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Tanya

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

New Member
Aug 3, 2003
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On Tanyas web (www.redefineyourlimits.com) it says:

July 22nd 2003 - Provodenciales, Turks & Caicos.
ABSOLUTE WORLD RECORD ~ Constant Weight Without Fins to 115ft/35m in 1 min 44 seconds.

Is this really true? Isnt there some finnish guy who did around 60 meters?
 
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Reactions: Alun
Yes, Topi Lintukangas did 60 m but he is a man and a tanya is a women. I suppose that's the difference...
 
As usual, Tanya is claiming the ABSOLUTE WORLD RECORD for BOTH men and women because Yasemin 40m and Topi's 60m were done with a different freediving organization. Since there is no AIDA men's unassisted record, Tanya's 35m 'record' stands as the 'absolute' world record for both men and women (in her opinion). Call it disrespect of other athletes. Tom Lightfoot holds a Canadian AIDA record of 43m!

Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
 
This is a continuing issue that doesn't seem to want to be resolved - although Tanya is AIDA sanctioned and did her record, I have to side with the F.R.E.E. records since they do follow some of the same rules, and sometimes, exceed the ones AIDA implements - especially for safety.

Yasemin is a great person and I personally feel she deserves more credit then she has been given in the past.

This isn't a slam against Tanya - she is a supurb athlete in her own right - I just think that the issue of whose record is the one to be recognized has gone on for too long - get it worked out people!

Unless a unified consensus is brought to the table, there will always be this constant bickering of who is the actual world record holder - I believe it holds the sport back from being what it can be.

Off my soap box now... :head
 
I agree, this is really disrespectful...

Well I guess this is whats happening when fame and money, not the sport itself are the most important thing.
 
Originally posted by efattah
Tom Lightfoot holds a Canadian AIDA record of 43m!

If Tom's is an AIDA record, why is it not recognized as an official record and hence a world record in the AIDA standings??? :confused:
 
Eric can correct me on this but I think for a record to be recognized by AIDA as a world record there has to be at least one international judge present.

As for the Tanya thing (and I hope I don't stir a pot of trouble here) it seems like one needs a substantial amount of money to attempt a record. In order to obtain that money one needs to obtain sponsorships. In order to get sponsorships an athlete should represent themselves in the most positive light possible. Any chance that Tanya's website is more a function of a concerted marketing effort than an out and out attempt to disrespect other divers?
 
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For those who really know Tanya, and there are many, will know without any shadow of doubt that she would never intentionally disrespect any athlete, in any sport.

Paul Streeter
 
Understood Paul - I think the issue is rearing it's head again in regards to a unified method of standardization that just doesn't seem to want to come to pass - I have raised this issue several times and yet, there seems to be no clear answer as to how to make this happen.

Tanya is an incredible athlete and from my meetings with her in the past, a genuinely warm and concerned person.

The sport of freediving is still in a state of disarray and until there is a meeting of the minds regarding ONE unified standard by which all athletes must adhere to for records, there will always be the divisiveness(sp?) that exists at this time within the upper echelons of the sport.

My intent was not to attack Tanya - it was to raise awareness about the current state of the sport.

If it was taken as such - my sincere apologies.
 
And just as a note, Eric, I would point out that FREE are still claiming that Yasmin hold the Variable at 105m and No Limits at 120m and will probably continue to do so for the future, so do not talk to me about disrespect. If you want to bitch and moan it goes both ways or keep quiet.

Paul Streeter
 
I have never met Tanya, but from all the writing she's done, including her updates on the last attempts, I have to say that she is a fantastic ambassador for the sport. I can't see any evidence of disrespect for anyone whatsoever. In fact she's one of the divers who manages to stay "out of the fray", which I think is admirable. I like reading her stories, and I like her stressing of the team factor in the articles.
As for the no-fins record, AIDA has just introduced this category so it will quickly be taken by another as Tanya states in the DBlue article just written. She admits to wanting to have done a deeper dive, and seems to admit that it wont last long.
If I was in the position of trying to set a multi-faction-recognised world record, I probably wouldn't bother. I'd choose the one that I liked the best, or if I had sponsors paying for everything, I'd pick the biggest and most well known, as long as the rules and ethics were acceptable. Trying to please AIDA alone is enough of a headache I'm sure, paying for "International Judges" airfare and accomodations, let alone 3 or 4 sets of judges from different agencies. Then there would be the logistics of trying to meet all the requirements of all the agencies. Difficult if not impossible! One agency wants safety scuba X metres apart, X amount of freedivers in the water, X amount of O2 available, etc, etc ad nauseum.
Now, on the "International Judge" point. Tom Lightfoot did his CB no-fins dive. It's not recognised internationally because there were no AIDA Int. judges there. Ben Gowan's wife (sorry, forgot her name) did 100 metres no-fins dynamic last year in the UK, but she gets no Int. recognition for the same reason. This policy of AIDA's seems to go against the idea of promotion of the sport, especially such a small and unsponsored one. It costs 1000's of dollars to bring 2 Int judges anywhere, meaning that someone like Ben's wife or Tom Lightfoot or anyone else who is not rolling in $$ or has sponsors will not be getting that International recognition. What's wrong with the National Judges? Are they incompetent, or undertrained? If so, then what aren't they being shown that makes an International Judge more qualified? Is it that "local" judges cannot be deemed as unbiased? Is it that the National judges don't cough up the extra $$ for the "upgrade"
This reminds me of PADI, with their Course Directors who get to travel all over the world at the expense of others. But, PADI Course Directors are in a highly marketed and lucrative industry (relative to freediving) and the Instructors are receiving job training and certification. Except for a few individuals in freediving right now (yes I am envious), a certified world record wont pay the bills at home :(
Lastly, congrats to Tanya and her Team.
Cheers,
Erik Y.
 
