Hello Freediving World,
We are extremely excited to welcome the freediving world to Vancouver this August for the 2004 AIDA World Freediving Championships. We are working very hard to make this the very highest quality competition and our volunteers and partners are eager to prove ourselves to you!
We have added some additional information to the official website and soon there will be more exciting updates. They are as follows:
* FRENCH addition to http://www.aidaworlds2004.com.
* 'One World Translations' will be our official translators during the competition. http://www.oneworldtranslations.com.
* 30 teams spanning 17 countries have registered their intent to compete.
* AIDA Judge In Learning program for all interested, August 1st - 3rd.
* AIDA Members Assembly Meeting for interested AIDA members on "The Past, Present and Future of AIDA", August 1st - 3rd.
* Entrance fee INCLUDES 9 days accommodations.
* Accommodations have the option of high-speed internet in each room.
* We are partnering with different airlines and rental car companies to help support your efforts to attend even more.
In regards to the constant ballast training and competition, we'd like to give you a brief (actually quite long:>) synopsis of what is happening, hat conditions will be like and how it will run.
We are securing a 50m long barge with a deck that sits 2-3m above the water to support the competition. This barge will be anchored in 110m of water about 200m off shore in beautiful Howe Sound. Water surface conditions are protected in the sound from weather, wind and waves. Surface
water temperatures can be as high as 20C/70F.
This barge will hold the athletes, freedive and scuba support teams, organizational members, judges, media AND SPECTATORS!!! Yes, we plan on allowing a certain amount of spectators on the barge. They'll be housed under a tent from where they can watch not only the surface preparations, performance and recovery, BUT also the performances UNDERWATER.
Many of our partners are working very hard to supply you with the best conditions not only from a performance point of view, but also from a media
spectators point of view. Amphibico Inc, one of the worlds leading maker of underwater housings is providing in-water cameras, housings, lighting and hardwiring to bring three different images to the media and spectators, LIVE to the media/spectators tent. This will be freediving footage (0-20-0m), mid-point footage (50-30m) and finally bottom footage (20-100m?). These images will be put to TV's stationed in the media/spectator tents for all to watch. Also, with this unique ability we will have all penalty or DQ footage qued up for the judges and athletes to process any protests as efficiently as possible.
While underwater visibility in Vancouver can be quite good at depth, (15-25m) can be dark. We are compensating for this with one of our other partners, world renowned under water submersible maker, Phil Nuytten of Nuytco Research and Can Dive Ltd. These partners are providing the newest in deep lighting technology, 200w HMI lights to turn night into day while at depth. These lights will be placed in intervals of 20m starting at 40m of depth and shared between all four competition lines. Not only is Phil providing us with these lights for the line, but he also plans on having an 'Aquarius' submersible on hand for media to 'checkout' the scene.
Four competitions lines? Yes! To efficiently utilize the vast scuba resources we have and to have the constant ballast competition completed in two official training days and two competition days, we are planning to have two sets of training and competitions zones that extend from each side of the barge, A & B. This means we'll have a minimum 9 warm-up lines on sides and 2 competition lines on each side. Essentially we'll be running two competitors at the same time every 5 minutes at it's quickest time stagger. For the first time we'll see near head to head competition as two athletes compete on comp line 1A & 1B while two competitors stand in transitions on the next two comp lines 2A & 2B.
What about the official training and warm-up lines? Our plan is to have the barge and warm-up lines in place by Aug 1st, giving teams that arrive early enough a minimum of 7 days of training from the barge. Keep in mind you have maximum flexibility as the barge is an easy 200m swim off shore. Each warm-up line will have a bottom plate that is adjustable. During official training you'll also have not only a safety freediver to help, but also a person on the barge to adjust your line depth. The line attendant will be able to provide an active lift of the line for safety. Each TEAM, not COUNTRY, will have their own line to train off as having sides A & B with 9 warmup lines and two competition lines each means there will be 22 lines for training and all with around 100m of line. During official training we'll also provide a standby safety scuba diver in-water for every line in use.
Safety procedures will follow 'CAFA/AIDA Safety Protocols for Competitions and Records' and essentially involve the following: During training, athletes will be required to utilize lanyards on their deep target dives and of course for the competition performance dives. For the competition dives two safety scuba divers will be positioned at target depth. One diver will be responsible for video and another for safety. Other safety divers will be positioned every 20m from that point up, each utilizing a 'Line Assisted Freediver Retrieval System', essentially a lift bag, fill bottle and carabineer to attach onto the line below your lanyard. All athletes will be constantly monitored by a safety team member throughout the whole of their dive. Vancouver and the entire west coast including Seattle have a vast resource (in excess of 150) of experienced technical and trimix trained divers that are quickly volunteering their time so you can enjoy a relaxed and comfortable competition area.
In addition to these safety measures, Ocean Technology Systems Inc is providing in-water communications to 'priority' depth safety individuals for bottom to surface communications and in addition, will also be providing a in-water speaker system for countdowns and emergency use. Jennifer's voice gently coaxing you through your countdown and all heard in-water :>)
This is just a brief overview of our partners and our plan to give you the very best competition performance AND one of the most exciting and dynamic media and spectator events that freediving has seen.
We look forward to you attending the 2004 AIDA World Freediving Championships in Vancouver, Canada as a competitor, coach, media member or spectator this August and we look forward to the opportunity to offer you, our guest, a warm welcome to our home.
