Vertical Blue 2010: Trubridge Breaks 300ft Barrier, King Sets US National Record

April 21, 2010 - PRLog -- At 11:50am on April 19 at the event location at Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas, New Zealander William Trubridge became the first man to pass the barrier of 300 feet (92 meters) freediving completely unassisted - a discipline called constant weight no fins (CNF).

Swimming a form of adapted breaststroke he descended next to a vertical line, collecting a tag from the bottom plate as proof of depth, before returning to the surface with only his hands and feet for propulsion, in a total time of 3min 45sec. A regulation Suunto D4 depth guage is also used for checking the dive.

Constant Weight No Fins is the purest measure of human aquatic potential, and athletically the most demanding of the freediving disciplines. The greatest danger for Trubridge during the dive was the risk of running out of oxygen and blacking out underwater.

One day earlier, American freediver Robert King added a huge four metres onto his free immersion (FIM) national record, diving to 86m in 3min 9sec. In FIM, divers are not allowed fins but can use the rope to pull themselves down.

King, who has been training with fellow competitor Will Winram (CAN) and Austrian Herbert Nitsch, was happy with his dive. “This was a nice way to start the competition,” he said. “Thanks to Herbert Nitsch and Will Winram for coaching and advice during training.”

Nitsch also lived up to his reputation, setting a new FIM world best with 114m with a dive that took 4min 11sec.

Vertical Blue 2010 runs until April 27, 2010. A competition to find the best all round freediver is also being run in parallel with divers scoring points based on the ratio of their dives in all three disciplines to current world records. Current leader in the Suunto Dive-Off is Trubridge followed by Walter Steyn (AUS) with Nitsch and Dave Mullins (NZL) tied in third.

All images and text are free for editorial use in connection with Vertical Blue 2010 only. For high resolution versions, contact DeeDee Flores deedeeflores01@aol.com.

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