The British Freediving Championships in Dynamic and Static Apnea 2007

[samdive]

Lucia - you did NOT enter the competition last year, you were an "opener" which is entirely different.

Atomchaggis - British Freediving is extremely sexy - just come down to any SaltFree meet and you'll see!! at least all the scuba divers seem to find us very sexy as we ooze our way into our neoprene and walk around the carpark in extremely tight suits. And we dive all year round, and no, there is no ice and it's not even that grim. At SaltFree in the winter we have about 15m viz, clear, beautiful, drinkable water, no current, loads of depth, you are warm enough in a 5ml and most importantly, the company is fabulous.

I'm not in London any more so it was very difficult for me to get there this year (6 hour drive) AND I have to work the day the comp was planned for - which are my excuses - not that I think I need one after running the only comp that did go ahead in this country this year...

I've been in touch with the organisers with some other reasons. One of the biggest is that there have been a few "issues" with the leadership of the BFA - which means this comp was launched at fairly short notice, without much detail which also didn't help. That problem should be sorted soon.

Saltfree in the meantime will stay as an independent republic of freediving and will for sure be running a comp next year - and doing the absolute utmost we can to get people to enter and make it fun for everyone whether they are diving 5m or 50m - as we've always tried to.

We have bid to the BFA to run the national depth champs next year - in CW, CWNF and FIM (choose two, its a two day event), probably in July but tbc at this stage. More info on www.saltfreedivers.com as its available.... Laura and I had our first chat about it last night.

We can't promise anything but we'll obviously do our utmost to make sure there are people there for you to compete against! If necessary, as last year, I'll enter myself just to boost the numbers and make my gran, brother, dog, cat and goldfish enter too......

S

[atomichaggis]

Originally Posted by alix.leclerc

I'd like to say that there are plenty of freedivers in the UK...
...and at least we can get in the water as opposed to trying to dive into rock hard ice which more of the Norwegans seems to find fun.
Maybe that's why you've forgotten how great we are here back in the uk, you've had too much concussion.
And at least cricket's got 'balls'!

I was in the UK less than a week ago... it was a long 5 days lol. Felt so good to get back to Norway. I've just spent a couple of hours fishing in the fjord, the surface of the water is like glass and its nice n' sunny. The trees are turning oranges and browns and the colours are breathtaking (colours are better under norther skies) and I got a couple of dabs and a cod for My efforts in these harsh conditions.

[atomichaggis]

Originally Posted by azapa

great post Davie askin' for trouble!

Who am I to comment though, a Brit. on the other side of the world!

There is some joy to be had participating in a minority sport. The friendships are stronger, and the waters uncrowded. I started snowboarding 22 years ago and it was the same, a happy, disorganized, small club, with open pistes. Is it better now? Comps every weekend and millions of fools falling over themselves on the pistes? I think I have answered that question already.

Now, as long as no one brings rugby into things right now, I think we might all finish this thread as buddies

Year on year record numbers of Brits are moving abroad... Don't think the freediving is the problem tho lol. Think they all just want something that is lacking there and its probably the same thing that is stopping people getting into freediving in a big way or the people that are into freediving from competing.

I don't think freediving could ever have the same problems as snowboarding or some popular sports... the seas and lakes are pretty big places and nobody is gonna go on a freediving trip to get hammered every night and I don't think we'll ever see freedive hooliganism lol.

[atomichaggis]

Sam,
For all the sexiness oozing into neoprene all over the UK its still not drawing in the crowds... nor the competitors it seems.
The only time anyone in the UK ever mentioned freediving to Me in a conversation that I didn't start was the day after one of Tanya streeter's doco's aired... It was spoken of quite enthusiastically too So You all know whats required.

[naiad]

Ben, I'm sorry about the misunderstanding.

Sam, I did enter the competition last year. Due to a change of plan after I entered, I did the 'opener' event instead. I will explain by PM if you need an explanation.

