New Zealand’s freediving depth national championship competition will be held in Lake Taupo, based at Motutere Bay from Thursday 16th March to Saturday 18th March 2017.
Contestants in the Cressi New Zealand Depth Nationals 2017 from all over the country and overseas will be competing in three disciplines: Free Immersion (FIM), Constant Weight (CWT) and Constant Weight No Fins (CNF), both at AIDA grade (for ranking points) and “Recreational Grade” for up-and-coming Kiwi freedivers.
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Taupo offers deep clear waters and numerous options to find sheltered water for the competition. The whole New Zealand Freediving community gets behind the event, either competing or being one of the many volunteers required to provide Judging, Safety Divers, Boatman, Linesman and other general helpers.
This year’s competition will give athletes the flexibility to compete over all three days or on single days if required. While divers can declare any discipline for any dive, the final rankings will be made up of the points awarded for the best dive per discipline, so to accumulate the most points for the overall title contestants will likely to need to compete in all disciplines over the three days.
Nick Rhodes of FreeDiving NZ says:
“This year is a new format, and with both AIDA and recreational grades being able to (take) advantage of the flexible dives we expect a great turnout of competitors and the ability for our newer divers in rec-grade to learn and mix with our established AIDA-grade athletes, furthering their experience and knowledge. For the AIDA grade we have provisioned a line we can lower to 120m; we are anticipating some deep dives.”
Dean Albiston of Cressi NZ says:
“We are delighted to be able to support Freediving NZ for this event; the competition provides an ideal platform for both experienced divers and emerging divers to compete in an inclusive format. NZ has produced some world class divers over the years, and these competitions allow the development of these athletes to continue and to go on and compete internationally.”
For more info, check out the Freediving New Zealand website at freediving.co.nz.
