The world’s most exclusive and competitive free-diving competition in the world, also known as the “Wimbledon of free-diving”, Vertical Blue – is taking place at Deans Blue Hole in the Bahamas. After just 4 days of competition, both world and national records have been broken.
A world-class competition
42 free-divers from across the world came to experience this world-class invitational competition, which runs from 13-23 July 2021. All eyes are on the rivals of organiser William Trubridge and Alexey Molchanov who often go head to head with some spectacular dives in Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) – their specialty.
It’s the first major international free-diving competition that’s taken place since most of the world was locked down due to the global pandemic. World-renowned free-diving photographer Daan Verhoeven has been onsite to capture the event with his usual spectacular photography.
4 days and 4 records broken
After a well-deserved rest day, athletes from around the world continued to push human boundaries and seek glory on Day 4 of the Vertical Blue 2021 freediving competition at Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas.
It ended up being another monster day for record-breaking dives with Russia’s Alexey Molchanov, France’s Arnaud Jerald, Slovenia’s Alenka Artnik, and Italy’s Alessia Zecchini each set new world records.
On the Men’s side, Molchanov set a new Constant Weight (CWT) world record with a 131m/430ft, 4mins 33secs dive.
Jerald surpassed his own Constant Weight with Bifins (CWTBF) world record set only a few days earlier with a 3mins 35secs, 117m/384ft dive.
On the Women’s side, Artnik surpassed her CWT record set on Day 1 with a 120m/394ft dive in 3mins 28secs, while Zecchini set a Free Immersion (FIM) world record with a 101m/331ft dive in 3mins 40secs.
Zecchini was interviewed by the BBC post her dive.
National records aplenty
In addition to the world records, eight national records have also been set.
For the Men, Alejandro Lemus surpassed his 95m/312ft Mexican national CWT record set on Day 1 with a 101m/331ft dive in 3mins 1sec. Taiwan’s Yun-Chieh Kuh added to his FIM record set on Day 1 with a 102m/335ft dive in 3mins 10secs. Switzerland’s Florian Burghardt set a CWT record with an 82m/269ftdive in 2mins 35secs, while Alex Davis of Barbados set a national FIM record with an 82m/269ft dive in 2mins 50secs.
On the Women’s side, Isabelle Winner kept her incredible form in the FIM discipline, extending her Bahamian national record to 36m/118ft in 1mins 21secs. Turkey’s Sahika Ercumen extended her national CWT record to 90m/295ft in 2mins 55secs. Canada’s Sheena McNally set a CWTBF national record with an 88m/289ft dive in three minutes and five seconds, while Jung A Kim set a South Korean national CWTBF record with an 84m/276ft dive in three minutes twenty seconds.
Check out the full results below.
