Alongside the world’s best freedivers, Rémy Dubern participates from August 22 to September 3 in Roatan (Honduras) at the AIDA World Freediving Championships. Between two training sessions, he has turned into the magazine’s special correspondent Dive in! to give us an insider’s view of the competition!
Saturday, August 26 – Women’s Free Immersion (FIM)
Total success for the French women with 100% white cards, even if none were aiming for the podium.
Sunday, August 27 – Men’s Free Immersion
A tough day for the men in free immersion (FIM): the 3 biggest announcements are William Trubridge (116 meters), Walid Boudhiaf (117 meters), Alexey Molchanov (122 meters).
Behind them, 2 French hopefuls in case of mistakes by the top 3: Thibault Guignes and Morgan Bourc’his, with 105 m and 102 m announced respectively.
Pyramid order of passage system:
– Morgan Bourc’his goes first but turns back at 97 meters due to equalization problems, with penalties his podium chance slips away as he earns only 92 points.
– William Trubridge knows he aims for bronze, and that the 2 announcements after him are 10 meters shallower. He plays it safe by turning 1 meter early without grabbing the tag to conserve energy and completes a hypoxic yet correct protocol.
– Alexei Molchanov successfully reaches 122 meters, but completes his protocol facing away from the judges, resulting in disqualification (red card).
Gold is back in play.
– Walid Boudhiaf dives, reaches his announced depth, but experiences a spectacular blackout at 30 meters due to a lung edema. It takes time for the safety team to revive him. Concern mounts in the arena. Tension builds.
At this moment, Thibault Guignes dives potentially for the silver medal behind William. Too many negative vibes and pressure: despite executing his dive well and achieving a personal record of 110 meters, he experiences a brief surface blackout and is disqualified.
The pressure is contagious: Olivier Azzopardi et Mathieu Maraio are also disqualified due to surface blackouts. Only Maxime Gardien successfully completes his 75 meters, saving the day for the French.
In the end, 9 blackouts and 2 disqualifications for protocol errors on the surface (i.e., motor control loss or samba) out of 45 dives. Almost 25% hypoxic problems, along with the early turn (announced depth not reached). A bad competition day for the men in FIM, unlike the women the day before. Perhaps due to a general lack of conservatism in announcements?
Tuesday, August 29 – Women’s Constant Weight with Fins
Another great day of freediving at the Women’s Constant Weight with Fins (CWT).
Announced depths were engaging but carefully chosen with a touch of strategy and a good dose of conservatism to ensure a successful competition.
This strategy paid off as the 4 deepest announcements resulted in the 3 podium places. Let’s bet there will be more failures tomorrow among the men as in the FIM event.
– Alenka Artnik, the Slovenian, demonstrated relaxation and ease with the day’s deepest dive at 100 meters. Notably, unlike almost all other freedivers, she kept her arms by her sides for the entire descent and the first 20 meters of the ascent for added relaxation and to preserve her lungs. She adopted the classic streamline position only for the last 80 meters. Gold medal.
– Italian Alessia Zecchini played it safe by announcing a depth 6 meters below her personal record, also the world record, at 104 meters. A different, more athletic style, but just as effective. Silver medal.
– The New Zealander Kate Middleton anticipated that the podium would be contested at a great depth and went all-in by announcing 98 meters, her maximum achieved in training a few days earlier. With no margin, she couldn’t withstand the additional stress of a competition day: surface blackout.
– The 3rd on the day’s podium is finally the Japanese Sayuri Kinoshita with a dive to 97 meters.
Only one Frenchwoman competed today: Lili Crespy, who achieved a solid dive at 64 meters.
Wednesday, August 30, a historic day! – Men’s Constant Weight with Fins
For this day of CWT men, there’s going to be some action! Extremely challenging announcements make the deepest announced dives quite uncertain. It’s not out of the question to have an outsider on the podium. The French Morgan Bourch’is et Stéphane Tourreau are on the lookout with 101 meters announced…
As anticipated, the men dived wholeheartedly into the competition for the podium, sometimes beyond their day’s capacity. There was significant suspense until the last minute, which proved to be historic.
– The French lead off the deep dives with Arnaud Jerald launching into 100 meters but just misses his surface protocol probably due to the competition day stress factor. At 21, Arnaud is experiencing his first championships and gains important experience for the career ahead of him.
