Last weekend (May 8 & 9) in Tampa Florida at the Apollo Beach Racquet & Fitness Club, Juani Valdivia held the Tampa Bay Apnea Challenge - UNU Pool Competition. This was a joint rules event meaning that athletes could announce their performances under either CMAS or AIDA rules. Once they make that announcement, all performances are done under that set of rules.
Rolando Salgado
In total there were over 20 athletes, with 7 of them diving under CMAS rules. Here’s a list of those Athletes that attended the competition and proudly supported the US Freediving Federation (USFF) and CMAS at the first pool comp:
Alice Simons
Rolando Salgado
Roman Perez
Melissa Ponder
Edilberto Gonzales Perez
Mark Thompson
Daniel Semrad II
Provided that the USFF has not ever held a pool competition in the United States, it was amazing to have this turnout. Part of the attraction was that there were “open” pool national records which means that any athlete potentially had the chance to hold a record during the event or beyond. “To be able to tell people you held a national record, regardless of the length of time, is pretty darn cool and self affirming in the pursuit of continual improvement in freediving.” said Jeremy Stephan, President of the US Freediving Federation.
Going into the competition last weekend, all the national records were up for grabs. Let’s acknowledge those athletes for their white card performances and who achieved national records for the USFF.
Final results of the Lucky 7 at the Tampa Bay Apnea Challenge
A special acknowledgement to Francesca Owings and Ricardo Paris for crossing over to the USFF/CMAS to serve as the official judges, Tia Tyler in starting her judging journey and without Juani Valdivia supporting the idea of inviting the USFF/CMAS into the Tampa Bay Apnea Challenge, it would not have been possible for this event to take place.
If you want to see the full results for the Tampa Bay Apnea Challenge - UNU Pool Competition, feel free to visit this link for an official list.
What’s next for the US Freediving Federation? July holds some national record attempts in Honaunau Hawaii, and make sure to not miss the 2021 Hawaii Cup of Freediving to be held October 22 - 24th.
Always dive with a buddy!!!
Photo Credit: Jane Reneau
https://jmreneau.smugmug.com/Tampa-Bay-Apnea-Challenge