Deep Dominica Freediving Center, based in Soufriere, Dominica, is hosting an international freediving Competition this week. Despite Tropical Storm Bret’s best efforts, the competition has been ongoing and a huge success. More than 20 athletes from ten different countries arrived in Soufriere to train and compete in this AIDA and CMAS sanctioned competition.

For those new to freediving, it is a sport where a diver takes a single breath at the surface and then descends along a line. The Soufriere Bay offers the perfect environment, as its underwater terrain plunges to depths of more than 100 meters just a short distance from shore. This allows divers relatively easy access to the freediving platform via a short swim, or a 1-minute boat ride.

This is the first competition that Deep Dominica has hosted in Soufriere and there have been many records broken already! Dominica has one athlete competing this year, Cassia Raina Barnard-Royer. This is her first competition, and she broke Dominica’s Female National Record on Day 1.

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Current New National Records (Day 1 -3)

• Emily Padjen USA 85 m (FIM)
• Carol Carrasco Chile 69m (CWT)
• Javiera Pinto Chile 62 m (FIM)
• Javiera Pinto Chile 65 m (CWTB)
• Johanna Loch-Allen Barbados 51 m (CWT)
• Johanna Loch-Allen Barbados 28 m (CNF)
• Johanna Loch-Allen Barbados 40 m (CWTB)
• Ericka Carrera Ecuador 42 m (FIM)
• Ericka Carrera Ecuador 35 m (CNF)
• Matthew Armstrong Barbados 51 m (CWTB)
• Cassia Raina Barnard-Royer Dominica 30 m (CWTB)
• Cassia Raina Barnard-Royer Dominica 30 m (FIM)

Freedivers compete in several disciplines, including Free Immersion (FIM) where they pull themselves down the line; Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) where they swim down along the line without touching it and without fins; and Constant Weight (CWT and CWTB) where they descend along the line using a monofin or bi fins.

The competition runs from June 21st to 30th, 2023. Learn more at DeepDominica.com