It is T-minus 18+ days for William Trubridge. That is the amount of time he has left in order to prepare, mentally and physically, for his next world record attempt of 102 meters in the freediving discipline of constant weight no-fins (CNF). On December 3rd at Deans Blue Hole in the Bahamas, the Kiwi athlete (originally from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand) will strive to dive down deeper than any human ever has before using only his hands and feet — completely self-propelled and on a single breath.
Trubridge has successfully garnered sponsorship from Steinlager Pure, (a New Zealand larger) to help raise awareness & to promote the event, which in and of itself is a great sign for the entire sport of freediving, namely having mainstream marketers understand the powerful platform that freediving can provide. The event sponsor even has even developed a count-down clock on their website to help build anticipation. William now joins the ranks of other famous spokespeople for the beverage such as Harvey Keitel, Willem Dafoe and Vincent Gallo. Steinlager Pure Senior brand manager Michael Taylor notes that William Trubridge is “an amazing New Zealander doing outstanding things on a world stage” and that the partnership is a good fit because Steinlager’s brand values echo Trubridge’s pure approach to freediving, “No unnecessary ingredients, just absolute simplicity at its best, from the world’s purest place.”
William can currently count 15 world records in his portfolio, and if all goes according to plan number 16 is just under three weeks away. But there is quite a lot going on for the champion diver between now and then — William and his wife Brittany are hosting their annual international freediving competition Vertical Blue which will see 35 world-class athletes from all over the globe descend on Long Island, each pushing their own limits and many national records further. “This year I am putting more emphasis back on my training in the purest discipline, constant weight no-fins.” Trubridge said, “I still hold the world record of 101 meters set back in 2010, but I would like to improve on that, as well as try to do my best in the other two disciplines with an eye to being competitive for the overall prize.” DeeperBlue readers can follow the action on Twitter and Instagram by using hashtags #VB2014, #VBprofile, #VBflashback, VBinsta and #suuntodive.
Watch video from William’s existing CNF world record dive to 101 meters here below:
Photo © Igor Liberti