Friday, March 29, 2024
Freediving#VB2017 - Vertical Blue 2017 Day Three Results

#VB2017 – Vertical Blue 2017 Day Three Results

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Day three of Suunto Vertical Blue 2017 was a stunner. An additional six more national records were set and (not that anyone doubted it) Alexey Molchanov of Russia cemented his place in history as the king of constant weight with a re-confirmation of a world record. In a dive time of three minutes and 50 seconds, the affable “golden retriever” of apnea demonstrated that a 129-meter dive under constant weight is not only doable but easily repeated for someone like Alexey Molchanov. With his sister watching from the platform, alongside many fans at the comp and hundreds of internet viewers online, Alexey surfaced to flash a winning smile, his super shiny new steel nose clip, and an absolutely clean surface protocol. ”

My dive felt very good,” said Alexey, “and the visibility today was awesome.”

Including Molchanov’s there were a total 24 performances on the last day of the first Act of the event, which yielded 19 white cards, three yellow and two red cards. Immediately after Alexey, William Trubridge took center stage to try his hand at free immersion. With the pressure mounting, since his first no-fins dive was foiled and his main competitor just delivered a resounding world-record nudge, William needed to make his 116m depth and do so in clean fashion — which is exactly what he did. ”

Most of the dive felt good,” shared Trubridge “but I had a bit of a weird start.” No matter what happened at the beginning it did not ultimately derail Trubridge from securing his first white card.

No matter what happened at the beginning it did not ultimately derail Trubridge from securing his first white card.

William descends (photo © Daan Verhoeven)
William descends (photo © Daan Verhoeven)

Another titan of the sea, Miguel Lozano of Spain, had a very nice no-fins dive in the morning session to advance his own national CNF title to 78m. The extreme good-nature of the tall Spaniard was on full display as Miguel completed his own dive, then quickly forfeited getting recovery oxygen to be on hand to coach British competitor Dean Chaouche, who was diving one meter less than Miguel.

Miguel #VB2017 (photo © Daan Verhoeven)
Miguel #VB2017 (photo © Daan Verhoeven)

Continuing a vexing trend, Alessia Zecchini of Italy found that her world-record attempt did not conclude in the manner in which she envisioned. The spirited freediver was sorely disappointed that she did not have a clean dive and that she received another red card. In the aftermath of a second debacle at the competition, the other competitors rallied to her side and encouraged her to try again.

Sayuri reaching for a new NR (photo © Daan Verhoeven)
Sayuri reaching for a new NR (photo © Daan Verhoeven)

Closing out the day was Sayuri Kinoshita of Japan, (affectionately dubbed “Soy Sauce” by event photographer Daan Verhoeven). Sayuri performed a strong and a clean dive to 83 meters to take home a new national record for Japan and to continue the tight race between her and Kate Middleton. Both Kate and Sayuri are competing in all three disciplines and showing fortitude; it is bound to come down to the wire so stay tuned. Today is a rest day for the athletes but Act II will commence on Thursday with more exciting diving in Deans Blue Hole. See the complete list of results below.

Day 3 results #VB2017
Day 3 results #VB2017

All photos © Daan Verhoeven

Francesca Koe
Francesca Koehttps://www.deeperblue.com/
An active ocean advocate, VP of U.S. Freediving, a multi-agency dive instructor, PFI Safety Supervisor and AIDA judge, Francesca also serves as the Editor-At-Large here at DeeperBlue.com. You can usually find Francesca diving in the kelp, hanging out at the Farallones with sharky friends, or trying to improve upon her own PB's.

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