– Morgan Bourch’is is next, he crosses paths with his exiting teammate, comforts him with a hug, and sets himself on his line to focus on his 101-meter dive. With a personal record of 109 meters, the Marseillais has taken a comfortable margin and positions himself in ambush for the podium if the battle that will rage knocks out a few athletes. A well-mastered dive from start to finish earns him a white card.
– Stéphane Tourreau dives for the same depth, with an announced dive time 30 seconds faster! An eternity in freediving. Stéphane also performs very well, with a nice surface protocol, but the tag he retrieved from the bottom to justify his performance popped off due to our French torpedo’s ascent speed. Just 1 small penalty point, but costly.
Then the arena represented by the 2 facing vertical lines heats up as the competition rages, and candidates for the podium follow but fail: early turnarounds due to stress excess or equalization difficulties, disqualifications for missed protocols under the fog of hypoxia. Red cards chain:
– Styg Pryds, announced 103 meters, turns at 74.
– Wang Aolin, China’s deepest, disqualifies upon returning to the surface after a 105-meter dive.
– Same for Mike Board the Englishman coming back from 106 meters.
– And finally William Trubridge, who performs a 116-meter dive,but completes his protocol too slowly beyond the 15-second regulation…
There remain the 2 deepest, abyssal announcements: Dave Mullins the New Zealander and Alexei Molchanov the Russian, both at 126 meters. At this point, Morgan already knows he will be on the podium.
Each athlete prepares on their line; the competition zone is no longer an arena but a ring for the world championship title. Dave dives first. At nearly 2 meters tall with a 12-liter lung capacity, he is a giant with an absolutely smooth and precise technique gliding towards the bottom effortlessly. He is so relaxed in his descent that he forgets the arrival and bumps the bottom plate with his head. He maintains superb technique to the surface, and his arrival is disconcertingly easy.
A huge pressure falls on Alexei, who hears the applause while he breathes lying on his back, preparing to depart 2 minutes after. But the Russian has nerves of steel and the determination of a battle tank. He makes a beautiful dive and validates a nice surface protocol as if he had achieved merely a formality.
A historic moment has just unfolded: for the first time, the moving fins world champion title and gold medal will be shared between 2 freediving giants atop the podium. Just behind, our Frenchman Morgan Bourch’is made the smartest announcement to secure the 3rd spot while pacing himself for his specialty on the last competition day in no fins depth.Stéphane Tourreau is 4rdth, owing to a roaming tag… He shares on his Facebook page: « A perfectly executed -101 meter dive with great ease, but a fleeing tag (witness) on the ascent in the last 40 meters… Some might say I went too fast for it😉 A new learning experience in my young career! I would have liked to share a podium with my friend Morgan who made the same announcement… Therefore, I rank 4th before the final results of these worlds… This experience boosts me and further reassures me in my training and preparation!« Lastly, let’s mention Thibault Guignes who validates 85 meters in bifins with pleasure.
Friday, September 1er st – Weight Constant Without Fins Women (CNF – Constant Weight Without Fins)
Passage orders always follow the pyramid system with depths first increasing to the deepest dives at mid-session, then decreasing.Hinatea Penilla, from the AIDA France hope team, is the first to go. She gains more experience by validating a nice 40 meters. Lily Crespy goes next and shows good breaststroke technique, concluding her 42-meter descent with a clear protocol.
These figures might seem easy compared to the girls vying for the podium between 60 and 70 meters, but let’s get some perspective: 40 meters is the height of a 15-story building… It better puts into perspective the distance these freedivers cover without breathing!Aurore Asso enjoys a 50-meter dive. A big bravo to the breaststrokers of the AIDA France team who achieve a day we love with plenty of white cards.
In this spirit, having observed the women’s reliability on their announcements over the prior competition days, the 3 podium spots will likely be contested among the 5 deepest dives:
– Sofia Gomez Uribe, Colombia, 59 meters;
– Jessea Wenjie Lu, China, 62 meters;
– Alessia Zecchini, Italy, 65 meters;
– Amber Bourke, Australia, 70 meters;
– Sayuri Kinoshita, Japan, 70 meters.
To appreciate the level of commitment of these dives, let’s remember that the world record in this discipline is held by Sayuri at 72 meters.
