AIDA Goldy Freediving Club Dynamic Competition
Saturday 22nd of May saw the Goldy Freediving Club host an AIDA sanctioned Dynamic pool competition at Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, Southport. Supported by main sponsor Adreno, it attracted athletes from a range of locations including several who travelled from Sydney & Adelaide. The competition was the largest held in Australia since the onset of Covid-19 and featured a mixed field of experienced athletes as well as those competing for the first time.
After a quick briefing by judges Michael Bates & Wayne Judge, we were ready to begin. First up was William Scott, who got things started on the right note with a competition PB dynamic swim of 128m. Next was Australian Freediving Association President, Lisa Borg. Usually seen at pool competitions sporting her yellow judge’s shirt, Lisa was competing for the first time in several years. She impressed with a solid swim of 148m, only just short of her PB.
Over the next hour and a half, we witnessed swims from newcomers Adam Lubke, Kevin Wong, Amanda Foulkes, Mitchell Ayres and Mounir Terfas. All achieved white cards with performances in excess of 100m. Especially notable was Adam’s 142m dynamic effort and Mounir’s unofficial Algerian national record of 123m in the dynamic bi-fins category. In between these efforts, seasoned competitor Ryan Beecroft achieved a competition of PB with a big swim of 184m in his monofin. Ryan has been a mainstay on the competition scene over the last several years and has proven to be a formidable athlete in the pool, as much as he is a pest out of it! Getting towards the end of the day’s event, Christian Zulluaga Bedoya added to his swag of Colombian records with a dynamic bi-fins National Record 164m.
The last competitor for the event was Ben Eckert. A previous Australian record holder in dynamic bi-fins and coming off strong performances in a competition in Brisbane the previous weekend, there was a sense that Ben was going to put in a very big swim. Challenging Tanc Sade’s dynamic record of 218m that has stood for nine years was not out of the question. Anticipation grew as Ben turned at 200m. Several kicks later, he surfaced and performed a clean surface protocol. After what seemed an eternity, the judges delivered their verdict – a white card and 218m! A massive swim to equal Tanc’s national record.
After tallying results, a quick prize giving ceremony occurred with the winning athletes receiving Adreno vouchers. Congratulations to all the athletes on your performances. A massive thank you to our volunteers, safety divers, medic and judges as well as to Adreno for their continued support of pool competitions in Australia.
