Sunday 12 February 2012

Sunburnt but very happy!

So today started out windy and a bit chilly which was great for the judges and me, but not so good for the competitors, but given 30mins it was boiling hot and we were all slapping on the cream.

The Women's competition was up for everyone, Lisa M, Austria, had clearly won the Sea Competition with Karin and Elisabeth H equal second. but with Lisa's unfortunate disqualification in the static, that left Karin and Elisabeth fighting it out with only 2.2 points in it. But Michelle and Vivian are strong and comfortable in the pool and despite being over 40 points behind, were fighting for the pool title.

Lisa M was first up for the Dynamic with Fins and despite a magnificent 77metres managed a disqualification for late submergence of her airways, Elisabeth H did 82metres all clear. Karin, chasing Elisabeth H's lead, did 58 metres, but Vivian did a storming 90 metres and Michelle Ooi 95 Metres! Now they were both in contention for the pool competition and the overall competition.

In Dynamic without Fins, Elisabeth H was up fighting first but with 15 points she just needed a white card to secure the lead. This she did with a fantastic 57metres. Next up Karin, managed 49metres,Vivian 47 metres and Lisa M an awesome 66 metres. Finally Michelle did a magnificent 77 metres winning the pool competition.

Final Results:

Sea
1st - Lisa M (Austria)
2nd - Elisabeth H (Germany) & Karin G (Austria)

Pool
1st - Michelle Ooi (Singapore)
2nd - Elisabeth H (Germany)
3rd - Vivian C (Malaysia)

Overall
1st - Elisabeth H (Germany)
2nd - Karin G (Austria)
3rd - Michelle O (Singapore)

In the Men's competition, Ken, Danish, was clearly ahead with a great performance in the sea, which he clearly won but was closely followed by Trond Mondal, Norway and Azam Hamid, Malaysia. With Ken's performance in the Static, he was over 20 points in front yesterday with, Trond only 1.6 points in front of Julian.

Alan Su started the Dynamic with fins and did an awesome 58 metres but unfortunately didn't keep his airways clear of the water earning himself a red card. This has been Alan's first competition, so we are hoping that he will come back next year and do Malaysia proud. Walter has had his best ever competition with us and delivered a massive 61 metres and then 65 without Fins. Rossi, Austrian, did a great 58 metres and Enzo 74 metres (this is his first competition). Azam and Kim Seng Teoh (Andrew) both Malay were using the competition to settle a few scores and in Dynamic, Andrew beat, Azam (109metres to 100 metres) but unfortunately was given a yellow for touching the bottom of the pool and in the Dynamic without Fins, despite a fantastic 87 metres from Andrew, he blacked out, causing Azam to take the Malay pool champion title with 73 metres.

So the competition was hot, Mr D delivered 116metres, Ken a massive 145 metres, Julian 123 metres and Trond 116 metres. This meant that Ken was ahead by 37 points and there was less than 2 points between Julian and Trond.

So Ken had a large lead and only had to deliver his announcement of 75 metres to take the title with ease. But Ken wanted 116metres and unfortunately with that he blacked out. Suddenly the competition was between Julian and Trond. Trond did a magnificent 65 metres but Julian an simply incredibly 94 metres. Julian had won the Pool but had he won the overall competition?

Sea
1st - Ken K (Denmark)
2nd - Trond M (Norway)
3rd - Azam (Malaysia)

Pool 
1st - Julian VH (South Africa)
2nd - Mr D (Swedish)
3rd - Trond M (Norway)

Overall
1st - Julian VH (South Africa)
2nd - Ken K (Denmark)
3rd - Trond M (Norway)

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the competitors who supported each other so well and made the competition so exciting to watch. Thanks to the judges, Richard and Sarah, who took all the flack and made the difficult decisions I would not have been able to make. Thanks to all the Blue Planet Staff for all their hardwork, especially Karolina, the medic and videographer and Jim and Adam, Safety Freedivers. Special thanks also to Marc, from Total Apnea, for all his safety freediving, coaching and support he offered the competitors.

Final thanks go to our sponsors, who without, this competition simply would not have happen. Chaiya, General Manager at Royal Lanta gave us full use of their pool, wonderful prizes and provided food and drinks and Scotty from Aquamaster provided some great prizes for the winners to take home.

I am now really looking forward to having a beer and nursing my very bad sunburn!

Mellisa x

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