Vancouver-born freediver William Winram may well decide his visit to Eindhoven, Netherlands, participating in the “4th Dutch Apnea Open”, was indeed worth the trip. During the November 22-23 weekend, the Canadian freediver exacted solid performances in Dynamic and Dynamic No Fins, further tightening his grip on the Canadian and Continental records. Outstanding performances such as these place William securely among the world’s top 10 ranked competitive freedivers.
November 22, 2008 had William participating in the Dynamic No Fins National Record Relay with eleven other competitors. Swimming underwater 154 meters on a single breath in a 25-meter pool, using only his body for propulsion, William set new Canadian and Continental records. He broke his own record of 150 meters set in March, 2007 which was already his fourth claim to these titles in this challenging discipline.
The following day, this time in the 10-lane 50-meter pool, William did not hesitate to perform an astounding 205-meter performance in the Dynamic Apnea discipline; swimming underwater, propelled by a monofin, and all the while holding a single breath. With this accomplishment he beat his own previous record of 203 meters which had earned him a bronze medal, in July 2007, at the Individual Freediving World Championships held in Maribor, Slovenia.
This week-end of events, “one of the best organized indoor freediving competition I have ever attended” says William, took place in the state of the art Tongelreep National Swimming Centre, a.k.a. Swimmer’s Paradise. Fifty-five attending freediving competitors had the fortunate opportunity to train and compete in a world-class facility. This prestigious location hosted the European Swimming Championships in March 2008, a qualifying step toward the summer Olympics held in Beijing, China.
Reflecting on the end to his dive William says, “The funny thing was I came up way too early. The recovery was far too easy.” These performances are all the more incredible considering in 2008 William turned much of his attention from competition towards raising awareness on shark research and ocean preservation. His resounding success in Eindhoven suggests he has more to show in these disciplines.
William has now returned to Canada where he will be teaching beginner and advanced freediving courses in Montreal, Quebec from November 27 to December 13, 2008. William Winram lives and trains in Geneva, Switzerland and is a founding member of AIDA Canada, a national organization promoting and developing freediving in Canada. For more information on William please visit www.williamwinram.com.