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Individual championships

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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Hennie

New Member
Jan 18, 2002
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Hi everybody,

I would like to know from the freedive family who they reckon will be the champion of champions at the AIDA Individual championships event this year?

I have been nosing around and comparing the top freedivers on pb's and actual performances(records/competitions) and i reckon it is going to be one hell of an event with the best freedivers competing against one another.

So far my personal favourite is Herbert Nitch.
He currently outdives(CW world record), out swims(Dynamic record) and i am sure can beat the current static record with ease.
Just curious to know how good he is with free immersion.

Martin Stepanek should be Herbert's biggest threat.
Someone i also reckon to be a dark horse that has the talent to upset the top freedivers is Manolis Giankos.

My prediction if these athletes should partcipate

Herbert Nitch
Martin Stepanek
Manolis Giankos
Michel Pradon
Davide Carrera
Umberto Pelizzari
Pierre Frolla
Patrick Musimu
Hubert Maier
Brett Le Master
Eric Fattah
Gaspare Battaglia

Who else deserves to compete against these guys?
 
Hennie,

Interesting thread.

I'd keep my eye out for several young freedivers waiting in the wings, ready to take on the Champs very soon. I know of several youngsters who are already diving to World Record depths with ease who I recon will shatter Records once they are unleased onto the unsuspecting Freediving Competitions.

I think the next couple of years is going to be very interesting for Freediving Records...but as to who is going to be the best in Competition - my bets are on Martin at the moment, but I tend to go on reports i've seen or heard from third parties - i'll wait to see how people perform in the events before making any firm comments :head
 
As far as I know there won't be any free immersion at the Pacific AIDA Cup...?

Herbert has already announced on his website that he'll be the first to attempt 100m at the event in Hawaii. I'm sure he'll attempt it, whether he'll make it is another thing altogether.

First, how much pressure can he take? In Spain, he had no problem making pb after pb in pool training for static. At least two breath holds were over 8 minutes. He had a samba in static competition at 8:11--which proves that he can push himself hard.
I heard from several people that he was close to the edge on his 86m dive--but then again, he had been sick for the last week leading up to it. If he has to live up to the expectation of a 100m constant for the several months leading up to the Pacific Cup, who knows how it will affect him.

Personally, from the known freedivers who might attend, I like Patrick Musimu, Manolis Giankos (won it in Spain: 81m/ 6:something in static), and Herbert to win the overall title. Martin has great potential but he needs to get used to constant weight and get back into his monofin. He also needs more experience with competitions, especially for static.

I think experienced competitors like Maier, Pradon, and the Italians may sneak in to first if there are blackouts from people trying to break 90-100m. This strategy didn't work for them in Spain, but then again, that was a team event.

Eric Fattah won't be competing. But from what I know of his training, I think he'll break 110m in constant weight in the next two years. I doubt, however, that it will be done with any kind of freediving organization.

And let's not forget the women. Mandy Cruickshank of Canada might win overall, but she'll have competition from the Italian women (if they go) and the US women (Annabel and Tanya).

I look forward to the new freedivers we know nothing about. I've heard lots of rumors from the French about a certain protoge and I'm sure there are many others from different countries.

And there's the FREE competition....

Pete
 
My bets are on Herr Nitsch, but I don't think he'll beat Marten's static record with "ease"! 8 minutes is a loooooong time...., and if he's having sambas at that number, then he'll have to come up with something new to comfortably hit 8:20 or more.
I would also put Eric F. much higher on the list if he were to compete: he's got a ton of competition experience, he'll be hitting 100 metres soon, he's pulling off some VERY good statics these days, and that would cover the event.
Competition experience counts! Look at the solid performances of competitors with lots of experience under the gun, like Eric and Umberto for instance.
Or conversely, Marten, who has all the potential in the world, but needs some more time in a competitive environment. He may end up being a fierce competitor.
Cheers,
Erik Y.
 
I'd have to go with M.S.....

I've never seen anyone like Stepanek before - the man is a machine.....
 
Hi Crispin,

the problem is that there are many machines out there but can they perform at their peak in a competition environment?

M.S like i said will be H.N's biggest competition but i think he lacks the experience of competitive freediving.

Guys like Patrick Misimu and Manolis can also upset a lot of the top dogs.
 
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