Vertical Blue is a

freediving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breath- ...

competition which has been held annually in

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

Dean's Blue Hole __NOTOC__ Dean's Blue Hole is a blue hole located in The Bahamas in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island and is the world's second deepest, after the Dragon Hole in the South China Sea, with a depth of . Formation A blue hole is a wate ...

since April 2008 by freediving world record holder William Trubridge. It is an

AIDA International Association Internationale pour le Développement de l'Apnée (AIDA) (English: ''International Association for the Development of Apnea'') is a worldwide rule- and record-keeping body for competitive breath holding events, also known as freedivi ...

or CMAS in 2021 judged competition and has been the venue for multiple world and national records for athletes coming from countries all over the world.

Description

Vertical Blue is a depth competition which consists of the freediving depth disciplines of

free immersion Free immersion (FIM) is an AIDA International freediving discipline in which the freediver dives under water without the use of propulsion equipment, but only by pulling on the rope during descent and ascent. Performances may be done ''head first' ...

(FIM),

Constant weight without fins Constant weight without fins (CNF) is an AIDA International (International Association for Development of Apnea) freediving discipline in which the freediver descends and ascends by swimming without the use of fins or without pulling on the rope ...

(CNF) and

Constant weight Constant weight (CWT) is a freediving discipline recognised by AIDA, the International Association for the Development of Apnea, in which the freediver descends and ascends using their monofin and/or with the use of their arms without pulling on t ...

(CWT). The event is held at Dean's Blue Hole on Long Island in the Bahamas and is organized by William Trubridge with AIDA International providing judges. Vertical Blue is also the name of the freediving school operated by William Trubridge at Dean's Blue Hole.

History

Vertical Blue 2008

Vertical Blue 2008 was announced in February 2008 and was held from 1 to 11 April in the same year. It was attended by competitors from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Japan, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, Switzerland and the United States. A total of 23 national and 3 world records were achieved.

Vertical Blue 2009

Vertical Blue 2009 was held from 1 to 9 April 2009 and was attended by competitors from Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Vertical Blue 2013

On November 17, 2013, American freediver

Nicholas Mevoli Nicholas Lawrence Mevoli III (August 22, 1981 – November 17, 2013) was an American freediver who died while attempting to set an American record at the Vertical Blue competition at Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas. Early life Mevoli was bo ...

died after attempting to set an American record during a Vertical Blue competition at Dean's Blue Hole.

References

External links

Vertical Blue official webpage

Deeper Blue Article about Vertical Blue 2008
Freediving Sports competitions in the Bahamas {{Bahamas-sport-stub