FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New US Men’s Freediving National Record Opens the 2009 World Championships

The United States Apnea Association (USAA) is pleased to announce that Robert King, a USAA member, set a new men’s national record in the freediving discipline of Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) to a depth of 63 meters / 207 feet on November 28, 2009 during the opening heat of the AIDA Individual Depth Freediving World Championships taking place at Dean’s Blue Hole on Long Island in the Bahamas.

Rob’s dive took two minutes and thirty-two seconds to complete.  He broke his own record of 60 M that he set in Dahab, Egypt earlier this year.  CNF is one of the most difficult of competitive freediving disciplines, as it requires the athlete to swim to depth and back under their own power with no swimming aids at all while holding their breath.  The athlete may only use arm and leg strokes to perform.  The technique is a modified breaststroke style.

This is Rob’s sixth national record in this discipline.  Rob, a resident of Miami, Florida began his competitive career in freediving as a member of the US Freediving Team at the AIDA Team Freediving World Championships in 2006.  He has since made great strides in his diving.  Rob states, “No fins is one of my favorite disciplines in freediving as it blends pure movement and streamlining through the water.  I want to thank William Trubridge for hosting the World Championships at such an amazing dive site and William Winram, Johan Dahlstrom, and Herbert Nitsch for supporting and helping with my training.”

William Trubridge’s Vertical Blue located on Long Island in the Bahamas is hosting the 2009 Individual Depth Freediving World Championships.  Vertical Blue is William’s freediving school in the Bahamas.  William is also an athlete in this year’s championships.  This year’s competition features over fifty male and female athletes from seventeen nations.  The first two days of competition have seen four new national records for the women and eleven for the men; one of the biggest results of any world championship.  Carla Sue-Hanson is also competing for the US.

This competition tests in the freediving disciplines of Constant Weight and Constant Weight No Fins.  This year is the first time the individual championships are being held with qualifying heats in each discipline where the top six athletes for each sex and discipline will compete again in a final to decide the top six athletes in each discipline and the world champion. 

Constant Weight (CWT) challenges the athlete to swim to depth and back with the use of fins or a mono fin under their own power while holding their breath.  The athlete is not allowed to contact the competition line other than to recover their tag at depth while turning.  Upon reaching the surface the athlete must perform a surface protocol within fifteen seconds of their return to the surface.  Constant Weight is one of the most respected and most contested disciplines in freediving.

For updated competition results checkout www.verticalblue.net/events

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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Images available upon request. 

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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