APNEA: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BY TEAM 2012

Imagine! More than 200 athletes from 35 countries… well, 16 years after their first edition, the 8th World Freediving Team Championships returned to Villefranche-sur-Mer harbor (8) on September 06.

A WORLD EVENT WORNED BY PASSIONATE PEOPLE

At the presentation of the Championships at Nice General Council, Claude Chapuis, co-organizer of the championships, took up the words of Loïc Leferme"Apnea is a team sport or not." He also thanked the many volunteers without whom this global adventure could not have existed.

APNEA DOES NOT RHINE WITH DANGER

Beyond the perfs and records, the objective of the organizers is to make better known this discipline which too often scares! "I regret that apnea is always equated with accidents, but we do a real sport", annoys Aurore Ace, freediver for 15 years and French champion in deep freediving (76 m during the Championships).

Created in 1992, theInternational Association for the Development of Freediving (AIDA), organizer of the event, celebrates its twentieth anniversary.
“We created AIDA to counter the effects of the Big Blue by Luc Besson (film released in 1988, Editor's note), because we started to see syncope and all kinds of things, we called them the big blue lights” , says Claude Chapuis, who by co-founding AIDA, tried to regulate and secure the discipline.

“People have only one idea in mind: it's dangerous. But, he observes, freediving is practiced by millions of people all over the world, and the first are children who snorkel… ”“ So yes, he admits, there is exceptional champions, but everyone does freediving every day at their level and if some want to go a little further, you have to join a club ”. Because, insists the enthusiast, “freediving is not an individual sport but a team sport. It's the only way to survive. ”

THE AIDA FRANCE TRICOLOR TEAM

With Jean Michel Pradon (national trainer), Frédéric Lemaître (captain-physiologist), Cyril Paulet (coach), Aymeric Allard (Kiné), Christian Maldame (coach), Isabelle Lara (coach), Alice Modolo, Marie Devanlay, Sophie Jacquin, Solenn Launay, Aurore Asso, Morgan Bourc'his, Guillaume Néry, Fred Sessa, Nicolas Girardin and Stéphane Tourreau.

APNEA CHAMPIONSHIPS… BY TEAM… KÉZAKO?

Each team is made up of three freedivers who will each have to undergo three different tests: constant weight, static apnea and dynamic apnea.
CONSTANT WEIGHT is practiced at sea and consists of descending as deeply as possible with fins or a monofin. The other two take place in a swimming pool, where the athlete must remain as long as possible, motionless for STATIC APNEA, and travel with fins the greatest possible distance in DYNAMIC APNEA.
The winning team is the one with the best average performance.

THE SURFACE PROTOCOL: A KEY ELEMENT

It is the guarantee for the judges that the athlete is back on the surface completely conscious and in full possession of his means.
In the 15 seconds after leaving the water, the athlete must:
- remove his facial equipment (mask / glasses, nose clip),
- make the perfect OK sign,
- and finally, say the phrase “I'm OK”.
The jury expects 15 at 45 seconds to give its verdict. The athlete must stay with the mouth out of the water to prove that he is well and in control.
Only after the judges brandish a cardboard:
- WHITE: performance validated,
- YELLOW: performance validated with penalty points,
- RED: disqualification.

CHAMPIONSHIP DAY A DAY

September 8 : official start of the competition. Reception and validation of competitors registration.
September 9 Athletes Announce Their Objectives for Constant Weight (CWT) Guillaume Nery 114m, Morgan Bourc'his 91m, Frederic Sessa 65m, Aurore Asso 76m, Alice Modolo 71m, Sophie Jacquin 51m.
September 11 : Aurore Asso 76m and Guillaume Nery 114m in CWT. Successful mission.
September 12 : the swell forces the organizers to interrupt the tests of constant weight.
September 13 : the French manage all their ads in constant weight.
September 14 : static tests (STA). The French are ranked second: 7.05min for Frédéric Sessa, 6.42min for Guillaume Nery, 6.37min for Morgan Bourc'his, 6.11min for Sophie Jacquin, 4.58min for Alice Modolo, 4.19min for Aurore Asso.
September 15 : Monophasic dynamic tests (DYN): Morgan Bourc'his realizes 227m, Frédéric Sessa 213m, Guillaume Nery 174m, Sophie Jacquin 176m, Alice Modolo 150m and Aurore Asso 125m.

France is vice-champion of the world! In women, Japan arrives 1er, France 2ème, Serbia 3ème. In men, Croatia arrives 1ère, France 2ème, the Czech Republic 3ème.

JEROME VIGOUREUX-PELTIER: A HAPPY PRESIDENT

“In 1989, the first freediving courses in the world were organized in Villefranche-sur-Mer and Nice, offering practitioners the opportunity to use pigs like those used in the Big Blue by Jacques Mayol. In 1992, AIDA international was born. A small association bringing together a few freedivers ... Today AIDA is an international federation (based in Switzerland in Lausanne) bringing together nearly 80 nations.

Understand that to see the 8th AIDA World Freediving Team Championships organized within the cradle of modern freediving, in this 20th anniversary year, is a great pleasure for all of us.

I would also like to particularly thank Claude Chapuis and his team, the General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes, a loyal partner, the Town Halls of Villefranche-sur-Mer and Nice as well as the many volunteers from all over the territory, including from the Paris region, for their investment in the success of a project of this magnitude. Moreover, the media coverage in France and around the world of this incredible competition of more than 200 athletes and 35 nations is indicative of the work accomplished and the enthusiasm for freediving and AIDA, through the media and the great public.

Throughout the season, AIDA FRANCE, the coaches and coaches, have prepared the best possible French team. The result is up to our expectations. Since our female representatives, as well as male representatives, brilliantly finished Vice-Champion of the World, showing incredible mastery in all of their performances. Not to mention a historic dive at -114m for Guillaume Néry (depth never reached in team competition) and 3 new French women's records in constant weight at -76m for Aurore Asso and in static at 6'11 ”and dynamic fin at 176m for Sophie Jacquin. All of this has helped demonstrate that our country is a great nation of snorkeling.

I am very proud of our Team, of the Force that unites them and the work they do together. A model to follow for clubs.

You can meet them and all meet us at the beginning of January (from 11 to 13/01/2013) at the Paris International Diving Show, organized by Hélène de Tayrac, on the AIDA FRANCE stand (partner of the organization) and during the many activities offered. The main theme of this 15th edition will be APNEA. ”

Jérôme Vigoureux-Peltier
President of AIDA France

Find AIDA France via his Facebook profile: here

Manuel Lewin