Today was day one of the Apneists' Challenge at Trust Porirua Aquatic Centre. I organised this competition as I wanted to set up some national record attempts, but others wanted to take part too, and I'd always prefer to break records in competition as then it seems more like a sport than a stunt. We set it up so the divers could select their event each day, and wed just do one session each day rather than the usual two on day one followed by one on day two. Normally the no fins dynamic is severly flawed by the fact that you've already done one max attempt that day, so I wanted to be able to give my best to this event. Originally I intended to do dynamics without fins followed by a static on day two. But now I'll be replacing the static with a dynamic, even though I still struggle in the monofin. This is the last remaining national record that doesn't have name next to it yet!
I nominated 118m DNF today. It's a pretty easy dive that I can manage even on a bad day, and 118m would take me to the national record, so I felt pretty safe.
I slept terribly. It was a mixture of nerves and the neighbour's party.
A hot shower (muscles felt tight) two breakfasts, two stretching routines and a couple of full packing inhales later I was awaiting my official countdown at the end of the pool. Top time was midday. I got in the pool early as I was overheating on the side of the pool, and my pulse was absolutely racing! I almost managed a nap with my head on the end of the pool and convinced myself that I only had to break the national record, not the world record, so felt a lot calmer before my dive.
I had to get Chris to give me a 40 to top call so I could get a full breath without rushing. Packing seems to take me ages, but it is worth the extra time.
The pool is wonderful. 25m. 27 degrees. Gentle slope from 1.2m to 2m.
The dive went really well. I kept my head together and felt strong. I now repeat to myself: relax, focus, relax, focus, with the occasional reminder to keep my feet together, do strong pulls and hook breath near the end. I felt quite strong at the end, but didn't want to overdo it and miss out on my national record!
Final result: 150m, new national record, not the right judges to make it a world record.
Current world record: 149m, Natalia Molchanova
New world ranking: 1st equal (with Natalia).
No comments:
Post a Comment