[News] Fazza Freediving Championship Dubai

Hi guys
Quick run down before I put something in the news

GCC section
1st prize Mr Black out (yes, believe it or not)
2nd prize to Adolphin :friday
3rd prize don't know coulnt get his name

"Professional category"
1st prize Range Rover SHE Sport to Alexei Molchanov 7 mins
2nd prize to. Alex Boulting 4,40 15000K
3rd prize to Adel from Algeri4 4,10 7500K
4th prize me 5000K

More later about the black out... But we were very disappointed for Adolphin as the guy that blacked out only did about 5 seconds more than he did :vangry so really that should Adolphin's car!
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I think celebration is a good word for today. Beer pleaseeee:friday:friday:friday

Congrats! Congrats! :friday:friday:friday:friday:friday:friday

Sara! .. you got 5000K ?!! .. :duh .. it's 5K young lady .. 15K for 2nd and 7.5K for 3rd in both categories and 5k for 4th up to 10th right? .. .. congrats !

Congrats to all winners !!!! .. Alexei, Alex, Adel from Algeria, Sara-Lise and the guy from Egypt in the Pro category and Also to the GCC category: Ma'ath (the BO), Khamis (3rd) and Faisal (4th with a big hard luck, this man could have got 1st or at least 2nd - this is another story, oh this competition is full of amazing stories).

I feel really bad towards my case, for 2 reasons, first that the one who got 1st place blacked out soooo perfectly (as soon as he surfaced, which in my opinion could mean that he actually BO right before surfacing and his full lung and the momentum of rushing up brought him out of the surface just to collapse backwards back into water) thank God he was EVENTUALLY saved, he didn't show up in the Fazza3 Office Sara ? .. I'm worried about him actually, he stayed underwater for at least 20 seconds before the rescue member grabbed him !! .. we are (hopefully) arranging proper Freediving accident management and rescue training for the whole rescue team, the lead organizer of the event gave me his B. card to set down with him and talk about all the possible changes and improvements to make it better and safer event up to the freediving best practices .. (good news guys and your contributions and ideas are most welcome!) .. and by the way, he took my argument regarding the BO, so next year no more BO is accepted and shall be disqualified .. (ooh! what a lucky man I am .. lol) ..

On the other hand what upsets me even more is that I did only 3' 19 " , this is not even close to what I regularly was getting in the training 4' 5" in same conditions (I even trained in colder water actually just in case), so I could have easily become 1st, now this was MY responsibility regardless of the BO, I know it's hard to know the timing without time piece and mask, even with counting (I do the counting only after the contractions start because I don't want to interrupt my state of mind during what I call it the meditating phase, so I couldn't really tell what time exactely am I doing but rather a general guessing).

There are some other points which I don't want to mention this year, because I don't want to ruin the surprise I'm having for the competition organisers next year .. .. a BIG SURPRISE indeed just as a reward to them for accepting a BO time to become qualified (1st !!!).

But after all, long story short, I deserve becoming 2nd this year, and through experience we learn ..

Again congrats for every one .. and yes, everybody please, now that it's official that the rest of winners 4th to 10th shall get prices as well (maybe 5000 which will cover flight and three days costs easily and manage to get you to visit Dubai and see that part of the DB world) then no more excuses please, we want to see as many as possible from DB members participating next year (well, at least 10 !)

I would like to give special congratulations from my heart to Alex Boulting, hurrrray !!!

We've been training realy hard for the past couple of months, in the cold water, nose dripping, chilling winds and sandy storms, 2 to 3 times a week plus the consistant Yoga sessions plus the tables and all .. alot of hard work .. yes I know, you could have done better (don't we always say this ?!!) but hell that was an awesome time, you did it and you deserve it .. see you back in couple of days mate for the hard work again in the regular freediving disciplines (those which matter most) I think we will be doing amazing times now wouldn't we !

I'm sure all other participants have done loads of hard work as well, I just didn't witness it, I witnessed Alex and had to mention it ..

Cheers

adolphin said:

Sara! .. you got 5000K ?!! .. :duh .. it's 5K young lady .. 15K for 2nd and 7.5K for 3rd in both categories and 5k for 4th up to 10th right? .. .. congrats !

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yes mate you are right but i think everyone knew what i meant. i was posting from a Blackberry and driving at the same time, typing is not my forte in that situation!

Do you have the complete names and times of the GCC people so i can put it in the news?

I have photos of the blackout and all the events so will put them up on the Facebook page.

That BO and lack of safety from the rescuers REALLY put me off, in fact John was ready on the other side to jump in and swim to me when it was my turn. I sat there on the jetty looking at this "rescuers" face and thought "nah" - this guy is going naf-all if I have a problem and i had NO confidence in the situation. He was then really close to me under water practically blowing his bubbles in my face, hovering around me like a hawk, it was really off-putting!

