World Records Fall at AIDA Freediving World Championships 2009

World records fell at the AIDA Freediving World Championships 2009 Thursday, December 3, with William Trubridge (NZL) and Natalia Molchanova (RUS) setting new marks in the men’s and women’s Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) categories at Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas.

Trubridge, 29, beat his own record set last April by two metres to reach 90m below the surface and become World Champion. The dive took 3min 40sec and it is the third time he has broken this record in two years. Second place was William Winram (CAN) with 86m and Frenchman Guillaume Nery third at 78m.

“This dive was a bigger psychological challenge than I have faced before in a record attempt because there were a lot of expectations,” said Trubridge, “but my training prior to the event had gone very well, and I was able to draw confidence from this to remain calm on the day.”

Multi-time world champion Herbert Nitsch (AUT) dove to 89m but upon reaching the surface failed to meet required surface protocols which would have validated his dive. Under AIDA rules, an athlete must correctly complete set surface protocols within 15 seconds without losing consciousness in order for the dive to count.

New women’s champion, Molchanova, 47, also added two metres onto her own world record, diving down to 62m and returning in 3min 15sec.

Silver medal went to Niki Roderick (NZL) with 55m and bronze to Canadian Jana Strain with 54m.

The final event of the AIDA Freediving World Championships 2009 will be on December 5 when athletes compete in the final of the Constant Weight (CWT) category, which allows the use of fins.

Athletes must nominate their intended dive depth before the event begins. They complete the dive by retrieving a Velcro tag fixed at the bottom of a weighted cable at the nominated depth and returning to the surface without blacking out.

Nitsch was the best in the men’s heats, reaching 105m, ahead of Carlos Coste (VEN), 104m and Trubridge, who had reached 102m, but had one point deducted for failing to retrieve the tag.

Molchanova dove to 85m, an impressive 15m ahead of British freediving star Sara Campbell. Misuzu Hirai (JPN) was third best with 66m.