Liverpool Comp, more red cards...

Liverpool on Sunday didn't go very well for me, not my year! The comp was set up by Steve Millard and was an awesome comp. The way it was set up, run and delivered was a credit to him and all involved. I had done no static or dynamic training for this but felt o.k to compete and found myself with little nerves which was a great comfort after the nerves i suffered on my first competition. I had targeted myself with around 5mins in static and wanted to have a go at 150mtr in dynamic giving the pool was 50mtr and i wouldn't have to turn so much as my previous 133mtrs in Camberwell last year.

I entered the water 25mins before my O/T time and went through 3 easy warm up's and then got myself ready for the last hold. I went through the hold o.k and contractions started and around 3mins 30secs. I started counting them and got my first tap at 4mins and then one every 15secs. After 4min 30sec i found that the taps were quicker than anticipated and felt something was wrong, i let a little air out and thought I'd push to 5mins then come up, I'd be happy with the 5mins in a comp. As i lifted i found myself in the arms of both safety divers and had a go at them for touching me, classic stuff. "what you touching me for, i was recovering my samba". I wasn't, i had blacked out after a small samba/hypoxia Doh!

I felt terrible for pushing too hard and putting myself & others in that position, big learning curve this year. I was not allowed to enter the dynamic session after by the Doctor which was the right choice of which i had no issues with, there was no way i was going to take it easy on my dynamic as i really wanted my first 150mtr swim and would of ended up on the bottom of the pool.

On my way home i called to see how the rest of the comp went and was over the moon to hear what the mighty Dave King had done. Dave had set a new comp P.B of 6mins 58sec in static and then he hit a new NR in dynamic with a huge 217mtr!!! I believe there was some very emotional people including myself on the M6 at the time. Massive well done to Dave, it must of been awesome to watch. Dave is one of the most humble people i have met in freediving and he's accomplishments are a testament to him and his approach to this sport.

It was also great to see Emma Farrell again, Emma taught me on my first course in freediving at Deeper Blue.

On the drive home i thought over and over what went wrong and weighed myself when i got home. I had lost a 12lbs. Some due to Dahab belly bugs and some down to dieting two days before the comp. As i said lots to learn but glad to make the mistakes now and move on from them. As for Japan, well i think my first stab at a worlds can wait for another year.

Red Cards a Plenty...

Been a busy boy but thought i'd get myself up to date with all the news. Dahab, or "shithab" as i have become to call it, went not so well. On arriving at the Coral Coast Hotel i found myself in what looked like down town Bagdad! Room was pants and my accommodation whilst serving in the Gulf looked and smelt better. The opposition whilst out in the Gulf were nicer than the locals too. After contracting my first bout of belly bugs me and the family decided to move hotels and moved into the Tropitel. Luxury compared to the Coral Coast but still not great in terms of food and service. Sara got me some serious bug busting killer tablets which done the trick but three days later found myself with yet another belly bug which was obviously harder than the last, if it had an SIA licence i would of employed it and put it one of my doors!

Training was great and the blue hole fantastic, i set new P.B's 3 days in a row and the official training day before the comp i hit 45mtrs with ease and the mouth fill Sara taught us all worked a treat.

Mike Board who is a freediving instructor, runs his own school on Gili Trawangan Island near Bali in Indonesia was training like a Trojan and reaped the rewards by going further than even he thought was possible. Mike ended up with a new free immersion record of 68mtrs so big congrates to him. I love seeing people do well and surpassing their own expectations, this is why i started this sport and to see what i could do with my own also.

My comp dive went bad and i went the wrong way over the counter weight bar, everyone was shouting to warn me of my error and i double dipped my airways to correct myself and was disqualified. I was gutted of the mistake but also realised that i still had a great deal of work to do on my mouth fill as i was not always getting it right. I turned early at 40mtrs on the dive anyway and had announced 50mtrs so i would of been deducted a great deal of points for the early turn.

Sam Still got 1st place which was no surprise even though being off the scene for some time he is a real contender no matter what he is doing, big well done to Sam and would be really happy to see him in Japan slapping up the points for the UK!

Lots to work on for the next year with depth but at least i now know what i need to do to get much deeper.

Blue Hole, Here We Come!

This will be my first experience of the blue hole in Dahab. I fly out tomorrow with my family to spend two weeks training with Sara Campbell.

At the end of the training i will compete in constant weight with fins and see what i can achieve? This will also give me my official world ranking in this discipline which i will need to go to the worlds in Okinawa, Japan this year.

Double Tables day 1

As promised, today was day one of double Co2 tables, Although i was on 2min 45sec tables before i am now doing 2min tables but timing from 1min rest and reducing down in 10sec increment's.

Both sets felt o.k, tomorrow i will do the same and then bring the hold time up by 15secs after.

I've just packed my dive bag up and bubble wrapped both my mono-fins up. My sponsor clothing is back from the printers and look great, really happy with how they came out. Without my sponsors i couldn't do these things. Thank you AD2000 services, nYne Lounge, The Beckenham, Bar Lorca & Breeze for your help in financing me to chase my dreams.

Wet training? Dry Training? Errr No Training

Last year i really over trained before my comp, i peaked about 3wks before and went down with a cold 3 days before! This year i have kept a much more relaxed approached to training in the build up to Dahab and Liverpool comp. When i say relaxed, i mean err....doing nothing! We all know rest is good but 3 weeks of it without doing hardly anything is not good. I only done a couple of pool sessions and no Co2 tables within the last 3wk period.

Pool session on Wednesday was rubbish, i was struggling at 4min 15sec in static and only managed a measly 100mtr dynamic, and this was after huge warm up's! I'm now only 4 days away from going out to Egypt and need to improve to get the best out of my training while I'm out there.

I'm going to double up on Co2 tables each day before i go and I'm still sure that the 2wks out there will put me back where i need to be, i have taken time off before and recovered back to my normal performances within a very short space of time. Fingers crossed!