My very first freedive competition was in a little town in Germany. It was run by AIDA people through AIDA rules but was not an AIDA ranking competition.
The whole premise was that it was a "beginners" competition. Firstly, there were lectures from experienced people about AIDA rules and advice for not getting DQ's, information on different disciplines of freediving, equipment, medical stuff, training tips and a talk from Tom Sietas on his approach to competitions. After all that, we jumped in the pool and Tom gave us a static demonstration, then a bit after that we had the competition, run exactly to AIDA specifications, with one exception... after your performance, the judges would give you advice and tips based on what they observed from you. Then there was an awards ceremony.
That was the first day, the second was a fun day with a baton relay and some other apnea bits. IT was a fantastic weekend and an awesome learning experience. Everyone was encouraged to perform to their own personal levels and not to be too competitive about the whole thing. It was probably the best introduction to competitive freediving you could ask for, it left me hungry for more. As far as i'm aware it was the only competition of it's type and I haven't heard of any others like it, perhaps we all should think of doing something like it again.
Just to press on a point that Sam mentioned earlier in the thread, 18 months on now and i've just come back from representing my country at the World Championships, obviously i'm a bit older and uglier than I was back in Germany and have a lot more competition experience, and as such set completely different expectations on myself. But for me, the biggest highlight of the whole World Championship was coaching Liv Philip when she got the static NR. Helping out someone else achieve their goals is a massive buzz and reminds you why you love the sport so much. Doesn't matter how big the goal is but if you help someone achieve it then you're doing your part for the sport.
Cheers,
Ben
ps. the upcoming Double Dip in the UK will be great because it's got a good mix of beginners, intermediate and advanced freedivers. The main difference between the 3 is time and perseverence.
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