115m
male CNF: broken, William Trubridge, 90m
male FIM: broken, Herbert Nitsch, 111m
female CWT: broken, Sara Campbell, 96m
female CNF: unbroken
female FIM: unbroken 

Leonardo: 3:21
Stefano:   3:37

Apologies for the delay in uploading these photos - as you can expect the competition ended with a flurry...

Sara Campbell (left) decided to close her campaign after her huge 96m world record, and an oh-so-close attempt at 100m.  Saturday was an easy 40m dive for the cameras and "for the love of it!"  Jana Strain (right) ended with a solid 60m CWT dive that will qualify her to return also in this discipline at the world champs in November.

Once again Leo Muraoka (above) stole the show at Vertical Blue 2009.  The 53 year old Hawaiian battled his way through body-wracking contractions to win back the US National Record in Free Immersion that Robert had taken from him, with 81m in a time of 3:28.  The crowd of spectators watching from the beach erupted into applause and cheering as Leo showed his white tag and the judges replied with their white cards.

William Winram (above) displays the tag he retrieved from 90m in Free Immersion, setting the Canadian and continental records for this discipline.  Never a big fan of the freefall, William continued to pull himself at intervals all the way to the plate at 90m, before turning and pulling quickly back to the surface in a time of 3:06.

William Trubridge again attempted 111m in CWT on the last day, but the sudden darkness on the last day of the comp meant he lost the line on the descent, retrieved it via his safety lanyard, corrected vertical position, but by which time he had missed an equalisation, and so turned at 103m.  He finishes the competition with 107m in this discipline, an improvement on his competition PB of 88m set two years ago in Dahab with bi-fins.

History in the making: Herbert Nitsch ascends the last couple of meters in the bubbles of his own exhale (above).  Below, Herbert greets his father after the successful record attempt. 

120m CWT!

Pictures and more news to follow.