New World Record Made By Tom!

[trux]

Evita asked judges at a competition and they agreed with dropping the weight. She wrote about it in [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showpost.php?p=599111&postcount=20"]this post[/ame]

 

[tomsietas]

Thanks for the congrats....

Sebastian, the spectators didnt know that the record wasnt valid as the judges gave me a white card. But all people who heard about the facts afterwards couldnt really understand a disqualification - only after explaining the difficulties of objective judgement in detail.

 

[Jozef]

Hi Tom,
I just watched the video of 213m. Wow...
I do not speak German, but still, I am truly amazed with your performance and now mainly because of you and your achievements (also Martin Stepanek's) I started to practice some freediving techniques. I just started couple days back with some CO2 tables...
Anyhow, I'd like to thank you for promoting this sport and hope you'll break many more world records.
Jozef

 

[BennyB]

Congratulations Tom, fantastic effort :king .

I agree with Sebastian to a certain extent that the dynamic with fins record is the weakest. Not weak meaning it's a low set record, I mean weak in that there are more athletes now in the range that could break it.

There are not many disciplines that have half a dozen or so athletes all around the same level. In Dynamic you have Tom, Henning Larsen, Stig Severinsen, Walter Steyn, Alexey Molchanova, Natalia Molchanova who are all capable of breaking 200m. And they're just the ones we know about. There are also other athletes that could be capable but have other priorities at the moment (like Herbert). Great time to be a feediving enthusiast!

Andy I can't see any reason why you couldn't drop your weight, there's nothing in the rules about it. Only thing I would be cautious about is if you drop it just before you come up, with the sudden bouyancy change you might be a bit more susceptible to surf before you actually breath.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[ggarrett]

....the spectators didnt know that the record wasnt valid as the judges gave me a white card. But all people who heard about the facts afterwards couldnt really understand a disqualification - only after explaining the difficulties of objective judgement in detail.

Rules should be easily understood by competitors and spectators alike. Otherwise, competitive freediving will alienate its audience and forever remain a marginal sport.

Just an opinion...

Peace,
Glen

 

[jome]

I think in some sports the complex rules are just part of the fun. It raises the spectator/enthusiast above the normal mortals, who don't have a clue of what's going on without years of studying and thus gives the people taking part (playing or following) a feeling of being "superior" - which is part of the hook. Kind of like religion.

Look at crickett for example (not sure about the spelling)

Also, I don't think the sp is praticularily complex. Any spectator could learn it in minutes, even by the announcer just quickly explaining it. I'm sure if the sport would gain any momentum, that would be done by the announcer in most competitions, just like in other sports...

 

[BennyB]

Damn Simo, you beat me to the punch there.... cricket is the best example of a complicated sport.... not many people understand it (eg. how can a game go for 5 days???) and those that do, don't understand all of it, and those that do understand it are usually players. Freediving rules are quite simple in comparison.

I went to a cricket match once where the entire crowd spent half the day chanting "give us the ball back" after security had taken their beach ball away, most people were oblivious that there was a game on.

If you want a great summary of overcomplicating a game, download Robin Williams' stand up routine on Golf. rofl

 

[Groupermadness]

If you want a great summary of overcomplicating a game, download Robin Williams' stand up routine on Golf. rofl

i have the whole thing on disc. i laughed so much i had a map of Africa on my left trouser leg.

Jome, you are right, if rules were too easy then everyone would do it, lets keep some things for the Chosen few. Elitism is not a bad thing , it helps you stand out from the rest of the crowd.


Keep it up Tom.

 

[ggarrett]

...complex rules are just part of the fun...

That may be. Time will tell. The market may mold the sport.

What Tom did in his demonstration is a great way to popularize freediving. When lots of people can see freediving live, it becomes more tangible and understandable. Other promotions on tv have depended on celebrity personalities which keeps freediving on the fringe as an extreme sport. Not that Tom isn't a celebrity, but when he swims in the midst of lots of other competitive swimmers, the crowd comes to appreciate his athleticism more fully. His demostration became an athletic accomplishment rather than a mere stunt. Just another opinion.

Peace,
Glen

P.S. The new SP is well thought out and should be adopted worldwide.