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Umberto Pelizzari | |
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Umberto Pelizzari in 2008 | |
| Born | August 28, 1965 Busto Arsizio, Italy |
| Occupation(s) | Professional freediver, lecturer, TV host |
Umberto Pelizzari (born August 28, 1965) is an Italian freediver, widely considered among the best of all time. Of his era, he is the sole person to have established world records in all the then existing disciplines of freediving.
Pelizzari was born in the Lombardian city Busto Arsizio. He debuted as a child in professional swimming, moving to freediving at age 19.
At 1.89 metres (6 ft 2 in) and 84 kilograms (185 lb), In 1990 Pelizzari obtained the world record in the respected discipline Constant Weight with 65 metres (213 ft), while in the following year establishing his first record in the Variable Weight discipline with 95 metres (312 ft). On October 26 of the same year he pushed himself to 118 metres (387 ft) to set a new world record in the No Limits discipline.
All through the 1990s Pelizzari became famous for his sportive rivalry with the time's other world top freediver, Cuban Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras, originally a close training friend around 1990. Particularly in No-Limits, Pelizzari and Ferreras pushed each other deeper and deeper, and subsequently Pelizzari enhanced his measures to establish round markers in Constant Weight with 80 metres (260 ft), and in No Limits with 150 metres (490 ft), both these at the same event in October 1999.
The rivalry of Pelizzari and Ferreras became the focus of the 2001 IMAX production Ocean Men: Extreme Dive, directed by renowned under water photographer Bob Talbot. [1]
Pelizzari was one of a handful of instigators behind the respected freediving organization AIDA which formed in 1994. Twice, in 1996 and 2001, Pelizzari became AIDA World Champion with the Italian national team. In 2001, Pelizzari concluded his athletic career with a Variable Weight record of 131 metres (430 ft) and retired thereafter.
Pelizzari is currently professor at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa and a TV host.[ when? ] He has also formed the freediving training agency Apnea Academy which sees much respect in freediving circuits, and co-authored the widely used Manual of Freediving with his former trainer Stefano Tovaglieri.
Jacques Mayol was a French diver and the holder of many world records in free diving. The 1988 film The Big Blue, directed by Luc Besson, was inspired by his life story and that of his friend, Enzo Maiorca. Mayol was one of the screenwriters and authored the book Homo Delphinus: the Dolphin Within Man of his philosophy about the aquatic origins of humans.
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.
Natalia Vadimovna Molchanova was a Russian champion free diver, multiple world record holder, and the former president of the Russian Free Dive Federation. She has been described as "possibly the world’s greatest freediver".
Herbert Nitsch is an Austrian freediver who has held world records in all of the eight freediving disciplines recognised by AIDA International. He is the current freediving world record champion and "the deepest man on earth". This title was given to him when he set a world record in the "No Limit" discipline at the depth of 214 meters. To date, he has achieved 33 official World Records across all freediving disciplines, and one world record in the traditional Greek discipline of Skandalopetra 107 m (351 ft). He surpassed his own No Limit depth with a dive in June 2012 to 253.2 meters, suffering injury in the process.
Francisco Rodriguez, better known as Francisco 'Pipin' Ferreras is a Cuban free-diver known for his achievements in deep free diving and his relationship with his wife, Audrey Mestre.
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 the rope or changing their ballast; only a single hold of the rope to stop the descent and start the ascent is allowed. Constant weight is one of the eight disciplines considered for international competition, the others being constant weight bi-fins (CWTB), constant weight without fins (CNF), static apnea (STA), dynamic apnea without fins (DNF), dynamic with fins (DYN), free immersion (FIM), and dynamic apnea bi-fins (DYNB).
William Trubridge is a New Zealand world champion and world record holding freediver.
Constant weight without fins (CNF) is an AIDA International freediving discipline in which the freediver descends and ascends by swimming without the use of fins or without pulling on the rope or changing his ballast; only a single hold of the rope to stop the descent and to start the ascent is allowed. Constant weight without fins is the depth discipline of freediving that is most challenging, because of the physical effort needed to swim without assistance.
Dynamic apnea is a discipline of competitive freediving, also known as competitive apnea. Dynamic apnea covers two of the eight competitive freediving categories recognised by the AIDA International : dynamic with fins (DYN) and dynamic without fins (DNF). Both disciplines require breath held dives where the diver travels in a horizontal position under water under their own power without aid/physical contact of a static surface, with the exception of the pool wall when done indoors. The records can only be recognized in pools of 25m or greater.
Marcus Greatwood is a British freediving coach. He is most noted for his creation and development of "NT Style" Freediving, based on relaxation and breathing techniques.
Guillaume Néry is a French free diver.
Deborah Andollo Lopez, also known as Deborah Andollo, is a Cuban free-diving athlete who held several world records in different disciplines. In 1996, she set a free-diving record of about 357 feet. On the "AIDA website’s world record history in both constant weight and No-Limits. In 1996 she excelled in constant 61 metres (200 ft) and no-limits 110 metres (360 ft), and did 100 metres (330 ft) in variable weight in Italy.
Karoline Mariechen "Karol" Meyer is a Brazilian free-diver. She is a Guinness Book of World Records record holder for apnea free diving, with a dive of 121 m (328 ft) and another static record with O2 for 18 minutes and 32 seconds.
Alexey Molchanov is a Russian champion freediver, 27-time world champion, world record holder, and freediving promoter. He is also president of the "Freediving Federation" association, president of AIDA Russia, head of freediving school named in honor of Natalia Molchanova, and designer and engineer of the freediving equipment brand Molchanovs. Alexey is a son of Natalia Molchanova – multiple champion and world record holder in freediving.
No-limit apnea is an AIDA International freediving discipline of competitive freediving, also known as competitive apnea, in which the freediver descends and ascends with the method of his or her choice. Often, a heavy metal bar or "sled" grasped by the diver descends fixed to a line, reaching great depths. The most common ascension assistance is via inflatable lifting bags or vests with inflatable compartments, which surface rapidly. The dives may be performed head-first or feet-first.
Olivia K. (Liv) Philip is a record breaking freediver and AIDA International instructor who represents Great Britain. In January 2011 she was awarded AIDA's Absolute Freediver Award 2010 for the highest combined score in six freediving disciplines: static apnea, dynamic apnea with fins, dynamic apnea without fins, constant weight with fins, constant weight without fins, and free immersion. In March 2011 she broke the UK women's dynamic, no fins record at the Great Northern Dive Competition, with a 111m swim.
Nataliia Zharkova is a 2017 freediving champion of Europe and Ukraine. Zharkova holds multiple records in the discipline of freediving. She was also a freediving runner-up champion of the world in 2013. She is the first Ukrainian and the second woman to ever dive below the arch of the Blue Hole vertical underwater cave in Dahab, Egypt, on a single breath.
Alessia Zecchini is an Italian freediver who set world and Italian records in freediving.
The national freediving records for the Cayman Islands are maintained by the Cayman Islands Freediving Association (CFA).
Inge Verbruggen is a Belgian freediver athlete.
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