Sofia Gomez Uribe goes first. A cross-fit enthusiast, she has a strong body, efficient movements, and solid water grips. Her dive to 59 meters is a formality.Jessea Wenjie Lu has a static apnea capacity of 8 minutes! And a similarly effective style. But likely due to equalization difficulties on descent, she turns just 1 meter before the announced depth, leaving her tag at the bottom. This lack of relaxation during the descent likely causes her to burn more oxygen, and from 40 meters on the ascent, as the safety freedivers aren’t yet present, she already appears very tired. Hypoxia strikes increasingly hard, and her final movements appear very weak. But she hangs on till the end, painfully raising herself to the surface, and validates a clear protocol. Her incredible static abilities clearly save her dive.Alessia Zecchini dives without notable difficulty to 65 meters. But during her turn at the bottom, she props herself a bit high on the line, at the edge of the allowed zone, then pulls to depart. It’s not impossible she might incur a penalty after examining the bottom video in the afternoon.Sayuri Kinoshita, world record holder, executes a perfect dive and validates 70 meters with a smile.Amber Bourke, the last to go, is a former synchronized swimmer. She breathes on her back, and makes a surprising back-bend start rather than turning to the side, marking a unique personal touch. She also goes for the day’s greatest depth and faces the same situation as Alexei 2 days earlier diving after Mullins.
The arena transforms into a ring once again, and everyone wonders if we’re about to see a second gold medal and a shared championship title.
Unfortunately, the Australian doesn’t yet consistently master her deep equalization in mouthfill. The departure pressure unsettles her relaxation and equalization, forcing her to turn at 60 meters.
The final ranking is as follows:
1 – Sayuri Kinoshita, Japan, 70 meters.
2 – Sofia Gomez Uribe, Colombia, 59 meters.
3 – Jennifer Wendland (57 meters) & Jessea Wenjie Lu (60 meters but with penalty).
Rémy Dubern, in Roatan
Saturday, September 2 – Men’s Constant Weight No Fins
For the last day of competition, the 5 main announcements were:
– William Trubridge, New Zealand: 90 meters
– Alexey Molchanov, Russia: 90 meters
– Morgan Bourc’his, France: 86 meters
– Rémy Dubern, France: 77 meters
– Dean Chaouche, Great Britain: 77 meters
The no-fins discipline is generally one with a high failure rate on surface protocol. It’s the most minimalist and thus the most demanding. Freedivers propel themselves using only the strength of their arms and legs, without fins, without aid from the line. Thus, it’s the discipline of economy, of optimization. Every stroke is counted, hydrodynamics is maximized. Any adverse factor such as a bit of current or stress and performances plummet. This specificity is rarely integrated by competitors who often announce their maximum or even a bit more to play the ranking, and can find themselves powerless when hypoxia presents its bill at the end of the dive.Today was no exception.
Out of 24 dives, 7 blackouts, or 30%! All at the surface, without gravity, and lasting only a few seconds… And not counting the “on the edge” protocols.In this landscape, our 3 Frenchmen stood out: 3 dives, 3 white cards, 3 ULTRA clean protocols. Congratulations to Mathieu Mario 62 meters, Rémy Dubern 77 meters, Morgan Bourch’is 86 meters!
– Mathieu Maraio shouts his “I AM OKAY” with joy during his surface protocol.
– For his last championships, Rémy Dubern, who set a new personal record in training at 80 meters a few days earlier, goes for enjoyment and safety. A technically well-executed dive and a cheerful exit.
– The same reasoning for Morgan Bourc’his who, despite having been congested the previous days, wanted to savor his pleasure with an engaged 86 meters even though he knew well that any depth above 80 meters assured him 3rd place on the podium. The Marseillais champion, as precise as Swiss clockwork, executes his part perfectly and surfaces in full control.
– William Trubridge, the New Zealander, and Alexei Molchanov the Russian have yet again announced (secretly the day before) the same depth: 90 meters! Alexei goes first and demonstrates a personal style largely based on relaxation, glide, and hence slowness with a 3 minute 45 second dive. He surfaces “in the hard” but validates his protocol.
William, the master of the discipline, takes the last departure in a more athletic style. The dive is about twenty seconds shorter, but hypoxia strikes just as hard. He performs his classic protocol a bit shaky, a bit muffled, but valid. It’s undeniable that these two athletes gave everything in this last championship day, right to the last centimeter of depth!
