American Freediver Ted Hardy Wins DejaBlueV Freediving Competition

US Freediving is pleased to report that US Freediving athlete Ted Hardy, of Fort Lauderdale, FL, has won the prestigious DejaBlueV freediving competition. Ted complied the highest point total for all six competitive freediving disciplines completed within the competition. The weeklong competition allows athletes to contest for points derived from performance in depth, distance, and time while holding their breath.

DejaBlueV is an annual freediving competition hosted by Performance Freediving International in Grand Cayman since 2005. The competition allows athletes seven days of competition where they can challenge all three freediving depth disciplines, both distance disciplines, and time discipline. The athletes have five attempts in the ocean and pool over the week.

Ted said, “DejaBlue is my favorite free diving competition, because of the camaraderie among competitors, the friendly atmosphere, and my belief that this is the safest freediving competition around. Here competitors that are points away from each other are loaning each other gear and sharing newly learned freediving techniques. This is my 5th year competing here and my 3rd year winning the overall competition. The fact that I teach freediving classes year round in Fort Lauderdale via my company Immersion Freediving helps me stay in good freediving shape. I am looking forward to being on the USA Freediving Team again this year..”

Ted has been competing for several years, is a former US National Record holder in the discipline of Dynamic, and board member of US Freediving.

The Americans swept the mens’ division with Kurt Randolph taking second and Ben Weiss taking third. The women’s division was won by Brazilian Adriana Brandao, second went to Canadian Mandy Krack with her return to competition after a five year lapse, and third was American Claire Paris.

The Performance Freediving Invitational Competition, DéjàBlue, is an annual event that has taken place in Grand Cayman since 2005. For more information checkout http://www.performancefreediving.com.

Grand Cayman is a diving mecca in the center of the Caribbean, better known as a scuba diving destination; it has recently seen an influx of freediving activity, competitions, and courses. Cayman’s clear, blue, and warm waters make it ideal for all water activities. The submerged walls with their sheer drop offs make it ideal for deep freediving.

The ocean freediving disciplines are: Constant Weight (CWT) challenges the athlete to swim to depth and back with the use of fins or a mono fin under their own power while holding their breath, Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) tests the freediver’s ability to swim to depth and return without the use of fins while holding their breath, and Free Immersion (FIM) requires the athlete to use hand pulling to reach depth and return while holding their breath.

The pool freediving disciplines are: Dynamic (DYN) where the athlete strives to reach the furthest linear distance with fins or mono fin while holding their breath, Dynamic No Fins (DNF) has the athlete swimming without the aid of fins for the maximum distance while holding their breath, and Static (STA) is pure breath hold for time with the athlete laying face down on the surface of the pool while holding their breath.

US Freediving is a nonprofit association founded on the democratic representation of freediving within the United States and internationally. Founded in 2003, US Freediving consists of an active membership dedicated to furthering freediving in the United States and abroad. For more information about US Freediving, the USA Freediving Team, and membership please visit http://www.usfreediving.org.

The International Association for the Development of Freediving, AIDA, is the international sanctioning body for freediving, individual and team competition, and freediving world record attempts.  For more information about AIDA please visit http://www.aidainternational.org.