April 19, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Anthony Babowicz smashes his US National Freediving Record.

Pompano Beach, FL USA.  One day and fourteen meters more.  Anthony Babowicz set a new US national record in the freediving discipline of Dynamic Apnea No Fins with a swim of 139 meters / 456 feet while holding his breath on April 19, 2009.  He added an additional fourteen meters on to the record he set the previous day.  In two days he has added twenty-two meters on to the record smashing the old mark of 117 meters / 384 feet set at the AIDA Indoor Freediving World Championships by Deron Verbeck in 2007. 

This performance was realized during a record event at the Pompano Beach Aquatic Center in Florida arranged by Martin Stepanek and Freediving Instructors International.  Tony’s performance took two minutes and thirty-five seconds to complete.  His performance was completed in a 25 meter pool and verified by two AIDA judges.  Doug Peterson, lead judge, reported Tony as saying this was a good start. 

Tony said of his performance, “It was a great swim.  At eighty-five meters I had a very strong contraction and thought I might be in for a rough time of it, but I finished strong and completed the surface protocol with no issues.  I am just glad I was able to add on to my record.  This is a great step to keep building on.  I have my eyes on bigger performances in the near future.  I am just glad to be able to represent my country and this sport.”

Dynamic Apnea No Fins is performed by swimming without fins in a pool with the athlete holding their breath swimming as far as they can.  Distance is measured with the use of a metered tape measure.  The pool must be at least twenty-five yards long for the performance to be valid.    Other disciplines include tests in depth and time.

The USAA is a nonprofit association founded on the democratic representation of freediving within the United States and internationally.  Founded in 2003, the USAA consists of an active membership dedicated to furthering freediving in the United States and abroad. For more information about the USAA, the U.S. National Freediving Team, and membership please visit www.usfreediving.org.

The International Association for the Development of Freediving, AIDA, is the international sanctioning body for freediving, individual and team competition, and freediving world record attempts.  For more information about AIDA please visit http://www.aida-international.org.
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Contact Information:

Grant W. Graves, President
United States Apnea Association, USAA

3642 Seahorn Dr.
Malibu, CA 90265
Email: makog@aol.com
Phone: 310-560-6104

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