DAY ELEVEN - It's a wrap!

One last day, one last world record, and now we can all finally relax.

Vertical Blue 2008 saw a total of 23 national records, of which 5 were world records, in all 3 of the self-propelled depth disciplines.

I will be writing a more detailed reflection on this event and the last two world records in the coming days. Tonight since it is the last night with many of the freedivers who have become, in the last 2 weeks, a supportive team and group of close friends, I am going to leave the computer and the blog at home and crack open a beer.

In brief: huge congratulations to Megumi Matsumoto who waited until the last day to claim the national CWT record for Japan with 64m in 2:12, and to Frank Pernett for his 47m FIM national record. Ryuzo's oh-so-close dive to 104m was also an incredible effort from the Okinawa dragon after so many days of triple digit dives.

As for my dive, I probably wouldn't have attempted another deep one, especially after yesterdays CNF, if it wasn't for the problems with tags and carabiner in my last FIM record. I don't particularly like gray areas in world records, even if at the end of the day the 107 did satisfyA|DA's existing requirements. So, feeling a little burnt out, the dive was harder than it should have been, although I did have an almost full mouthfill at the plate, which is promising for future dives (I didn't know what to do with the air in my mouth so ended up squeezing it out of my cheeks before starting the ascent). Back on the surface and I had to concentrate to keep it together and finished my surface protocol with

only 1.5 left. E

OFFICIAL RESULTS

Enjoy that beer Will, you deserve it! Well done to yourself and all the athletes on a superb competition. You‘ve raised the

bar!

by Ben Noble on 2008-04- 11 16:52:09

Congratulations Will on your amazing achievements!Can you tell us what's your breathup like?|‘ve watched your 82m video but couldn't really see much.... by Alex on 2008-04- 11 18:25:58