Ben Gowland's wife... Fiona.

it a shame that Ben and Fiona aren't really able to do any deep freediving right now, simply due to their location. there's nowhere for them to dive that's deep enough. Fiona has AMAZING potential and could definitely be one of the best female freedivers in the world. i've seen her do 47-48m constant weight dive on her 3rd proper attempt in water that was about 6 degrees...

alun
 
Here is an example of an athlete who respects other athletes, regardless of politics.

Tom Lightfoot DID HAVE the required international judge present at his 43m no-fins dive. The required record conditions had been set up for Mandy Cruickshank's 41m no-fins record attempt, and Tom happened to be diving in the same competition as Mandy.

After he succeeded at reaching 43m (with ease), he was offered the opportunity by AIDA judges Doug Peterson and Kirk Krack to have the dive recognised as an AIDA world record (this would require paperwork, anti-doping test, etc.)

Tom Lightfoot, being the sportsman that he is, DECLINED to have the dive accepted as a world record because he simply stated that it was NOT A WORLD RECORD since Topi Lintukangas had previously reached 60m with another freediving organization. Tom stated that having his dive accepted as a 'record' would show disrespect for Topi's achievement.

That is an example of an athlete who respects his peers, regardless of politics.

Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
 
Originally posted by efattah
Here is an example of an athlete who respects other athletes, regardless of politics.

Tom Lightfoot DID HAVE the required international judge present at his 43m no-fins dive. The required record conditions had been set up for Mandy Cruickshank's 41m no-fins record attempt, and Tom happened to be diving in the same competition as Mandy.

After he succeeded at reaching 43m (with ease), he was offered the opportunity by AIDA judges Doug Peterson and Kirk Krack to have the dive recognised as an AIDA world record (this would require paperwork, anti-doping test, etc.)

Tom Lightfoot, being the sportsman that he is, DECLINED to have the dive accepted as a world record because he simply stated that it was NOT A WORLD RECORD since Topi Lintukangas had previously reached 60m with another freediving organization. Tom stated that having his dive accepted as a 'record' would show disrespect for Topi's achievement.

That is an example of an athlete who respects his peers, regardless of politics.

Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

hi

Well said Eric and congrats to Tom, it would take more than your average man to decline the fame of having a wr because he knows that someone else has done better :cool:

cheers
 
Hats off for Tom. Whilst i wouldn't think poorly of an athlete claiming an AiDA Record, i too would have reservations calling it an 'absolute world record', if someone else from another org had gone deeper. It's like kissing your sister. It doesnt count. To me at least.

Against the magnitude of the performance the rule differences between the org's are negligible, and i dont think any major benefit can be derived by their athletes. The deepest athlete is the record to beat regardles of the org. I think most athletes deep down feel this way too. I couldn't imagine being comfortable kidding myself that i was the absolute world record holder when someone had gone deeper under another banner.

Skin.
 
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Originally posted by efattah
Tom Lightfoot, being the sportsman that he is, DECLINED to have the dive accepted as a world record because he simply stated that it was NOT A WORLD RECORD since Topi Lintukangas had previously reached 60m with another freediving organization. Tom stated that having his dive accepted as a 'record' would show disrespect for Topi's achievement.

Wow, and I had huge respect for Tom already, thats amazing.

Was that his intention at nationals as well when the international judges were there for his 50m attempt? (They were actually on hand for Mandy's constant ballast and not specifically for tom).
 
I think constant weight without fins , or classic, will grow under AIDA.

It has been with FREE for some time,
but all of a sudden there is a lot of interest
in this category.

Its "fairly" new under AIDA.

Give it a bit of time.
The records of AIDA and FREE will be close,
very soon.

-Herman
 
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