California the top team at freedive spearfishing championship (Article)

[kitefisherman]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/s...orts-headlines

California the top team at freedive spearfishing championship

By Steve Waters
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted July 20 2006

Pompano Beach · South Floridians took the top two individual spots, but three Southern California men took the team title Wednesday in the National Freedive Spearfishing Championship.

Mike Hickey of Palm Beach Freedivers had 14 fish weighing 79.27 pounds that, combined with an additional one point per fish, gave him 93.27 points.

Miguel Guinvart of Miami Freedivers was second with 10 fish and 88.13 points. Ryan Moore of the Greater Los Angeles Council of Divers was third with 11 fish and 86 points and had the biggest fish of the day, a 28.06-pound black grouper.

Sheri Daye of Boca Raton was the top female at 41.16.

Moore won the team title with Brandon Wahlers, who had 16 fish and 78.25 points, and Ritchie Zacker, who had 11 fish and 49.27 points for a total of 213.52 points.

The team of Harolf Dean, Yain Chang and Julian Cruz from the host Longfins Spearfishing Club was second at 180.14. The Massachusetts Freedivers team of Scott Turgeon, Andrew Geist and Fabricio Bueno was third at 179.21.

The spearfishers competed between Boca Raton Inlet and Port Everglades Inlet. Each was allowed to bring a total of 20 fish to the weigh-in at Sands Harbor Hotel and Marina.

The most common species weighed in were yellowtail jacks and hogfish. Also brought to the scale were snapper, cero mackerel and margate.

The Miami Freedivers team of Leo Ramos and Paula Gomez won the mixed division with 19 fish and 82.13 points. The husband-and-wife team of Emil and Mandy Bravo was second at 35.12. The grandfather-and-granddaughter team of Ron D'Albora and Tawny Grogin was third at 31.07. D'Albora, of Hillsboro Beach, was the oldest competitor at 73 and Grogin was the youngest at 12.

Grogin, who is going into the eighth grade at Westminster Academy, shot four fish -- a hogfish, a red grouper and two margate -- weighing 14.7 pounds. Her grandfather, who taught her how to spearfish, added a 2-pound fish.

Grogin's older sister, Kerry, 15, also competed in the mixed division, but the jacks she and teammate Bruno Munoz brought to the scale were just below the minimum size limit for the species established for the championship. That didn't bother Kerry.

"I'm more excited that I went 60 feet," said Kerry Grogin, whose previous deepest free dive was 42 feet. Grogin said they hunted between Port Everglades Inlet and Anglin's Pier. Tawny, who dove as deep as 45 feet, hunted from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea to Deerfield Beach.

"I am the winner here today," said the girls' proud grandfather.

Steve Waters can be reached at swaters@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-356-4648.

[Spearchucker]

When is Ritchie moving to Cali? Is he bunking with Bill M when he gets there?

[Bañados]

From the Miami Herald:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...s/15078277.htm

SPEARFISHING
Trio snares team titleBY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@MiamiHerald.com
A three-man team from Southern California won top team honors Wednesday in the U.S. National Skindiving Spearfishing Championship in Pompano Beach.

Ryan Moore, Ritchie Zacker, and Brandon Wahlers -- guided by Fort Lauderdale captain Jason W -- earned 213.52 points in the daylong breath-hold spearing competition out of Sands Harbor Marina.

Their catch included the tournament's largest fish -- a 28-pound, 6-ounce black grouper speared by Moore, 19, of Palos Verdes.

Moore said he got the fish 65 feet deep off Boca Raton Inlet.

''It was on top of the reef,'' Moore said. ``I dropped down, shot him in the back. He went in a cave, and I went down and brought him up. He made me work.''

Leo Ramos and Paula Gomez of Miami Freedivers won top mixed-team honors with 82.13 points. Mike Hickey of Palm Beach Freedivers was the top male with 93.27. Sheri Daye of Broward Longfins was top the female with 41.16.

The tournament's youngest and oldest competitors -- 12-year-old Tawny Grogin and grandfather Ron D'Albora, 73, both of Hillsboro Beach -- finished third in the mixed-team division with 31.07 points. Tawny's 15-year-old sister, Kerry, also competed, but on a different team.

Tawny was proud that she held her breath and dived 45 feet deep to spear a hogfish, red grouper and two margates.

''Me and my sister picked it up from my grandpa,'' she said. ``He took us out so much, we liked it.''

The contest was hosted by Broward Longfins and sanctioned by the Underwater Society of America. It is a qualifying event for next year's world championships.

A spearfishing seminar and expo will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at the IGFA Hall of Fame and Museum in Dania Beach. Speakers include spearfishing pioneer Art Pinder and Kirk Krack, who trained magician David Blaine and golfer Tiger Woods in breath-hold diving.

The expo features dive equipment sales, artwork and a silent auction to benefit the Twin Palms Center of Boca Raton, which assists mentally-handicapped adults. Admission is $65 for the day, $20 for the expo only.

[RichT]

Originally Posted by Spearchucker

When is Ritchie moving to Cali? Is he bunking with Bill M when he gets there?