I was trying to be helpful by explaining why I did not enter this year's competition, so that the organisers could have a better idea of why people may not have entered, so these reasons could be addressed next time. I certainly don't feel like competing now, when I try to help and receive rudeness in return.

[samdive]

Atomchaggis - No need to diss us to the world! I know loads of freedivers in the UK who dive all the time, I can only name 2 from Norway but that doesn't mean I start having a go at Norway on the forums. Play fair!

S

[Pastor]

Now now campers! Too many people pointing fingers and winding each other up,

[atomichaggis]

Originally Posted by samdive

Atomchaggis - what the hell is your problem with the UK? If you don't like it, don't come here. No need to diss us to the world! I know loads of freedivers in the UK who dive all the time, I can only name 2 from Norway but that doesn't mean I start slagging off Norway on the forums. Play fair!

S

Just trying to get to the root of the problem that was being discussed and of course a little gentle ribbing but I think I have a valid point about British attitudes and about the sports image as I am a 'British subject' and one that was never impressed by the sport whilst living there.

Say what you like about Norway... It does alright for a country of less than 5 million (to 60+mil in UK) spread over a land mass much larger but it changed My opinion of freediving due to the good attitudes towards spearing and recreational freediving here. I'd like that for the UK too but it just ain't there at present... not just in freediving but a lot of things.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by atomichaggis

Sam Still etc. in bikinis, selling beer.

Now there's an image. Sam selling beer i mean.

f

[samdive]

atomichaggis - one last thing... if you were interested in freediving and in the UK, I am AMAZED our paths didn't cross - you certainly didn't ask about diving with SaltFree, we've been around for 4 years now and have a great set up.

next time you're here, get in touch, come and dive with us and we'll change your mind!

Sam

[atomichaggis]

Sam,
My point is that whilst I was there I wasn't drawn to freediving and that changed when I moved away. I know of Saltfree and other clubs and organisations now but they were a million miles away when I was geographically much closer. The change in culture... well attitudes at least has been good.

[naiad]

Originally Posted by samdive

Lucia - you didn't enter because you didn't want to pay for a medical! that's quite simple!

That proves my point! I and some others did not want to pay for the medical. That is obviously a reason why people are not competing. Whether it is a good reason is another matter, but it has clearly put some people off.

[Haydn]

I think Sam might have identified the kind of difficulties that the freediving community in the UK is experiencing right now. We have had the glory days of Howard Jones and the original bunch of freedivers who have largely left the scene now but who made freediving vibrant and who said (even sexy). Cyprus is past history but certainly we remember those days with fondness. Today, we no longer have to travel across the Country for the one and only event. Freediving has evolved into a few clubs sprouting up across the UK, the formation of the British Freediving Association and a few individuals (like me) where no clubs were nereby and we continued doing our own thing.

The thing is, we now freedive in our own groups. We go to Dahab, Greece or Nice in our groups and we rarely get together. This has fragmented our relationships with each other and as Sam suggests (not quite between the lines), there appears to be some frustration upset and maybe even purposeful lack of support to each others events. I am only guessing that perhaps Salt Free members do not get involved much with the BFA, and likewise, there was whole bunch of people missing from the last Salt Free comp. Someone else is upset with Emma or Marcus or Sam and I am sure I get my fair share of people disagreeing with some of my views.

I think we believe we dont need each other. We are all wrong.

[alix.leclerc]

Originally Posted by atomichaggis

Year on year record numbers of Brits are moving abroad...

That's becaue the UK has it's problems. That's a fact, and i'm not going to be one to deny it. But that's no reason to go slagging off our freedivers! Or our lack of them. Freediving itself is not widely recognised and it's only because of certain films (like Le Grand Bleu) that many frenchies have heard of it themselves. (I know the French hadn't be brought into it but it seems when I go there that quite a few people know who Mayhol is, although I do stay in a little fishing village.)

Which brings me to another point, there are more freedivers and spearfishers on the coast where it isn't even necessarily though of as a sport. It's just something that many people do. You can't go making such grand judgements on the UK freediving community when you visit only a few times in the damn year! What do you honestly know?

