The final day of the 2022 Vertical Blue freediving competition at Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas saw a new world record by Poland’s Mateusz Malina, along with five other divers setting continental or national records.
World Record For Overall Points Winner Mateusz Malina
Poland’s Mateusz “Matt” Malina set a new world record in the Free Immersion (FIM) discipline with a dive to 127m/417ft. He had set a national record on Day 3 with a dive to 124m/407ft and attempted the world record on Day 7 but only managed to get to 113m/371ft before returning.
Malina’s Day 9 results earned him the men’s overall points winner’s medal, while Hungary’s Fatima Korok brought the overall points winner with a gold medal among the women.
Congratulations Mateusz Malina – Limitless – new world record Free Immersion and men's overall winner of Vertical Blue 2022!
Posted by Daan Verhoeven on Thursday, August 11, 2022
Continental Record For Yun-Chieh Ku
Day 9 saw Taiwan’s Yun-Chieh Ku set a new men’s continental and national record with a FIM dive to 108m/354ft, surpassing his Day 2 record dive to 106m/348ft.
It was Ku’s fourth national record during the competition, which also included a Constant Weight with Bifins (CWTB) national record with a 96m/315ft dive on Day 8 as well as a Constant Weight with Monofin (CWT) record on Day 5 with a 108m/354ft dive.
Four More National Records
Additionally, China’s Potti Lau dove to 96m/315ft for a men’s national CWTB record.
On the women’s side, Lau’s countrywoman Jessea Lu dove to 89m/292ft for a Chinese national CWT record, while Mexico’s Camila Jaber executed an 82m/269ft dive in the CWTB discipline.
Hungary’s Fatima Korok bettered her 56m/184ft record CNF dive from Day 3 with a 62m/203ft dive on Day 9, earning her the overall women’s points gold medal.
Final Day Challenges
The last day of the competition also saw some divers not get what they wanted.
Mexico’s Pepe Salcedo was gunning for a men’s national record 107m/351ft FIM dive, but earned a red card for blacking out. South Korea’s Jung A Kim sought a women’s 101m/331ft CWT record but turned around at 98m/321.5ft.
Turkey’s Sahika Ercumen wanted to extend her 94m/308ft women’s national record set on Day 1 to 101m/331ft in the CWT discipline but was only able to get to 89m/292ft before turning back. And the USA’s Enchante Gallardo was going for a 90m/295ft FIM national record but had to turn back at the 74m/243ft mark.
Full Day 9 and Overall Results
Check out the Day 9 and Overall results below.
Photos of Day 8
You can check out our gallery of photos courtesy of Daan Verhoeven below.
Vertical Blue 2022 Coverage
If you want to find out the highlights and details from every day of the competition, then check back with DeeperBlue.com as our team provides daily updates and wrap up’s throughout the competition. You should also keep an eye out on our socials for highlights from the competition.
We’ve covered every year of the competition since 2008, so you can check out this year’s coverage and all previous years in our Vertical Blue archive.
Vertical Blue is always an exciting event to watch, so stay tuned to DeeperBlue.com and our social media feeds for updates, and sign up for the live feed from Diveye on the Vertical Blue website to watch in real-time or VOD.
Feature Photo by Daan Verhoeven
— With on-site reporting from Francesca Koe and additional reporting by Stephan Whelan.
