Well, this is likely the most exciting post of this year’s Deepsea Challenge in beautiful Bonaire. I don’t say that lightly as there are still two depth days, one static day and two Guinness World Record attempts scheduled! Today the Netherland’s own Jeanine Grasmeijer won her Free Immersion (FIM) world record back from the late Natalia Molchanova by diving to an incredible 92m. Sleek and calm the Dutch-ess of freediving climbed down and back up the line with the tag ending in a clean surface protocol. Lips a bit blue she spent the first part of her celebration efforts recovering on O2 and letting the gravity of her accomplishments set in. I think we were all more excited for her for the first 20 minutes of her success!
Following the world record performance I descended to 84m earning a new national record in Constant Weight (CWT) for the United States, and I had this to say:
“I have to thank Carlos Coste and my husband, Ren Chapman for their patience and help during the training process. Relatively new to training for depth I have had some equalization setbacks, like most freedivers, that Carlos worked hard with me to start figuring out. As many other divers have told me, “Just do a ton of negatives.” For anyone out there suffering through the equalization process (at depth), I suggest the same!”
With only two penalties today and no black outs, the day was white as snow (with white cards in case you didn’t pick that metaphor up). The Home-Boy Roozendaal picked up a white card and new personal best dive with a 60m CWT. Just behind him was fellow Dutchman and Bonaire resident Maarten Boon who white carded today with a 50m FIM dive. It’s been awesome so far to see the camaraderie among the Dutch team who dominate the Deepsea Challenge in body count.
Let’s not forget Daniel “Danny” Maduro or “Danny Mad” on Facebook of neighboring Curacao. With Danny in such close proximity to Bonaire he is also considered the Home Team. Danny began his freediving with Performance Freediving International (PFI) and hasn’t stopped since. His affection for the sport and attention to safety detail are apparent in his dive style. The Deepsea Challenge being only his second freediving competition, he has aspirations to make personal best (PB) dives every dive in the coming days. There’s an internal competition heating up that might get exciting concerning the local boys, Boy, Maarten and Danny Mad. Can’t wait to see how that shapes up!
