This weekend in Nice, the French championships of constant weight freediving in monofin, without fins, and for the first time in competition, bi-fins took place. The event was marked by a fine list of achievements, notably two new French records.
The sea was quite calm and the wind did not pick up, ideal conditions for the French athletes and a few Italians invited to participate in the championships. Stéphane Tourreau was one of the first to dive. Confident in his chances of success, he announced what he described as a » reasonable » depth of 96 meters. The freediver performed a beautiful dive and won the championship in the monofin category, breaking the French record previously held by Guillaume Buissière at 90 meters: « My dive went perfectly, a good glide and top sensations. I am always quick in the descent, but that’s how my body works best. I am really happy, this year in deep diving was important for me since I stopped pool competitions. Since the start of my season, I have done 9 dives in competition and received 9 white cards, that’s what I remember most from my approach. »
Stéphane Tourreau’s ascent after diving to 96 meters! ©Azur Diving – William RhameyA new discipline, a new recordFor the first time in this competition, freedivers could choose to dive with bi-fins. And it was simply Patrick Poggi – the title holder in monofin at the 2015 championships – who chose to stand out in this new discipline: » I practice spearfishing so swimming with two fins is much more natural for me. » With a 72-meter dive, he set the very first French record and achieved a fine performance: » it was a good, controlled descent, for me everything is about control. I’m happy with my dive and with this record, I feel really good. »
Two gold medals for one disciplineIn the no fins category, two Frenchmen stood on the top step of the podium. Thomas Bouchard and Rémy Dubern dived to 65 meters, a great performance that Rémy did not necessarily anticipate: » I was missing a training session to be sure to succeed, so it was really a good opportunity to test myself mentally. But in the end, I was very relaxed and had a great dive. « 
The podium of no-fins divers, Thomas Bouchard and Rémy Dubern gold medals and Jean-Luc Rajon, silver medal ©unlimited prod/FFESSM
Margot Harty
Patrick Poggi, gold medal in constant weight bi-fins ©Emma Dulac
Stéphane Tourreau, gold medal in constant weight monofin. ©Emma Dulac
Nadia Noël-Gravier, gold medal in constant weight monofin ©unlimited prod/FFESSM