TheAustralian Freediving Association has announced that Walter Steyn hasbecome the 10th person in history to have swum completely self powered to adepth of 100m and back on a single breath of air, in the Constant Weightcompetitive freediving discipline.
On April 10, 2009 Steyn, 36, dived to thedepth during the Vertical Blue freedive competition held at Dean’s Blue Hole inthe Bahamas. The dive took 3 minutes and 12 seconds to complete, and wasvalidated by AIDA (International Association for the Development of Apnea)International Judges Grant Graves and Linden Wolbert.
The Constant Weight discipline requires a freediver to hold their breath anddive to a nominated depth using a set of fins or a monofin. Once the freediverhas reached the depth they must retrieve a tag and swim back to the surface,upon which they must complete a surface protocol within 15 seconds of themsurfacing. Constant Weight is one of the most respected and contesteddisciplines in the sport.
Steyn set his latest record on the 8th day of competition, he hadpreviously held the record at 77m but has broken it 5 times during VerticalBlue, including a 98m dive the previous day which left him fatigued andsuffering from severe narcosis, a condition where the extreme pressure at depthcauses intoxication and can leave a freediver mentally impaired whilst atdepth. Steyn admitted that during his 98m dive he has suffered narcosis whichmade the dive much more difficult.
Steyn is also a Committee member and co-founder of the Australian FreedivingAssociation, the Australian representative of AIDA International. On behalf ofthe Committee and its members we would like to congratulate Walter on hisamazing accomplishments in the Bahamas .
The International Association for the Development of Freediving, AIDA, is theinternational sanctioning body for freediving, individual and team competition,and freediving world record attempts. For more information about AIDA pleasevisit http://www.aida-international.org.
For more information on freediving in Australia , please visit http://www.australianfreediving.org.
Source: Ben Noble, President, Australian Freediving Association
