On the beginning of March I flew down to Dubai, UAE to take part in the Fazza Championships.

This was my second time competing in these Championships.

The rules are a bit different than the usual AIDA rules, so last year I tried taking part to test myself in this new environment. You can read about my last years’ attempt here.

The competition took place on March 3 - 5th, 2016 in Dubai, UAE. The Fazza Freediving Championships are meant to remember the ancestors of the Persian Gulf inhabitants, who were diving to collect pearls.

This year around 200 freedivers arrived and the athletes competed in a deep pool, where you should go underwater and hold your breath. This kind of static is totally different than the one usually performed in AIDA competitions, because you still need to surface from a few meters after you hold your breath for the maximum amount of time.

This year I knew what expect, so I was definitely better prepared than last year, which was visible in my result: I set a new personal best record and finished the dive with an official result of 08:29 minutes.

A real success for me is knowing that I did what I was prepared for. It's nice to get a medal, but in my athletic development it's most important to surpass my own limits. The result I got in March proves that I'm on the right path to have some more victories over myself.

Last modified on Tuesday, 22 March 2016

I’m back from Dubai with a bag full of experience :)

As I expected beforehand the Fazza diving competition was a challenge on a whole different level. It has its own set of rules that differ from the AIDA rules most freedivers know and follow. The uniqueness of the rules require adequate preparations throughout the year. This year I went to compete there, but mostly to learn. I won't lie to you, static is my weakest discipline and least liked by me, but lately this feeling has slowly began to change. You can read about the rules and my preparations for this competition in my previous blog post.

Apart from this, I’ve noticed some positive emotions while training for the competition. To be honest, the Fazza static discipline suits me more than "normal" static and I will definitely try to improve on it, because I see the challenge here and I like challenges.

As for results I did 6:15 which got me qualified into finals, but in the finals I have given up the attempt somewhere past 4 minutes. Both results are quite a bit less than I did during training, but Rome was not build in one day :) and I still have felt like an amateur taking part in this competition.

Now it is time to go back to training for my usual disciplines, because the AIDA Pool World Championships are coming soon. I look forward to it!

Last modified on Tuesday, 17 March 2015

Hello fellow Freedivers and supporters,

Recently I have decided to take part in the Fazza 3 Championships which will take place from 5 - 7 March 2015 in Dubai, UAE.

I was preparing one month for this competition, which is a very short time frame considering that the discipline over there is completely different from what we are used to.

The basic rules for the competition are simple:

No equipment whatsoever is allowed and an athlete has to stay as long as he can underwater while holding the rope. Time is counted as soon as the last part of the body immerses and stops as soon as any part of the body emerges. It’s prohibited to tie yourself to the rope anyhow and competitor has to hold it voluntary. Obviously the athlete has no idea about the time during the hold.

I’m looking forward to this competition as it will obviously be a good lesson for me. I have a lot of experience to gain in this new field and I hope that after this year I will keep coming back to Dubai every year.

I’m heading to Dubai on Saturday for two weeks. During the first week I will take part in Fazza 3 Championships and  during the second week for the first time in my life I will conduct the Freedivng Clinic together with Static Champion Branko Petrovic, who won the Fazza 3 Championships two times in a row!

Thank you Grena Ltd. for providing me with accomodation in Dubai and all-round support!

Last modified on Thursday, 26 February 2015