2013 Nationals Report

[jfjf]

Made a quick video of my trip to RI for the Nationals. Didn’t shoot much video when scouting and only used the GoPro for a short time while diving during the actual tournament. Definitely, not my best. Be warned, some of the language is not appropriate for work.

I was teamed up with two very accomplished competition divers (Alex and Mikhail) who both spent a good deal of time trying to help me with my hunting skills up there. Even though the diving was relatively shallow (15 to 25 ft) in most areas, trying to cling to a rock, while being tossed by surge and challenged by visibility (that was at times around 5-8 feet) definitely was a big change from what I am used to.

The 5 mm wetsuits (and the heavy weight belts) and dealing with kayaks added to the "fun".

Mikhail did very well with a score of 67 and both of my teammates scored their limit of two striped bass, while I failed to see even one small bass during the entire day. Our team (Palm Beach Freedivers No.1) placed 5th; right behind our club's other Palm Beach Freedivers Team.

I thought the Mass Freedivers Club did a great job of hosting the Nationals. Things seemed to be well run and organized and the meals provided during the pre-tournament competitor's meeting and the tournament itself were very good. Running something like this requires a tremendous amount of volunteer hours and hard work.

I enjoyed meeting many new people and also got introduced to several SB members, who were very friendly.

I have to express my appreciation to my club: Palm Beach Freedivers for their support and also to Dano at MAKO for providing the gear.

Congratulation to the winners: Hanale Adric

Best Team: Laguna Beach Freedivers

Best Mixed Team: Team Haussler

I hope some other people will post up some pictures and reports of their own.. because hey.. I suck.

YouTube

[Muay Thai]

Here's a few pics from 4th Place Team (Palm Beach Freedivers Team #2).

Scott

[andrey13]

Thank you for sharing the vid and pictures. It was great to see you guys.

Best Regards
Andrey Lopez

[jfjf]

Originally Posted by andrey13

Thank you for sharing the vid and pictures. It was great to see you guys.

Best Regards
Andrey Lopez

Thanks; Very good meeting you Andrey!

[Mikhail]

Hi Jim,
How are you,
I hope you will like it.

YouTube

[JTani]

Curious how did Lance end up being apart of the Palm Beach freedivers?

[jfjf]

Originally Posted by Mikhail

Hi Jim,
How are you,
I hope you will like it.

http://youtu.be/dRHkgx34kbA

I'm well Mikhail. I was just talking today about some of the freedive hunting lessons you taught me in RI. Your video is great, much better than mine.

I know there were a lot of pictures taken at the tournament, I hope we see them eventually.

[AndrewG]

Originally Posted by JTani

Curious how did Lance end up being apart of the Palm Beach freedivers?

While the majority of our club is local, it is not unusual for us to have members that live out of the area. We have had members from the Midwest and California and as far away as Italy.
Best Regards,
Andrew Green
President, Palm Beach Freedivers

[sacha58]

Good job both teams, you had fun, the club showed good qualities and missed the podium for a glitch :-)

[Kevin Sheets]

Update on pictures, the photographer is still going through them all (over 1000 photos). We should have them some point next week. Its a lot of work in between her other jobs.
thanks
Kevin Sheets

[jfjf]

Thanks Kevin, I know a lot of pictures were taken.

[North Star]

Mikhail - GREAT video! Thanks for putting the effort into making it.

[Muay Thai]

Originally Posted by JTani

Curious how did Lance end up being apart of the Palm Beach freedivers?

Because we asked him and he said yes. Now that he's back in the game, he'll probably be in Kona next year! But unfortuneatly for us, more than likely with his old crew (Jason & Travis) and not PBF.

Scott