In association with LearnFreediving.com
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Friday 4th June 2004
"Gentlemen, we have a new World Record". I was standing all of 3 metres away from Rudi Castineyra, Yasemin Dalkilic’s husband and coach as he announced the new World Record.
Whilst today is only a training day for both Yasemin and David Lee, the decision was made for Yasemin to try and hit 42m, beating her previous record for Unassisted Constant Weight set on 22nd October 2001. This is her first record since 2001 however she looked confident in the water.
"I felt a little slow today although this was a good dive!" were Yasemin’s comments on the day.
David was going for a new personal best of 55m. After slightly over-breathing he set off on a route that looked like he was swiming for shore! Around 7m he seemed to realise there was no rope in front of him and corrected himself. He hit his 55m mark and returned safely to the surface.
"I think he’s nervous after going for 63m last year and blacking out" commented Rudi after David’s dive. Despite David’s setback last year he seems strong in his attempt this year.
The team is still quite small at the moment with 2 safety support divers, 2 underwater cameramen, Rudi, Yas, David and myself. Despite this we are feeling quite cramped on the initial boat being used in the first few days. As of Monday there is going to be a bigger boat used that will start to accomodate the other media and specatators in attendance.
We’re situated in the small town of Kas in the Antalya region of Turkey. The area is a big diving and tourist region, although Kas is a good 3 hour drive from Antalya airport (4 by bus!) along very winding moutain roads which seem to inspire budding 24 Hour Le Man rally drivers to practice their power slides (one of these budding rally enthusiasts being my taxi driver).
The evening saw the team assemble for the briefing after dinner. Rudi announced that David is going for the new World Record of 63m with Yas taking a rest day. The safety team seems quite relaxed and is ready to handle almost any depth that they announce.
Saying that it is the perfect backdrop to the new F.R.E.E world records that are bound to be set here in the next few days. I’m in attendance for the whole time and shall be bringing you daily reports from here. You can also read the athletes personal diaries at learnfreediving.com
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