FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Historic Dive for World Freediver William Winram
Dahab, South Sinai, Egypt, June 1, 2007 – Six months after his unassisted 78-meter dive in the warm waters of Makadi Bay, Egypt, no-fins specialist and champion freediver William Winram took the Arch at the Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt this afternoon.
A natural occurrence, the Arch is a submerged passage between the Blue Hole and the rest of the reef at a mere 60 meters of depth, long by 30 meters.
Winram descended into the Blue Hole at 4p.m to enter the Arch only wearing his wetsuit and a dive mask, no propulsive equipment such as fins. He disappeared from Natalie Avseenko's and Fred Buyle's view at 50m of depth. Fred, former world champion and renowned underwater photographer and Nathalie were 2 of his 3 safety freedivers present for this historic event. He reappeared at the other end and ascended under the watchful eyes of Patrick Schnorf. Fred who was present to witness and photograph this historic event was quoted " it was the most amazing and terrifying thing to witness how insignificant William was dwarfed by the magnitude of the Arch when he disapeared"
The dive took 2 minutes and 36 seconds for Winram to complete after which he gave his safety freedivers a clean surface protocol, to indicate he was alright. Tired but happy, Winram who is currently training in Geneva, Switzerland for the upcoming Indoor Freediving World Championships (held in the beginning of July in Slovenia) arrived just four days ago, making his short preparation for this achievement rather intense, both physically and mentally.
Later this year, he will attempt a world record to achieve a minimal depth of 83 meters in the discipline of constant weight without fins, on a single breath and without the use of any propulsive equipment.
Historic Dive for World Freediver William Winram
Dahab, South Sinai, Egypt, June 1, 2007 – Six months after his unassisted 78-meter dive in the warm waters of Makadi Bay, Egypt, no-fins specialist and champion freediver William Winram took the Arch at the Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt this afternoon.
A natural occurrence, the Arch is a submerged passage between the Blue Hole and the rest of the reef at a mere 60 meters of depth, long by 30 meters.
Winram descended into the Blue Hole at 4p.m to enter the Arch only wearing his wetsuit and a dive mask, no propulsive equipment such as fins. He disappeared from Natalie Avseenko's and Fred Buyle's view at 50m of depth. Fred, former world champion and renowned underwater photographer and Nathalie were 2 of his 3 safety freedivers present for this historic event. He reappeared at the other end and ascended under the watchful eyes of Patrick Schnorf. Fred who was present to witness and photograph this historic event was quoted " it was the most amazing and terrifying thing to witness how insignificant William was dwarfed by the magnitude of the Arch when he disapeared"
The dive took 2 minutes and 36 seconds for Winram to complete after which he gave his safety freedivers a clean surface protocol, to indicate he was alright. Tired but happy, Winram who is currently training in Geneva, Switzerland for the upcoming Indoor Freediving World Championships (held in the beginning of July in Slovenia) arrived just four days ago, making his short preparation for this achievement rather intense, both physically and mentally.
Later this year, he will attempt a world record to achieve a minimal depth of 83 meters in the discipline of constant weight without fins, on a single breath and without the use of any propulsive equipment.