I have no excuse for my "non-performance". The plain fact is that i didn't train for three weeks prior to the comp as work is taking over my life so i am still chuffed with my little cheque that i am putting in the bank this morning

I spoke to the organisers in the evening. They want me to put forward a proposal to have a ladies only category next year, giving the women more chance to win. I also spoke to them about safety and I will be meeting with them about that too.

Lots of Emiratis came to me afterwards, very interested in doing courses and training so hopefully we will have more Emirati competitors for the upcoming competitions! :friday

Good time was had by all

island_sands said:

yes mate you are right but i think everyone knew what i meant. i was posting from a Blackberry and driving at the same time, typing is not my forte in that situation!

Do you have the complete names and times of the GCC people so i can put it in the news?

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You should have typed 3 digits less in that case mate .. rofl .. come on .. I'm just teasing you ..

I really don't have the full names, got to get it from Hamad I think.

But you did quite well the first round ! .. was it 3' 40" ?

Alright, so we'll start seeing plenty of Emirati freedivers soon ? .. .. excellent !

here's the facebook link:

Login | Facebook

plenty of photos up!

Cool pictures Sara .. many thanks ..

island_sands said:

here's the facebook link:

Login | Facebook

plenty of photos up!

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Hi Sara,
can You add few pictures here for people like me who don't have Facebook account?

And BTW, big congrats to all of You!

ok here are a few....

in these, Adolphin Adel and Adel from Algeria.

in these, Alexei, Alex Boulting and moi.

and some various... guy who blacked out (saved by a scuba diver who swam frantically towards him wearing scuba gear :vangry )

and some more prize winner photos and stuff.

and oh! All photos taken by Jayramble :inlove

island_sands said:

and some more prize winner photos and stuff.

and oh! All photos taken by Jayramble :inlove

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The trophies are made of crystal, and its funny, they are a diving mask but the competition didnt allow competitors to wear them rofl

island_sands said:

(saved by a scuba diver who swam frantically towards him wearing scuba gear :vangry )

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Ok, I can come next year as a safety freediver...no salary needed, the trip costs paid is enough for me

When looking at the pictures, I think that some kind of flat rescue platform and stairs/steps would also be a good thing next time...it's not a good idea to make rescue too hard. Maybe jumping to the "cold" water is a part of the "brutal" game...
But anyway, for the safety something more must be done, as you said island_sands.

And many thanks for your information and comp pics!

And of course one thing more: Congratulations Alexey!

No mask? I see nobody is even wearing a wetsuit? water is at 23 to 25 deg C right? These are regular competition rules or just this one?

TimoP, good ideas .. the safety divers need heaps of training to be able to safety dive freedivers, also I believe there has to be a safety freediver at the surface as well besides the safety SCUBA underwater, it's true that this is not a real depth competition, but it's done underwater and has to be treated accordingly.

hudasmt, you are right, nothing is allowed except the swimming shorts or equivalent, this is not standard at all, only for Fazza3 competition to the best of my knowledge ..

I have loads of ideas for both the style of the competition and the safety issues (also publicity issues and all), hopefully it gets approved by the organizers (it's not even discussed in the first place ).. I think it would be very special add ons !

Well done to all that competed and congratulations to the prize winners.

The spectacle of watching the lack of immediate emergency response by the safety scuba divers to the blackout incident (they were looking the wrong way and were alerted by the yelling of certain spectators!) certainly lowered the tone of the event and the morale of those awaiting their turn to compete.

Yes it was disappointing to learn that the participant who blacked out and was pulled from the water, had oxygen administered by paramedics, taken to the Ambulance, etc was awarded 1st Prize (and a 320K AED Range Rover), but it was NOT an AIDA or an internationally judged/certified event, but one based on their heritage of Pearl Diving, so that’s life!

The event was certainly worth attending and I look forward to next year and hopefully with more publicity and marketing, more competitors and spectators will participate!

Sausage out!

Be wary of those embracing 'budgie smuggling’ dive-wear

adolphin said:

it's true that this is not a real depth competition, but it's done underwater and has to be treated accordingly.

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BO in water can always be fatal, it doesn't need to be deep to drown. As you know, also in pool trainings and competitions you need spotters or safety freedivers, but in openwater BO situations are (IMO) always more dangerous and rescue not so easy than in a pool. This is now an international freediving competition anyway, so safety should be done by some kind of international freediving safety standards, even it is not a AIDA competition.

adolphin said:

I have loads of ideas for both the style of the competition and the safety issues (also publicity issues and all), hopefully it gets approved by the organizers (it's not even discussed in the first place ).. I think it would be very special add ons !

Click to expand...

Sounds very good!
I think this will be a very interesting annual freediving happening to wait for
It is also good international publicity to UAE, Dubai and Range Rover. Tell it to the sponsors, maybe they want give more good prizes to ahcieve even more good publicity! And for good publicity, of course, they must resolve safety issue.