SINGAPORE–The Ultimate Freediving Challenge-V (UFC) pool competition was a resounding success with a total of ten freediving athletes and nine mermaid competitors taking part on Saturday 6th May. The UFC, held under official International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA) rules, aims to help new and existing freedivers experience competition in Singapore.
The objective of the competition was for divers to swim the furthest distance in the pool on a single breath, and resulted in four national records being broken.
Fu Xingqiang, 38, set a new Singapore national record with a 226m dive using bifins (DYNB), while Dmitri Melnikov, 36, from Estonia set a record with a 267m dive using a mono fin (DYN). Peter Sturgeon, 39 from the UK also set a new national record for Great Britain with a 202m dive using bifins (DYNB). Myanmar’s May Thiri Nang made a record-breaking dive of 39m in the DYN category while wearing an elaborately decorated mermaid tail.
Xingqiang, Melnikov, and Sturgeon are among eight Singapore-based freediving athletes who will be representing their countries at the upcoming Freediving Pool World Championships in Jeju, Korea.
Four Singaporean athletes, including captain Daniel Kwok, 42, Fu Xingqiang, Patricia Paige Ong, 33 and Hui Mian Chai, 30, will be attending the competition. This marks the first time that Singapore has a team competing in the Freediving pool world championships. Singaporeans currently dominate the SE Asia rankings for pool freediving.
More information about the Singapore team competing in the AIDA World Championships can be found here.
In 2022, Elys Lai, 45, became the first Singaporean to enter a pool freediving world championship competition in Burgas, Bulgaria. She finished an astonishing fourth place overall out of more than 30 countries competing, and placed Singapore firmly on the map of world freediving athletes. Lai will not be competing this year as she focuses on freediving depth disciplines and competition.
The Apnea Association of Singapore is proud of the Singaporean athletes representing their country in the upcoming competition, and wishes them all the best for the event.
Press Contact
Contact person: Angelia Seow, Vice-President AAS
Email: Apnea.Association.Singapore@gmail.com
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