Day 5 of Vertical Blue in the Bahamas saw more fantastic dives and a world record set.
Hungarian Fatima Korok is hungry no more! For the first time in the history of her country, 30-year-old Fatima Korok smashed a personal goal of setting a World Record. After weeks of on-again, off-again, seemingly chronic pain from a recently broken ankle, the determined Hungarian achieved not only a personal best but her first-ever World Record by diving 102m/335ft in the freediving discipline of Free Immersion (FIM) – an incredible feat when entirely healthy, but even more impressive in light of her injury.
Fatima shared post dive:
“I am proud of myself! I’m super happy that I did the dive. I really enjoyed my dive and felt in control. My inspiration has been Sayuri Kinoshita from the beginning. Even though (unfortunately) I never met her, as she passed away a few months before we were supposed to meet for the first time in France at my first world championships – where incidentally I got a gold medal in FIM, which was supposed to be Sayuri’s – I still watch her dives before my big attempts.”
47-Year-Old Man Breaks Records With Second Deepest Dive of All Time
Davide Carrera may be an elder statesman in the sport of freediving, but nothing is stopping him, and age is merely a number to him. He completed an astonishing 130m/427ft in a dive time of 3mins 28secs, successfully setting a new Italian National Record in the freediving discipline of CWT and becoming the second deepest self-propelled human ever!
The very fit 47-year-old Italian has been freediving and spearfishing for a lifetime. In 1996 Davide competed in the very first competitive event sanctioned by AIDA in Nice, France as a young 22-year-old – two generations of freedivers have come and gone since he started. But now, 27 years later, he still brings his youth’s effusive energy and positive outlook to the freediving community as a seasoned veteran.
Davide shared immediately post dive:
“I’m very happy, I’m very happy! I’m 47, and I started freediving as a child; I am still here with the same joy and willpower that I had as a child to follow my dreams, I try to respect the ocean, and I try to feel good in it!”
With his son Nero watching on the surface, Davide descended quickly and in perfect form – despite being one of the older competitors, Carrera is likely one of the most flexible athletes and manages to demonstrate both strength and grace in the water.
Six National Records Set
In addition to Korok and Carrera, five further national records were set today, four of them by women.
- South Africa’s Talya Davidoff dove a Constant Weight Bi-Fins (CWTB) National Record of 73m/240ft
- Hou I Ming from Taiwan dove to 67m/220ft in Free Immersion (FIM) for a National Record
- Peru’s Juan Valdivia set a Constant Weight (CWT) National Record with a 65m/213ft dive
- Uruguay’s Vanessa Estol dove 58m/190ft for a Constant Weight Bi-Fins (CWTB) National Record
- Mexico’s Pedro Tapia dove 112m/367ft Constant Weight (CWT) for a new National Record
Results
Check out the full results below and the video replay of all the day’s dives.
Photos Courtesy of Daan Verhoeven. Additional Reporting by Francesca Koe in the Bahamas