Sincerely,
Kirk Krack
Performance Freediving
CAFA President/Founder
AIDA Executive Member
www.performancefreediving.com
kirk.krack@performancefreediving.com
604-862-5868
We are extremely excited to welcome the freediving world to Vancouver this August for the 2004 AIDA World Freediving Championships. We are working very hard to make this the very highest quality competition and our volunteers and partners are eager to prove ourselves to you!
We have added some additional information to the official website and soon there will be more exciting updates. They are as follows:
* FRENCH addition to http://www.aidaworlds2004.com.
* 'One World Translations' will be our official translators during the competition. http://www.oneworldtranslations.com.
* 30 teams spanning 17 countries have registered their intent to compete.
* AIDA Judge In Learning program for all interested, August 1st - 3rd.
* AIDA Members Assembly Meeting for interested AIDA members on "The Past, Present and Future of AIDA", August 1st - 3rd.
* Entrance fee INCLUDES 9 days accommodations.
* Accommodations have the option of high-speed internet in each room.
* We are partnering with different airlines and rental car companies to help support your efforts to attend even more.
In regards to the constant ballast training and competition, we'd like to give you a brief (actually quite long:>) synopsis of what is happening, hat conditions will be like and how it will run.
We are securing a 50m long barge with a deck that sits 2-3m above the water to support the competition. This barge will be anchored in 110m of water about 200m off shore in beautiful Howe Sound. Water surface conditions are protected in the sound from weather, wind and waves. Surface
water temperatures can be as high as 20C/70F.
This barge will hold the athletes, freedive and scuba support teams, organizational members, judges, media AND SPECTATORS!!! Yes, we plan on allowing a certain amount of spectators on the barge. They'll be housed under a tent from where they can watch not only the surface preparations, performance and recovery, BUT also the performances UNDERWATER.
Many of our partners are working very hard to supply you with the best conditions not only from a performance point of view, but also from a media
spectators point of view. Amphibico Inc, one of the worlds leading maker of underwater housings is providing in-water cameras, housings, lighting and hardwiring to bring three different images to the media and spectators, LIVE to the media/spectators tent. This will be freediving footage (0-20-0m), mid-point footage (50-30m) and finally bottom footage (20-100m?). These images will be put to TV's stationed in the media/spectator tents for all to watch. Also, with this unique ability we will have all penalty or DQ footage qued up for the judges and athletes to process any protests as efficiently as possible.
While underwater visibility in Vancouver can be quite good at depth, (15-25m) can be dark. We are compensating for this with one of our other partners, world renowned under water submersible maker, Phil Nuytten of Nuytco Research and Can Dive Ltd. These partners are providing the newest in deep lighting technology, 200w HMI lights to turn night into day while at depth. These lights will be placed in intervals of 20m starting at 40m of depth and shared between all four competition lines. Not only is Phil providing us with these lights for the line, but he also plans on having an 'Aquarius' submersible on hand for media to 'checkout' the scene.
Four competitions lines? Yes! To efficiently utilize the vast scuba resources we have and to have the constant ballast competition completed in two official training days and two competition days, we are planning to have two sets of training and competitions zones that extend from each side of the barge, A & B. This means we'll have a minimum 9 warm-up lines on sides and 2 competition lines on each side. Essentially we'll be running two competitors at the same time every 5 minutes at it's quickest time stagger. For the first time we'll see near head to head competition as two athletes compete on comp line 1A & 1B while two competitors stand in transitions on the next two comp lines 2A & 2B.
What about the official training and warm-up lines? Our plan is to have the barge and warm-up lines in place by Aug 1st, giving teams that arrive early enough a minimum of 7 days of training from the barge. Keep in mind you have maximum flexibility as the barge is an easy 200m swim off shore. Each warm-up line will have a bottom plate that is adjustable. During official training you'll also have not only a safety freediver to help, but also a person on the barge to adjust your line depth. The line attendant will be able to provide an active lift of the line for safety. Each TEAM, not COUNTRY, will have their own line to train off as having sides A & B with 9 warmup lines and two competition lines each means there will be 22 lines for training and all with around 100m of line. During official training we'll also provide a standby safety scuba diver in-water for every line in use.
Safety procedures will follow 'CAFA/AIDA Safety Protocols for Competitions and Records' and essentially involve the following: During training, athletes will be required to utilize lanyards on their deep target dives and of course for the competition performance dives. For the competition dives two safety scuba divers will be positioned at target depth. One diver will be responsible for video and another for safety. Other safety divers will be positioned every 20m from that point up, each utilizing a 'Line Assisted Freediver Retrieval System', essentially a lift bag, fill bottle and carabineer to attach onto the line below your lanyard. All athletes will be constantly monitored by a safety team member throughout the whole of their dive. Vancouver and the entire west coast including Seattle have a vast resource (in excess of 150) of experienced technical and trimix trained divers that are quickly volunteering their time so you can enjoy a relaxed and comfortable competition area.
In addition to these safety measures, Ocean Technology Systems Inc is providing in-water communications to 'priority' depth safety individuals for bottom to surface communications and in addition, will also be providing a in-water speaker system for countdowns and emergency use. Jennifer's voice gently coaxing you through your countdown and all heard in-water :>)
This is just a brief overview of our partners and our plan to give you the very best competition performance AND one of the most exciting and dynamic media and spectator events that freediving has seen.
We look forward to you attending the 2004 AIDA World Freediving Championships in Vancouver, Canada as a competitor, coach, media member or spectator this August and we look forward to the opportunity to offer you, our guest, a warm welcome to our home.
Sincerely,
Kirk Krack
Performance Freediving
CAFA President/Founder
AIDA Executive Member
www.performancefreediving.com
kirk.krack@performancefreediving.com
604-862-5868
