New US Men’s 80 Meter / 262 Feet Free Immersion National and North American Record Set

April 1, 2009 - PRLog -- The United States Apnea Association (USAA) is pleased to announce that Robert King, a USAA member, set a new national and North American record in the freediving discipline of free immersion to a depth of 80 meters on April 1, 2009, at Dean’s Blue Hole on Long Island in the Bahamas.  This performance surpasses the previous record of 76 meters set by Leo Muraoka at last year’s event.  

Two AIDA International judges from the United States judged Rob’s performance.  Grant Graves , USAA president, and Linden Wolbert validated the performance as following all AIDA and USAA rules and regulations for a record performance.  Rob made the round trip in two minutes and fifty-nine seconds.  Rob made the dive look easy, he provided the judges with a quick surface protocol and a large smile.  The performance was ruled as valid and awarded a white card by the judges.

Rob spoke of the record as a good swim.  He wanted to thank William Trubridge for inviting him to the competition and Liv Philip for working on his injured arm for the last few weeks.  Rob said, “Most of all I would like to thank William Winram, whose coaching and training program got me to 80 M (and back).  Also, I want to give a big hug to my niece Delphine who is a constant inspiration.

Free immersion is the freediving discipline that requires the athlete to pull their way to depth and back using their hands to pull down and up the competition line.  It is one of three recognized self-powered disciplines in the diving to depth arena.  The other two are constant ballast and constant ballast without fins.  Both require the athlete to swim to depth and return under their own power.  

The USAA is a nonprofit association founded on the democratic representation of freediving within the United States and internationally.  Founded in 2003, the USAA consists of an active membership dedicated to furthering freediving in the United States and abroad. For more information about the USAA, the U.S. National Freediving Team, and membership please visit www.usfreediving.org.

The International Association for the Development of Freediving, AIDA, is the international sanctioning body for freediving, individual and team competition, and freediving world record attempts.  For more information about AIDA please visit http://www.aida-international.org.

# # #

The USAA is a nonprofit association founded on the democratic representation of freediving within the United States and internationally. Founded in 2003, the USAA consists of an active membership dedicated to furthering freediving in the United States and abroad. For more information about the USAA, the U.S. National Freediving Team, and membership please visit www.usfreediving.org.