3rd Mediteranean Freediving World Cup

[Stavros]

During the past 2 years the Mediterranean Freediving Meeting has been one of the biggest depth competitions in the AIDA calendar . The Meeting has traditionally been a 15 day event with one week of organized depth training / sled diving / record organising and a week long depth competition with World Record status.

After the success of the last two years we have decided that the Mediterranean Freediving Meeting will be upgraded to a World Cup event for 2010 and will include both an individual and a team event (teams will be national teams of 3) and will again include all 3 depth disciplines. ( A small static competition will also be run during the event).

The 3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup will be a 15 day event starting on Monday June 7th and finishing on Sunday June 20th with one week of training and one week of competition in all depth disciplines with Ranking and World Record status. Sled diving will also be available and we will also be able to organise record attempts during the training week and possibly during the competition week.

Besides the training and competition part of the event this year (same as the years before) a series of activities will be arranged in the afternoons/evenings including UW photo exhibitions, talks, UW film screening, visits etc which will allow athletes to do more than "dive-eat-sleap". These activities will be open to all therefore allowing athletes to make this event a real holiday and the general public to learn more about freediving and the underwater world.

The Mediterranean Freediving World Cup will be hosted by the city of Kalamata in the south of Greece (nearest airport is Kalamata -KLX). The municipality of Kalamata has been very enthusiastic and has given us their full support for the event which will certainly make the 2010 Mediterranean Freediving World Cup an amazing event. Their help will include:

1.Free transfers from Kalamata airport and one free shuttle to take all athletes, wishing to fly in to Athens the day before the start of the event, to our hotel in Kalamata.
2.Opening ceremony and Awards/Closing ceremony & party
3.An exhibition hall will be made available for all our activities - Fred Buyle has agreed to have an open Photo Exhibition for the duration of the event and we will plan many evening activities such as video screenings, presentations etc
4. A 4 star beachside resort hotel will be the base of the World Cup with the assistance of the municipality we are working hard on getting this venue for prices similar to rent-a-rooms.
4. Free guided visit of the site of ancient Olympia - the birthplace of the Olympic games.
5. Free parallel activities for the evening in colaboration with local mountain climbing clubs etc for those of you that feel like exploring the beautiful region near Kalamata.
5. The Mayor's press office will be actively working with the organisers giving the Mediterranean World Cup a lot more media attention than we see in most competititions.

The webpage is currently under construction waiting for some details to be finalized.

Freediving Club

A full webpage will be up very soon.

Preliminary Schedule:
Sunday 6th June, Late afternoon transfer bus leaving from Athens to transfer all athletes flying into Athens to our hotel in Kalamata
Monday 7th June, morning - 1st training/test session, evening - Registration & Opening Ceremony organized by the Municipality of Kalamata
Tuesday 8th June, Opening of Fred Buyle's U/W Photography Exhibition
Thursday 10th June, Late afternoon - Guided tour of ancient Olympia organized by the Municipality of Kalamata
Sunday 13th June, Mediterranean World Cup Event Meeting & Performance Announcements
Monday 14th June, 1st Competition Day Mediterranean World Cup
Sunday 20th June, Closing Ceremony & Party Organized by the Municipality of Kalamata
Sunday 20th June, Late tranfer bus to Athens Airport for all those leaving from Athens

If you need additional information please email me and I will provide all available info.

See you in Greece,

Stavros Kastrinakis




Official AIDA Announcement

3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup
2010-06-14 to 2010-06-20
Place: Kalamata, Greece
Disciplines: CWT, CNF, FIM
Team / Indiv: Team and Individual
Type: World Cup
Status: WR AND Ranking
With Finals: No
Judges: Kimmo LAHTINEN , Panagiota BALANOU , Alexandros CHADIARIS , Andreas DIMITEOU

 

[Stavros]

Hi All,
the website has been updated with a lot of up-to-date information.
I am currently in Kalamata checking out the dive sites and negotiating accommodation details. I hope to be able to update the World Cup website with further info (an improved accommodation prices) in the next couple of days.

Will keep you up to date

Stavros

Freediving Club

 

[Stavros]

Hi All just back from Kalamata were we worked on some accommodation and dive site issues over the last couple of days (painting the sea blue to be ready for the World Cup etc) - Now you can follow the event of Facebook

Login | Facebook

A lot of info will be posted here as well as the official site

See you in Greece

Stavros

 

[Stavros]

Hi All,

I am attaching the registration form for the Mediterranean World Cup.

Please note we will are making an effort (it has been arranged we are finalizing details at the moment) to arrange FREE transfers from the Athens and Kalamata airports the day before the World Cup starts and the day after the end of the event.

Also note that as the World Cup is also a team event there is a special discount on the participation fees for National AIDAs registering a team at the World Cup (team is 3 or more males or 3 more females).

Check out the website and the registration form for details

See you in Greece
Stavros

 

[Stavros]

Check out a preview of what's to come at the 3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup - Kalamata 7th-20th June

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe4CxVDK1nM]YouTube - 3rd med world cup[/ame]

There are only a few places left in the in-list so get in touch now to secure your spot

See you all in Greece

Stavros
info@freediving-club.gr
Freediving Club

 

[fcallagy]

Good video stravos.

 

[Stavros]

Hallo All,

well we are almost finished with the in-list and registration process at the World Cup with only two weeks before the closing date and have gathered a great group for freedivers from around 20 countries.

The Mediterranean World Cup is shaping up to be an amazing event both in the water and outside with all the additional activities that will be included free of charge for all those attending...

I hope to see a lot of you in Greece

Cheers Stavros Kastrinakis

 

[Stavros]

Dear Friends,

Most of you have probably noticed on the event website (Freediving Club) that the World Cup will include a wide range of activities both in and out of the water apart from the standard freediving training and competition.

