Performance Freediving International
Record Attempt Successes During 'Sink Faze Cayman 2006' with Performance Freediving Team
The week of April 1 -7 on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean saw four days of record attempts by Team Performance Freediving International (PFI). Team members swam away with three World Records and two National Records in the competitive sport of breath?hold freediving.
Freediving as a means of sustenance has historical roots dating back 4,500 years, to the Ama pearl divers of South Pacific and Japanese waters, and is memorialized in earthenware artifacts with pearl inlays. As a competitive sport in modern times, freediving's first record was established by Ramondo Bucher, a Hungarian-Italian Air Force Captain who set the first recorded depth mark in 1949 at 30m / 99ft.
The Performance Freediving Team members of today, Mandy-Rae Cruickshank ( Canada ), Martin Stepanek ( Czech Republic ) and Dr. George 'Doc' Lopez (USA), are executing performances once thought impossible by diving physiologists. These athletes have added 3 World Records and 2 National Records to the Team trophy case. The Performance Freediving Team has now set a total of 17 freediving World Records.
Martin Stepanek, 28, a Czech freediver residing in Ft. Lauderdale , leads the Team with his record tally. Martin started his freediving career in June 2000 after having taken a Performance Freediving clinic with coach/trainer Kirk Krack and then current Team PFI World Record holder Brett LeMaster (USA).
Martin reclaimed the Constant Ballast World Record during Sink Faze 2006, swimming down to depth and back to the surface with fins and a ballast weight. The record had been held by Venezuelan Carlos Coste. Martin?s first Sink Faze attempt (April 1) in the Constant Ballast discipline bested Coste?s 105m / 344ft depth by 1 meter, moving the record mark to 106m / 348ft with a dive time of 3 minutes 55 seconds (3:55). April 3rd saw Martin resetting his own Free Immersion (arm-pulling down and up a weighted rope, without fins) World Record of 102m / 335ft by 4 meters, to 106m / 348ft, with a dive time of 3 minutes 52 seconds ( 3:52 ). His final success came on April 5th, returning to the Constant Ballast discipline and achieving a new World Record depth of 108m / 354ft, dive time 3 minutes 50 seconds (3:50). A subsequent Constant Ballast attempt on April 7th, this time to a target of 110m / 361ft, ended in failure when Martin?s mask failed just below the 100m / 328ft mark and he was forced to abort the dive.
Team member Mandy-Rae Cruickshank, 31, of Vancouver launched her freediving career in a Performance Freediving clinic with Kirk in March 2000. In September 2001 she set her first World Record as the deepest woman in history with a No-Limits sled ride to 136m / 447ft.
Mandy-Rae has since held 6 freediving World Records, including that in the sport?s most respected Constant Ballast discipline, with a dive to 78m / 256ft in April of 2004 in the Cayman Islands . Mandy-Rae's World Record target was set for Sink Faze to 87m / 285ft, but her effort to reclaim the title was frustrated in her initial attempts. She did, however, successfully complete a freedive to 85m / 279ft in training, and officially reset her own Canadian National Record to a depth of 80m / 262ft with a dive time of 2 minutes 40 seconds ( 2:40 ). Mandy-Rae recently transitioned from her job as a dive industry sales rep to join Performance Freediving International, Inc as Director of Student Services, and looks forward to the opportunity to train for future record attempts with more focus and flexibility.
The US National Record for Free Immersion was set during Sink Faze by Team Performance Freediving's Dr. George 'Doc' Lopez, Founder/CEO and Chairman of the Board for ICU Medical, Inc. Doc, a resident of Orange County , California , claimed the National title with an April 1st dive to 51m / 167ft in the Free Immersion discipline. An April 3 rd attempt to better his own record to 53 meters /174 feet was unsuccessful. Doc's innovative style of Free Immersion uses a head-up posture for both descent and ascent, which facilitates equalization of pressures at depth.
Mandy-Rae, Martin and Doc work with coach and trainer Kirk Krack, founder of Performance Freediving International, Inc. Kirk was formerly Vice-President of the Association for the International Development of Apnea (AIDA), the world governing body for the sport of freediving and is a professional Mixed-Gas Diving Instructor Trainer. Kirk has trained/coached and/or worked with other world record holders such as Tanya Streeter (USA), Brett LeMaster (USA), Karoline Meyer ( Brazil ), Eric Fattah ( Canada ) and Pipin and Audrey Fererras (Cuba/France) in addition to Martin, Mandy-Rae and Doc.
No event of this magnitude, deploying 8 rebreather safety divers, three safety freedivers, five videographers, two emergency medical technicians, three boat captains and numerous other support staff, would be possible without the generous financial sponsorship of ICU Medical Inc. Additional event support was provided by Stingray Watersports of Grand Cayman (diving and accommodations), HD Odyssey of Monterrey , CA (underwater video services), Oceaner Sporting Goods and Yamamoto Corporation (professional diving equipment) and Doc's Proplugs. Evacuation boat support was provided by Danny Kupkowski of Off The Wall Diving, and a spectator boat by Divetech Ltd., both of Grand Cayman Island .
Team PFI now looks forward to a busy teaching schedule and the 5th AIDA World Championships in Egypt this November. They also will be planning for their Cayman 2007 event along with developing freediving instructor programs through Performance Freediving International Inc.
The members of Performance Freediving International teach educational clinics around the world and are involved in both team and athlete development. Last years attempts in Cayman were broadcast near-live by streaming video and garnered an outstanding response from underwater enthusiasts the world over.
For media information, pictures or updates, please contact Kirk Krack at:
Full streaming video, training diaries and pictures are available in the "news" section of this web site.
[ TOP ]
|
