Andaman Freediving Competition 2011

Ok, so I admit it, with no Laurent Pinci to organise the event, I was a little nervouSs  but also quite excited to be able to see the whole competition for the first time.

And the competitors made sure I was not disappointed with all 8 being very close in terms of previous performances. But the competition is tough with 3 disciplines per day. Day one was close with almost every competitor receiving white cards for achieving their announced performances but on Day two we could see they were tired and the Top three were changing almost every 30mins.

But consistency plays off and Gregoire Folly, who never missed an  announcement but also played it carefully on Day Two, won the day with our very own  James Valentine coming second and the lovely Mr D second.

For a full review of the competition Click Here to see some of the pictures click here

The competitors promised to come back next year and we are hoping Azam will be bettering the 4 Malay National Records he achieved this time. If you would like to join them check out the details here.

I  must say a huge thank you to the wonderful judges (Sarah, Richard and Andreas) our sponsors (Royal Lanta Resort & Spa and Aqualung) and of course all the lovely staff at Blue Planet Divers who worked so hard to make the event so much fun!

More Staff than Guests!

Well, for those of you that know me, this would usually cause me to burst into tears, but this year we started the season with 8 DMTs!!!! That is the same amount as we normally have in a whole season. Then at Christmas, Dan and Marisa joined us and now we have Fred and Kirsten.  So this year we have a record breaking 12 DMTs.
So here is a little about each:

• Adam – Possibly the most unhurried DMT we have had, he took 4months and 17 days to complete his DMT! He has also managed to fit in computer hacking, Freediving courses and Safety Freediver for the Competition. He is now doing his Freediving DMT!

• Dave – He too, like Adam, has not seen any reason to rush his DMT so he is happy helping us out in the shop and getting some practice dives in on his days off.

• Erik (Real Name Chris) – Upon arriving from Sweden he was immediately renamed Erik the Viking and he actually stopped answering to his real name! A real asset and hugely popular with the staff, we were sorry he had to return to Sweden with his beautiful  girlfriend, Aude (aDMT with us last year) but we hope to see them real soon.

• Steve (Real Name Dave) – Well Dave DMT gets very confusing when there is two, so Luke renamed him on day one (no one knows why he chose Dave) and it stuck. Steve was ‘Mr Lover’ on the Blue Planet Boat and no woman was safe in his prescence. But unfortunately he needed to continue his travels, so after some work with us, he is currently touring the rest of Asia

• Lisa – “I’m still standing!”  was distraught when she left us just before Christmas so I was so happy when she came back to start work with us at the beginning of February.

• Kate – A real joy to have on the team with her permenant smile, and the boat boys found a couple of reasons to like her too! She did some work for us before she left with her lovely boyfriend to go travelling

• Karolina – Cool, calm and collected Karolina has finished her DM course and is now working alongside Lisa. Welcome aboard Karoline!

• Dan and Marisa – A wonderful couple from South Africa who are currently half way through their course and are dreading their snorkel party!

• Kirsten and Fred – who have both just started. Fred has taken the challenge to learn English as well as complete his DM. So we wish them both well.

If you would like to know more about our Divemaster course click here

Our first IDC

Camille starts our first IDC on the 26th February and our very own Boatmaster Luke is on it. Good luck to Luke and everyone else on the course.

To be on our next IDC, click here

So that’s all from me folks, sorry it took me so long to write this one (been very busy)

Hope to see you all soon
Love and hugs