Pacific Cup Results

[alastair]

I very much enjoyed Perry Gladstone's reports from the Pacific Cup, but I was disappointed that we did not see the individual results.

I know it's a team comp, but I think the performance of great individual athletes is what drives the event.

I would be interested to see the official results as well as the performance of the disqualified competitors. For example, who blacked out at 7 minutes, and what was his announced duration?

Cheers

Al

[Alun]

I'm surprised the results were so poorly distributed by the organisers. They have a dedicated web site for the event, (http://www.surfhawaii.net/freediving2002/home.html) so why weren't the full results posted there at the end of each day... or passed in full to a representative of DB or FREEDIVER.
Apart from that it seems like it was well organised. It's just a shame it was so difficult for people outside Kona to find out how everyone was doing! As far as i know, the individual results still haven't been published. I've not managed to find them anyway...

[Stephan Whelan]

Media coverage of International Freediving events has always been difficult.

We weren't "officially" at Hawaii as we were virtually ignored by the organisers and I had information that there was little to no Press Budget. It was lucky we had writers who were attending anyway.

It is also difficult to judge how well results were distributed because we had no official representatives there. I can promise you that if we had been there officially coverage would have been more comprehensive with multiple daily reports and full results.

I don't think organisers of these events fully appreciate that the only way the sport can expand is to have well organised, and well covered events. It seems we now have well organised events - the only thing we need to get now is good coverage.

[Alun]

It's a shame DB weren't properly invited to handle the coverage on their behalf.
Even to deal with it themselves wouldn't have been difficult... just needed someone to spend 15mins typing some names and numbers on the website each evening. I wonder if the overall results have been released to the sporting/diving press at all? Ok, the majority probably wouldn't be interested, but some might cover the story/results.

[JMD]

I have to agree with Alun. It's frustrating they didn't take the time to scan in the results sheets and post the PDF's on their website.

However, an event of that magnitude must be difficult to organize. Reading between the lines on Perry's article it sounds like they had more things to worry about than posting results (ie event coordination).

[alastair]

I don't suppose DB has ever thought of organizing a competition and covering it properly?

Al

[Maguelito]

Congratulations to our great team of Freediving.
Carlos Coste
Ronald Laurens
Nestor Aparcedo.

Venezuela is the Number One in Freediving in the World !

For more info about this excelent performance visits http://www.sportalsub.net

[Stephan Whelan]

Originally posted by alastair
I don't suppose DB has ever thought of organizing a competition and covering it properly?

Al

It's not our place to organise competitions, other people are experts on doing that - however we are putting into place detailed procedures and proposals on covering other international freediving events in 2003.

It's just a shame that more isn't done to help promote the major competitions in the sport amongst the media that actually cover the sport (i.e. us, Freediver UK, etc...) - I know that we personally have access to a lot of major international press contacts so could probably get some mainstream press involved if we had been invited.

Thanks!

[Bill]

Stephan
"I know that we personally have access to a lot of major international press contacts so could probably get some mainstream press involved if we had been invited."

Mainstream contacts is not the problem. If someone had told me that there would be no daily results available here, I would have grabbed a sheet and scanned it in. This was the first international meet for me and I had a few other surprises/disappointments but, no daily news on DeeperBlue 'takes the cake'.

Aloha
Bill

[icarus pacific]

Originally posted by Stephan Whelan

if we had been invited.

...and I say this with all sincerity, sometimes you need to bang on the door rather than wait for the gilded envelope, especially in light of DB's heady aspirations and short time as diving's premier site.

Congrats to all that made the show.


sven

[Bill]

My dive buddy (senior girl on the USA team) just sent me a picture. Must have been during a break on the first day of constant ballast. After she did 58, to no one's surprise since she has stopped and scooped up 'dirt' at 61 many times during the last month. Matt, her husband, couldn't dive with her in October, so I got to be the trainer. I claim to be a major factor in all her accomplishments for ever more. On Monday, when 'they' undid the short leash that she usually wears, only two male divers in the world beat her at dynamic.
Ricardo called her a 'poster babe' or something.
YOU GO GIRL
Aloha
Bill

[Walrus]

Hi Bill,
I didn't know you were on the boat that day, otherwise would have said hello.....
Probably saw each other, I was the tall Australian dude with blond hair.

My comp dive was just before Annabel's, we both dived 58m. It was my first ever International comp so I was so stoked after my dive. I'm sure she just breezed her dive in. Went to congratulate her and we just ended up hugging. (Was a lot of hugging, handshaking and general congrats going on in the comp

She is an awesome diver, even compared to the men, and very nice person. Was very happy for her and the US Women's team to take out top place. Wel deserved. Hope she get's to compete with her daughter next time.

Cheers,
Wal

[icarus pacific]

I knew you'd figure out a way to drop some smoothness on the party! Congrats, and to give the rest of us a chance, keep your gun in the garage.


sven

[Matt & Annabel]

Aloha freedivers, we just got some news from South Africa, they are just recovering from the flu and jet lag that a lot of us got while at the Pacific Cup. Well, I didn't get jet lag, but I'm just getting over the cold I got after the competition. (Really good timing!) But yesterday, my safety divers, really kicked my butt, Bill did a 55m dive and Matt, who forgot his dive gauge, did between 55 and 58m. I was able to go to about 33m one dive then couldn't go down after that. I needed the rest!

The good news is that the South Africans, who had way too much fun and set a bunch of SA records also have a great website with the biggest and best collection of Pac Cup pictures available:

http://www.freediving.co.za/showleagueresults.php

Way to go SA, Annabel

[divemama]

Thanks for the pics Annabel! Get better soon

~Britt