Bye World Championship

Photo Kimmo Lahtinen

Well I got to be honest, it feels a little empty right now. I made an effort to prepare myself for this competition and I really enjoyed the training I did prior to the event. I like pushing on to see where it will take me.
I knew I had not done enough water training. But I also knew I had done quite a lot of dry training.

But I had no idea how the competition would be like or how to behave around the other good athlete. Or how they would behave around others. You just never know.
I should not have worried. I met so many cool and nice people that also are really good freedivers which makes for an interesting combination. So many good tips and advices. So many ideas I got from watching people prepare, train, compete. Some extremely relaxed and some extremely focused.

I didn't feel like I wanted to go to the WC and just see how it goes and hope for the best.
I set some goals for myself. More than just try my best and have fun.

- I wanted white cards and be top 10 in both DNF and Static.
- I also wanted to beat the swedish record in DNF of 162 meters in the final.

Photo Kimmo Lahtinen

Sounds a bit arrogant since I have only done 134 meters DNF in competition and 6.31 min in Static.
But I don't see it as arrogant. And I see it as fun.
Setting high goals doesn't exclude having fun and being relaxed. Plus you always finds a way of pushing youself. I know some see freediving as this pure thing that is holy and it is wrong to have any kind of ambition with numbers. All about emotions.
I too like what freediving is doing to my body and how it makes me feel.
But I ALSO like what ambition and goals and determenation are doing to my freediving...

Did I make my goals?'
Yes. And no. I finished 8th place in the DNF with 155 meters and finished 9th place in Static with 7.15 min.. So 7 meter short of the swedish record. But I gave it a fair try. I couldn't gone any longer that day. But white cards and PBs in all of the events.
And the best 10 days in my short freediving life...

 STA 7.15 min Filmed by Stig Severinsen

  DNF 155 meter

STATIC FINAL

On the last day of the WC it was the Static Final and there was a great final heat at the end between some heavy-weights where the medals were going to be handed out. Or so we thought...Goran Colak had early on done a 8.10 min hold and probably thought that was a bit weak for a medal and Adrian Kwiatkowski had done 8.09 min.But in the final heat the always smiling Guy Brew drifted away after little over a minute ( packing BO?) and left were William Trubridge, Ulf Dextegen and Alexey Molchanov.
Trubridge came up first on 7.21 min and the two silver and bronze medalists from the last WC stayed down and looked really strong. Then Ulf came up on 7.57 min with a white card and then Alexey on 8.03 but got a red card and disqualification.
So gold to Colak, silver to Kwiatkowski and bronze again to swedens Ulf Dextegen. Really impressive...

I did a competition personal best with 7.15 min and finished on 9th place and was pretty happy with the way the dive went. Felt better from the beginning and had control all the way. My thoughts wandered away a few times but I managed to slow the thoughts down  to slow motion and kind of enjoyed the experienced.

Photos from a film by Stig Severinsen

Coach Petter ( in fashion trendy shorts) again did a great job. Not to much talking but the right words at the right times. He is also really relaxed before the dive which makes it easier to stay focus, without overdoing it.

Il Capitano Philip was busy with his camera and  took some great photos during the hole competition that we might see more of some day. He has a way with pictures...

DNF FINAL

My first final ended with a 155 meter dive and a 8th place total. I was really looking to break that swedish record of 162 meter but came a bit short. All in all I think I put everything I had into the dive and it was as far as I could have gone. But it still leaves a kind of sore feeling.

Since I started training freediving 9 month ago I have done very few dives in the water as I have relied on my dry training and what I think is a strong head, but I also feel that I need some more experience from long dives. How the body reacts in certain situations. That is even more clear in a 50 meter pool.
In fact I had only done 5 dives over 100 meter  before coming here to the World Championship.

But I really like the DNF style and I have gotten some really good advice and input from better divers down here and it makes it even more exiting to keep pushing forward.

 DNF final 155 meter 

Tomorrow Staic Final...

Static Qualification

In the Static qualification there were a lot of results around 6-7 min and a few ones over 7 min from the big names like Ulf Dextegen (7.28), Alexey Molchanov (8.03), Goran Colak (7.20) Guy Brew (7.11).
By the look on there faces there will be alot more to come from them in the Sunday final.

I made it to the final with a 6.53 min breath hold that had it's ups and downs.
Did a sloppy last breath and wasn't sure how much to pack and did a few to many  which made the first couple of minutes really uncomfortable. But I managed to get a positive feeling after a while and got more confident that I could stick it out. But again, rookie mistakes that I hate to do. So back to the drawing board and stay with what I know and have been doing. It will probably work better than something I come up with in the last minute...

Coach Petter and Il Capitano Philip took a break from the seaside resort and headed back up to the mountaines where the coffe always taste good and the surroundings are a little different.

Bar Centrale in Agordo

Friday is the final in DNF. Big day...

DNF Qualification

First qulification heat over and done with. I made a 138 m dive and made it to the finals with a 8 place total.
It was a pretty clean dive and it felt ok during the hole dive with contractions starting around 40 meter.
What I didn't like was everything leading up to the dive. Put my suit on too soon, got into the water unnecessary early etc..But I still managed to stay cool and relaxed which was what I was most happy about.

The norwegian Bjarte annonced high and did the best performance of all. Very controlled and there is certainly more where that came from.
From our swedish team Ulf Linberg went to the final with a 150 m dive but with some penalties and Ulf Dextegen did a 127 meter dive but came up with a samba and got a red card. Monika Wenger did a personal best 59 meter and looked really strong but missed the finals.
All in all pretty happy faces on the swedes.
Now it's over to Static.

My 138 m dive

Start of World Championship

Lignano Sabbiadoro

After arriving in Lignano we have had a few times to train and get the feel for the new pool which is really nice.
And really long.
The 50 meter pool is a bit of a challange in No Fins but if you just find the right mindset and try not to long for the wall, I think we are going to see some really big swims. Great conditions here.

Before I came to Lignano I spent a few days in the woods and mountains of Dolomites in northern Italy.
Just to do something different. To kind of end the training period.
And start the competition period.
But mostly because it could be my favorite place on the planet.

I could't help but do a few Apnea Walks. With a view..

Early morning off the beaten track.

But for the next week now it will be all about chlorine. More to come...

DNF 171 meter