Who cares about 'drawing the crowds'? Freediving isn't supposed to be a shallow commercialised thrill. It's something extremely personal and god knows that many people in the UK are not suited to such a relaxing and beautiful sport. I'm so glad that most people don't know about it because it means when I talk to that minoirty who take an interest in it, I know it's a keen interest. Not some junk that someone pretends to know and care about.

Also I think your comment about 'showcasing' the freediving talent is a bastard thing to say even if it was a joke.

You say that

Originally Posted by atomichaggis

I am a 'British subject' and one that was never impressed by the sport whilst living there.

Well who's fault is that?

Who says that to have a great freediving community you need to have 'great' freedivers. Sara, Emma, Liv, Sam etc are all amazing but isn't it enough just to live the freediving lifestyle? Isn't it enough to want to be a freediver and take part as often as you can? To want to be in the ocean and improve your abilities? Do you actually have to have national and world record champs in order to have sexy freedivers?

I don't think so. As long as we have people out in the ocean or in the pools, just enjoying being in the water and fanatising about holding their breath then i'm happy to live in this country. And I think you're extremely shallow to base your whole idea of a countried freediving worthiness on the number of people taking part in the sport. In fact having ago at any UK sport is an awful thing to do. These things are a lifelong passion for most of the sports people, why would you want to challenge that? What gives you the right to offend these people when they care about something so much? Do you really think they would care if they were the only person to be doing it?

If you haven't got anything useful or nice to say about how to get of our AMAZING UK freedivers into a competiton they don't say anything at all.

[samdive]

Haydn - as always some very good points

The only thing I would argue with is that SaltFree does not in general have a problem with the BFA, I'm on the committee and have been for a long time. The BFA gave some sponsorship to the SaltFree comp this year and everyone who entered was required to join. If not many SaltFree people had entered the pool comp its probably because most SaltFree'ers are depth junkies and not many do any pool training. SaltFree also work much better now with No Tanx and have quite a few people diving with us who have "grown out" of Wraysbury (No Tanx) training ground, and still do lots of pool training with No Tanx. We've even had a few who trained at Vobster (arch rivals in quite a fun pantomime sort of way!).

The glory days weren't really that much better. Howard was in Plymouth, Richmond was in London and that was about it. Lee Donnelly and Rodin were role models/idols but now Dave King dives deeper than either of them on a fried breakfast without have trained for 2 years.... Cyprus was fab but it only happened twice and lost such hideous amounts of money that no-one would think of doing it again. Now there are far more active clubs in the UK than there were then. I'm aware of pockets of freedivers in London (various places not just Richmond), SaltFree, Vobster, Dorothea, Manchester, Capernwray, Cornwall and a few other places besides.

This makes it all the more difficult to understand why people aren't entering competitions. It isn't the price of a medical - that's always been a factor and always will be. It's AIDA rules and anyone running a competition would be nuts not to include it. Every serious freediver I know has a medical as a matter of course once a year - I'd advise anyone diving regularly to do that. £60 a year (or less if you are lucky) is a small price to pay to be sure that you haven't damaged your hearing, heart, lungs, nervous system doing all the crazy stuff we do - and it has the added side effect of allowing you to then enter comps!

I think it might be worth JM/Matt/Me and anyone else who's been involved in organising comps in the UK recently to draw up a list of people we thought would enter, and then didn't and then to contact them and ask for some honest feedback on why not. Maybe we'll learn something we can use in the future.

Maybe, of course, there just isn't a call for competitions here. In that case, we either say, ok only 8 people want to compete, how can we organise it so we can afford to host it for 8 people (which I'd certainly try and do, I needed 15 entries to run SaltFree Double Dip without a loss this year, we ran it with 13) AND/OR we decide that comps aren't what the British freedivers want and try and lay on something that they do.....

for that, you need to watch the SaltFree website... we have a few other ideas up our sleeve for next year (and indeed the winter too..)

S