[SpearMax]

I am at the Nationals Awards Banquet giving you a live report. The official results are in. I am eating a fine buffet dinner while typing this into my notebook with Verizon Broadband wireless connection. (shameless plug for their service!)

The Top team with the most points broke down as follows:

GLACD #2

Brandon Wahlers 78.25 points
Ryan Moore 86.00 points
Ritchie Zacker 49.27 points

Total points 213.52

All active Spearboard members - let's give them a big hand!

[SpearMax]

And the top scoring winner was Mike Hickey with 93.27 points. Good job Mike!

[SpearMax]

The top 25 ranking individually was as follows:

Mike Hickey 93.27
Miquel Guinvart 88.13
Ryan Moore 86.00
Chad Palan 82.16
John Bettua 80.05
Brandon Wahlers 78.25
Andrew Geist 76.1
Leo Ramos 72.13
Harolf Dean 68.00
Kelly Larsen 65.09
Randy Barrios 61.13
Yair Chang 60.05
Roberto Marreno 59.04
Scott Turgeon 56.09
Michelle Lechuga 55.02
Julian Cruz 52.09
Gerald D 52.08
Kapona Zukevich 52.03
Ricky Fernandez 50.22
Ritchie Zacker 49.27
Alex Bristol 48.06
Michael Pender 48.05
Fabricio Bueno 47.02
Hank Junttenun 45.15
George Gonzalez 45.06

There are many more --- but I have to eat dessert!

[Spearchucker]

Man, you are a fast typer...

[SpearMax]

The top five teams are as follows:

GLACD #2 (Greater Los Angeles Council of Divers) - Total points 213.52

Longfins (Ft. Lauderdale Club) - Total Points 180.14

MA # 2 (Massachusetts Freedivers Club) - Total Points 179.21

Miami Freedivers (Miami Club) - Total Points 177.31

Extreme Divers (Miami Club) - Total Points 177.29

[sbh]

Why are extremedivers listed as miami club (?) Bettua and Speedy (extremediver) who founded it live in ft. lauderdale....I'm always confused by the teams though.....florida guys are always on Mass team, Florida guys on CA team??? Wish I could have been there...oh yeah good on ya fellow extreme dive team! Impressive numbers John....too bad Bettua doen't get on SB as much b/c the attitude and challenges would be flying
Brent Harris
Port Saint Lucie extremediver

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by Spearchucker

When is Ritchie moving to Cali? Is he bunking with Bill M when he gets there?

We've got too many threads going on the same subject. Since Zacker was a member of the Greater Los Angeles Council of Divers team, I asked on another thread if he had moved to paradise already.

[JAW]

Ryan Moore dove his ass off. We may have been lucky to land on the fish, but they worked very hard 100 plus dives all in deep water.

Jason

[Im1chunkymunky]

nationals was a great success, got to meet alot of new people to dive with across the US, and had the pleasure of observing the winning boat. brandon wahlers, ryan moore, and ritche zacker worked hard all day, picked up some big fish, and took care of their pieces in between. they had great teamwork helping each other out w/ fish, and couldn't have asked for a better captain! great to meet all 4 of them and hopefully dive w/ them in the future (and hopefully against them at nationals next year) lol thanks guys!

[RichT]

Originally Posted by sbh

Why are extremedivers listed as miami club (?) Bettua and Speedy (extremediver) who founded it live in ft. lauderdale....I'm always confused by the teams though.....florida guys are always on Mass team, Florida guys on CA team??? Wish I could have been there...oh yeah good on ya fellow extreme dive team! Impressive numbers John....too bad Bettua doen't get on SB as much b/c the attitude and challenges would be flying
Brent Harris
Port Saint Lucie extremediver

Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong but Its my understanding that you have to "qualify" in local competitions to go to Nationals from a USOA sanctioned Council.
Each Council is allowed to send 3 teams to Nationals.
Unfortunately... not all councils send three teams and some dont send any teams.
My team for instance qualified under The Florida Skin Divers Association but we didnt go.
Ritchie Zacker's team(Red Tide) also qualified under the FSDA banner.
Unfortunately, nobody from the FSDA could make it so Ritchie hooked up with another qualifying team to compete.
Ryan, Brandon, and Ritchie could have just as easily shot under the FSDA banner as the Cali banner in this case.

Its my understanding that you can compete under another councill's banner( if you didnt qualify under your own councils banner) by getting written permission from the president of that other council if they are not sending teams to compete.

BTW... Congratulations to EVERYONE who competed!

[SpearMax]

I might be wrong about the location of Extreme Divers. It was not on the tally sheet and that is where I thought it is. The way clubs and members of teams come from various locations is a bit confusing. But apparently it all complies with the rules of the Underwater Society of America. They definitely have alot of rules.

Originally Posted by sbh

Why are extremedivers listed as miami club (?) Bettua and Speedy (extremediver) who founded it live in ft. lauderdale....I'm always confused by the teams though.....florida guys are always on Mass team, Florida guys on CA team??? Wish I could have been there...oh yeah good on ya fellow extreme dive team! Impressive numbers John....too bad Bettua doen't get on SB as much b/c the attitude and challenges would be flying
Brent Harris
Port Saint Lucie extremediver