Well to make things more interesting we are happy to announce the Mediterranean Underwater Expo - a dedicated freediving exhibition were top diving equipment manufacturers from Greece and around the World will have a chance to present their latest products and interact with the divers and the people that come to see the competition.

The Mediterranean Underwater Expo will be located in the Messinian Bay Resort Hotel and will take place between the 18th and 20th of June. The Exhibition will be open to the public free of charge.

More than 10 diving equipment manufacturers have already signed up and will have stands at the UW Expo and the number is expected to rise within the next couple of weeks.

We will keep you posted on this too!!!

See you all in Kalamata

Stavros Kastrinakis
Freediving Club Greece

 

[Stavros]

Hallo Guys and Gals,
preparations for the 3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup are almost finished and the event promises to be grander than most freediving events we have seen in recent history.
Kalamata is getting ready to welcome more than 60 athletes and their friends/coaches for an event that will offer an amazing freediving setup and the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful areas of Greece (and the site of one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world).

As of today and due to a couple of cancelations we have a few more places open in the In-List and room is available at the official hotel (same prices as originally mentioned) so if you are interested in attending there is still time.

See you all in Greece
Stavros Kastrinakis

 

[Kars]

Though I wish I had the money to come and attend, but sadly cannot, I want to commend you Stavros for doing such an outstanding job!

 

[Stavros]

World Champion and multiple World Record holder Natalia Molchanova (Russia) has officially announced her intention to attempt World Record performances in the No-Limits & Variable Ballast disciplines during the Mediterranean World Cup.

The Women's No-Limits & Variable Ballast records are the longest standing records in the AIDA register (they have been held since 2003 by Tanya Streeter)

This is adding a lot of excitement to one of the biggest freediving events of the year

Stay tuned for more information

See you in Greece
Stavros

PS. There have been a couple of cancellations which allow us to accept late entries - if you are interested in attending the Mediterranean World Cup to train or compete get in touch at info@freediving-club dot gr - Thank you

 

[Stavros]

Dear Friends,

a quick message to all participants to the Mediterranean World Cup.

As a nice opening ceremony is planned by the Municipality of Kalamata I would like to ask you (if you so wish) to bring your National Flag with you in Greece. This is in no way mandatory but as there are more than 21 Nations Represented at the competition it will add a nice touch to the ceremony

See you all in Kalamata
Stavros

 

[Stavros]

Hallo World

We are try to post freequent updates on what's going on at the Mediterranean World cup unfortunatelly we spend to many hours a day in the sea to be online often (Maybe I should have hired Linda to keep the world informed )

This week's schedule is:
3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup - Schedule of Activities

Sunday 6th June: Evening – Athlete arrival at Messinian Bay Hotel

Monday 7th June: Morning – Athlete Registration / 1st Training day
21:00 – 3rd Mediterranean World Cup Opening Ceremony at the Harbour of Kalamata

Tuesday 8th June: 20:00 – Kalamata Municipal Culture Centre Opening of Underwater Photographical Exhibition with works of world acclaimed U/W photographer Fred Buyle

Wednesday 9th June: Afternoon Hike at Rintomo Gorge Departure from our hotel at 15.15. Rintomo is one of the most beautiful gorges on Mount Taygetos – the hike will be an easy to medium 4 hour excursion through the gorge.

21:30 – Scientific Presentation on “Study of Sleep disorders among freediving athletes” by George Sakkas (Assistant research professor of clinical Ergophysiology) Messinian Bay Hotel

Thursday 10th June
Guided tour to Ancient Olympia – the birthplace of the Olympic Games.
Departure from our hotel at 14.00

Friday 11th June: 18:00 – Athlete’s guided tour of the city of Kalamata 21:00 – Presentation “The history of Freediving Human underwater on a single breath - from ancient times to today” by Stavros Kastrinakis (Education Officer AIDA International)

Sunday 13th June: Afternoon – World Record Attempt (Variable Ballast discipline) by world champion and record holder Natalia Molchanova (Russia) (option to be moved to the 16th June)


Appart from this info I can say the weather is great the sea is at 22C with a thermocline at around 20m - most athletes' training is going great we have had a few 100+ perfomances already and no problems.

We will keep you updated - Have to run now - there is a presentation starting in a few minutes

Stavros Kastrinakis

 

[fcallagy]

Looks like a great itinery Stravos and I presume there will be diving too.

 

[Stavros]

Hey Feargus,
nope - this year we are actually trying to keep diving to a minimum

Only kidding - we are actually running freediving training all this week between 10:00 and 16:00 during most days with around 40 athletes. We are also regularly setting up around 12 sled dives a day and starting tomorrow we will be seeing some National Record Attempts

Will update you soon on those

Stavros

 

[fcallagy]

Thanks stravos our own benny B is setting some impressive depths already. Sounds like he is loving it there.

 

[Kars]

Where can I find the latest news?

 

[AltSaint]

A couple that were set today:

Stavros made 147m No Limits for Greece (pending video review), and

Ben Noble 100m Variable Weight for Australia

Well done to both, and well-deserved. Ben put a lot of hard work behind reaching his achievement, and Stavros has had his hands full organising the comp and being out in the water every single day all day.

Oh yeah - we're all having a great time as well....don't know why I'm even on the internet!

 

[Kars]

Great numbers!

Thanks AltSaints!

BTW I noticed on the main DB page the Mediterranean news item, containing some links, such as Kerian Hibbs'. The facebook I cannot enter - because I refuse to register.

 

[efattah]

Congrats to Ben Noble for equaling the Australian variable weight record! He now shares it with Walter Steyn at 100m. Walter's dive was technically constant weight, but counts as variable as well.