Final report from day 9, Vertical Blue 2010

Mike & Arthur Trousdell write:

The strong winds and stormy weather that lashed Long Island overnight had receded leaving us with another tranquil day at the deepest Blue Hole in the world.

Carla-Sue Hanson wanted to test her sinuses with a 40m FIM dive, but turned early with vertigo and ear issues. Alfredo Romo, looking to extend his CNF national record to 50 meters, completed the dive comfortably, but was unlucky as he lost the tag on the ascent. With his impressive results securing all three national records as a newcomer to the table there is high expectations of more records and deeper dives on the horizon.

Niki Roderick did not show up for her dive today. She has been hampered with laryngitis which has affected her training for this competition.

Jared Schmelzer turned at 59 meters, just 6 meters short of his impressive 65 meters CWT with bi-fins target for today.

Ryuzo Shinomiya (aka the Okinawa Dragon) started his dive with his usual relaxed style, picking up a tag at 115m after a descent that took over 2 minutes. His return to the surface was so fast that safety diver Arthur Trousdell, who met him at 30 meters, was hard pressed to keep up. He slowed down in time to break the surface facing the platform with a total dive time of 3:33. He completed a solid surface protocol.

Guillaume Nery breathed up on his back, letting his monofin float out in front of him. He dived with no mask and just a nose clip, maintaining his smooth style, and finishing with an exhale as he glided up the last 10 meters. His dive time was 3:31 , and he very comfortably completed the surface protocol. Guilliame and Ryuzo now share 5th place in the prestigious CWT category.

Misuzu Hi rai was first to dive after the camera break. She started her final breathe-up with 10 seconds to go (as platform coordinator Mike Trousdell missed part of her count down). After this set back she dived confidently to her target depth of 64 meters, breaking another national record and putting her in first place for FIM as well as CWT. She has been a very impressive performer throughout Vertical Blue 2010.

William Wínram decided not to dive with a few minutes left before his top time citing sinus issues again.

Eric Fattah relaxing on the platform for his half an hour I‘warm-up looked confident and relaxed before his monumental dive, an attempt at a personal best of 100 meters: 10 meters more than his previous official best of 90. He finished his dive doing sets of three kicks, followed with a glide as his legs really felt the fatigue during the return to the surface. This successful dive puts him in 10th place for the deepest CWT freediver, along with Walter Steyn, Johan Dahlstrom and Manolis Giankos.

William Trubridge turned at 10m after having trouble with his nose clip. The momentous 100 meter depth will have to wait for another day.

Dave Mullins looked confident as he chatted to the judges about his new possible sponsorship deal with just five minutes left before his top time. He reached the platform at 2:19 and spent four seconds there looking for tags, while Judge Grant Graves felt the line move from his searching. He completed his impressive dive of 118m without a tag (video revealed there were four on the bottom plate). |t's an unlucky result considering that he has finally sorted his

equalizíng technique and felt like he had more in the tank at that great depth.

Herbert Nitsch decided not to dive today after believing false rumors about a lack of oxygen. The 130 meter FIM will also remain out of reach, maybe until next Vertical Blue 2011.

I at least am already excited about the possibilities next year will bring!

I checked the oxygen myself, after sucking on an empty tank the day before! by Herbert Nitsch on 2010-04-27 23:36: 13

At beginning of the day we filled the small tank from the big one. They were both at 500 psi. Arthur and Ryuzo both

used the small tank after the event and finished it. The big tank had 300 psi when we closed it off at the end of the day.

The reason that everyone was talking about it being low was because we were rationing the air to have enough for the deep dives at the end of the day... by Mike Trousdell on 2010-04-28 05:29:36

What? Why do you need oxygen? No, serious, Herb didnt dive because what lack of oxygen? by Set on 2010-04-28 06:14:26

Deep divers use pure O2 at a shallow depth (~5m) to help wash the nitrogen out of their bodies (decompression) After they performed an extreme deep dive using the normal atmospheric air. -rnI'm sure Will shall perfect the event even further next time. - Congratulations with your wonderful records and your courage to dare to go all-out! - I love it! by Kars van Kouwen on Z010-04-28 09:35:54

Touchdown! That's a rlealy cool way of putting it! by Peggy on 2012-11-30 02:12:19