Genoni tries 140 variable

[spaghetti]

Italian freediver Gianluca Genoni, age 38, will try to regain the variable weight World Record next week in Dahab: target is -140 meters.
He says it will be his last "official" dive after an outstanding carrer: some 12 world records set in variable and static, a world cup won in 1998 with the italian national team (with Pelizzari and Battaglia). He decided to close now with a last great one.
If I remember well, he did his last WR in variable four years ago with 132 mt, which was soon retouched by Carlos Coste a few weks after (was it 135? Don't remember).
I think we should wish a good dive to Gianluca Genoni for his last record attempt. As an italian, I feel melancholy as this attempt, succesfull or not, will close the glorious page of italian recordism, started by Enzo Maiorca, carried beyond by Umberto Pelizzari, and now closed by Genoni, with no one else to take their place among the Giants of Deep Freediving (unless we may sing trullallà some day).
Strength and honour to Gianluca.

 

[trux]

Good luck Gianluca! Forza Italia!

 

[pat fish]

in Dahab? Hm.. To the bottom of bluehole, out of the arch and down to 140 outside? Hm... :hmm

 

[Billextreme]

Yep.. Good luck Gianluca! Forza Italia!

If it's a new record he want, he should go for 141m.
And if he would like to have official judges like Carlos had on his 140 meter dive. He or his organization should send me a mail, asap.

info@aida-international.org

gogogo italia
/B

 

[pat fish]

http://www.apneamagazine.com/articolo.php/1612

 

[Bluehugh]

Forza Gianluca, the king of variable!

 

[cebaztian]

Good luck and be careful (old man

http://www.fridykning.se/freediving/features/nolimit.html

Sebastian

 

[trux]

Good luck and be careful (old man
http://www.fridykning.se/freediving/features/nolimit.html

From the website:

...In the meantime, the AIDA International Executive Board will be reluctant excepting NL or VW record attempts

Hm, that does not sound like Gianluca can go for a record or even get any AIDA spuervision then

 

[spaghetti]

Last news available:
After having done -92 mt in the Blue Hole, Genoni has left Dahab and moved to Sharm, where he'll try the -141 mt new World Record variable ballast (no one specifies when the D-day will occur, could be tomorrow...).
Yesterday during a training variable dive he did -138 mt in 3'05"!


Forza Gianluca!!!

 

[TRITON]

Go Gianluca!!!!!We are all with you!!!

 

[trux]

Spaghetti, do you know if Gianluca will have any AIDA judges attending? According their website (as Cebaztian reported), due to the recent accident of Carlos Coste, they do not accept any new VWT and NLT record attempts. Or is Gianluca excluded from the ban, because he registered before the ban was put in place?

 

[Billextreme]

No AIDA will be there. No CMAS... or any federation at all.

http://www.apneamagazine.com/articolo.php/1619

..it will be a nice national record attempt, with his own rules.

Thats it.

/B

 

[trux]

Well, then probably not even a national record - that needs to be certified by judges too. Rather a Personal Best. Well, it is certainly nice too for a last dive of the competing carrier, but it's a pity it won't be an official record of any type if he succeeds.

 

[spaghetti]

Yes in facts: not an official record, but hopefully a "substantial" record. I'm trying to contact his staff as I'm curious to know if they changed their mind about this. But it's hard: I guess you all you know about the political stalemate for italian divers due to Cmas/Aida argument.

However, why don't we just stay off old arguments this time? This is no subject for political arguments: it's the last dive of a great champion, who will try to make a dive never made before.
I understand Bill's position (he's doing his job), but underrating this as a "nice attempt" sounds sour, off-key and slightly disrespectful towards a great diver like Genoni. Honestly speaking, or romantically speaking, I hope that Bill too and the other Aida officials could just say "Forza Gianluca" and forget their duty for one day.

 

[cebaztian]

And we all know that whatever Genoni does - the next guy - aido or not - will feel he has to do 141

Sebastian

 

[Billextreme]

Forza Italia... yes.

To not respect the existing record or recordholder is the thing here, and to say "New World Record" without judges or any specific rules or dopingtest, for me, THAT is disrespectful.

If Martin, Herbert, Carlos, Tanya, Nery, Leferme, Mandy, Natalia, Tom and William Trubridge can respect old recordholders, even Gianluca can do this.

don't you think?

/B

 

[spaghetti]

Okay, okay, no problem Bill.
My romantic idea is stupid and you're right: tomorrow morning Gianluca Genoni will try to dive 141 meters, and he will do that disrespectfully towards you and all the others. You're so right.

 

[Billextreme]

Spagetti,

Please don't missunderstand me, I respect the depth and the dive. There have been more people walking on moon than have done a freedive down to 140 meter.
So this is a very special dive that deserve all credit and respect.

But to call it a new world record is not the best, in my eyes.

Remeber that record is only a number, there have been a lot of record holders before... and there will be many more in the future.
All those need to be respected too, and have 100% credit for there all-out effort.

regards
B

 

[trux]

Spaghetti,

I am sorry if it sounded like a disrespect when I told that without judges it is not a record but rather just a nice PB dive. I should have rather used terms like outstanding, excellent, fantastic, grandiose, or whatever other superlative. That would be better fitting.

However, it is a reality that it won't be any world record or even an national record as long as there are no judges. Exactly just like Patrick Musimu's -209 NLT, Herbert's -201 (?) NLT dive, and many other dives of other top freedivers (including STA and DYN performances) are no world records, because they were not certified. It is a completely different performance when you do it without any big stress in training, and when you do it in front of judges and have to follow all strict procedures. The top competitors know it very well and that's why they almost always announce less for the record or competition, than they do relatively easily in training.

I do not know for sure if someone did more than 140m in VWT in training, but it is pretty well possible, because many competitors do not even bother mentioning their training depths publicly. From this point of view Bill is absolutely right that claiming the attempt to be a new record, or even the unofficial deepest VWT dive, would be quite disrespectful.

 

[efattah]

Genoni himself did 145m variable weight, many years ago. It was supposed to be a no-limits dive, and the lift bag got tangled around the descent line, and I think the back-up failed. He struggled and struggled at the bottom, and finally started the ascent by hand, just like variable weight. He said he got extreme narcosis. He almost made it to the surface, blacked out just below. A new record!

So, the unofficial 'record' in this event is at least 145m.