Just at the end of 2014, I had an intense competition schedule.

First there was the 2nd World University Championships in Almaty, Kazachstan, held from the 18 - 21 December 2014.

This wasn't my first time there, because I've already been taking part in the World Cup competitions in Alma Ata a few years ago. I knew what to expect and was happy to see that the organization of this event was perfectly excecuted!

This event was an university championship, a kind of event which I really like, because there's always a different kind of atmosphere than at the usual World Cup competitions. I enjoy the feeling when there's less stress and less tension among the competitors.

During the four days of the Championship I had a start scheduled for every day - this was the first time in my carrier that I had so many starts one day after the other!

The first day was team pursuit day - 8 circuits - and we won! This gave me a lot of motivation for the next days.

On the second day of the competition I started in the 5000m race - my favorite distance. Unfortunately I missed by 0.4 second the podium and placed 4th.

Next day was the 10.000m start, when I decided I will totally give my all - and I won! My time was 14:33.52.

The 4th day was a Mass Start of 16 circuits, where I was leading up to the 4 last circuits, but the pursuit team was working together very well and the moment I weakened a bit they got me, so I placed 7th.

Still, two golden medals (one team medal, one individual) had really boosted my motivation and confidence in my future plans.

It was great to meet speed skating university students from all over the world, the charisma and positive energy of the people here were really what I needed.

The last competition of 2014 was being held in Warsaw, Poland on an open-air ice track and it was the Warsaw Single Distances Championship, which was also the qualifications for the European Championship in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

This competition lasted for 3 days and I was starting four times. On the shorter distances of 500m and 3000m I placed 4th and on the longer 5000m distance I got 2nd place! I also took part in both of the 500m sprints and placed 13th.

Even though I did really great in this Championship, it was a bitter-sweet experience. I actually qualified for the European Championship, but because my Association didn't complete the required formalities, I couldn't take part in the competition.

Either way, December was really great for me, thanks to the training I've been doing with the Czech speed skaters during my stay in Holland. I'd also like to say that if it wasn't for the help I've recieved from my general sponsor Grena Ltd. in 2014 I'd probably not be there and couldn't train and win those championships. I'm really grateful for the support!

I'm looking forward to 2015 and new opportunities! My plans are still unfolding, but I will soon let you know what will be going on with me in 2015! 

Last modified on Wednesday, 25 February 2015

It was a great time for me, because I could meet my Polish freeediving friends, with whom I didn't compete for a long time.

What was specifically interesting in this International Silesia Freediving Cup was that every team that wanted to compete for the Grand Prize had to include at least one female competitor! A brilliant idea to encourage women to join the contest and encourage them to try freediving.

I was going there to mainly spend a nice time with friends and not to actually compete. This way, I managed to do same easy dives with DNF: 175m, STA: 6:59, DYN: 150m.

Actually, I put on my monofin for the first time in a really long time, so it was certainly funny to watch my dive! I was moving like a drunk person! 

At the winners decoration I was surprised by the Polish AIDA representatives, who awarded me with a honourable reward for being the first Polish World Record holder in DNF! This was an extremely pleasant moment for me.

After the Cup in Rybnik, I have now some time to relax and decompress before starting my new training plan in January.

I was invited to do some interviews in the Polish radio and television and will share the recordings with you soon!

During my stay in the Bahamas I also sat down with Chris from FreediveEarth and we had a very nice chat. It was a fabulous opportunity to be interviewed in-depth by someone who can relate to the hardships of the freediving journey. You can read the interview on the FreediveEarth website.

Last modified on Wednesday, 16 December 2015

The ISU Speed Skating World Cup started off in November, with the season opening in Obihiro, Japan.

The next stop was in Seoul, South Korea, where I had my first start in the Male Division B 10.000 m race. The event took place from 21 - 23 November 2014.

I think I did pretty good, taking into account that I'm currently not yet at my top performance level. I placed 12th which got me 3 points in the World Cup classification with the time being 14:09.78.

What hit me after skating at the rink was that it had really the slowest ice I've ever raced on in my life. We call the ice "slow" or "fast" depending on many factors like air pressure, air temperature, humidity, height above sea level.

Apart form the sport event, I really wanted to do some sight-seeing in the city of Seoul, but because of the tight training plan I couldn't do it. The least I could do was watching the city through our bus window on our way from the hotel to the rink. I hope I will get to visit this city again!

Last modified on Thursday, 11 December 2014

Everything has started last year after Belgrade. Everything happens for a reason! My motivation and will is unbreakable. As many times as I fail as many times I will stand up and face the challenge! On Sunday I’ve finally reached my goal. I can’t express how happy I am. I know that nothing lasts forever and someday someone will break that record...However it’s very important to me mentally, because for me it confirms that my methods of training, approach, knowledge, are all heading into the right direction.

After reaching middle point of 213m in June I decided to give it another go by the end of the year. On July 22nd, I’ve emailed Roman Ondruj saying “Let’s do it”. I can’t express how thankful I am to him for taking care of the organization and believing in me. Same goes to my general sponsor Grena LTD, because without their support it would be much, much harder or even impossible for me to afford all the training and trips. Training facility provided to me by 35 Wojskowy Oddział Gospodarczy also played a big role here.

Now back to the dive,

On Saturday morning, it was my first attempt and I’ve given up at 175m. The dive felt really good and I enjoyed it, but I couldn’t find motivation to push (I think it was just too easy up to 175), I was focusing on distance/goal too much (instead of just trying to do my best), it overwhelmed me and I gave up. On Sunday it was a similar dive, same thoughts and doubts but at 175m I thought that all the hard work will go to nothing, I will regret it like in Belgrade last year. Dealing with those thoughts got me to 200m, I’ve turned and then I knew that I will just swim to the next wall and turn.

When I look at it, there is so many things I can improve (technique, buoyancy, turns), but my problem was mental, not physical thus I was not worrying about it too much, there will be the time when it will be efficient to deal with it.

Most important part is, that this point used to be the wall, but not anymore, limits got moved once again in my head and I really look forward to improve in future!

P.S. on the video You can see me happy two times. Before receiving white card and after it…The part before judge decision is more internal. I was being happy from overcoming my own barriers and challenges (it didn’t matter what will be the verdict cause I was feeling already like a winner inside)… and being happy after receiving white card was being happy from breaking the World Record…So it’s like 2 separate records for me :)

Dive safe and enjoy the blue!

The Dive on youtube!

 

 

 

 

Last modified on Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Flash NEWS!

During Brno Freediving Competition I have just reached 226m in DNF which is a new WORLD RECORD!! 

Thanks Grena LTD and all other people for the support!

Roman Ondruj for organising this event!

More news and info once I get back home :)

Last modified on Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Last week I was invited to speak at the Polish Diving Conference in Zakrzówek, Cracow on September 27th, 2014.

I really appreciated the invitation and prepared a half-hour long presentation about the training of body and mind in freediving.

As an introduction I arranged a screening of the documentary movie " On the other side of the mirror" by Michał Braum and the ImagePro studio. This documentary features my adventure with freediving and if you haven't seen it yet, here's a link to see it. 

As a side note, the movie was chosen for the Seattle Polish Film Festival, that is being held in October 10 - 19th, 2014 in Seattle, USA. The movie will be shown on October 15th, 2014.

It warms my heart to hear such news and to see that our hard work - mine at training, and Michał's at filmmaking - is recognized globally. I hope people will learn more about freediving and won't be as scared or prejudiced against this sport as it often happens now.

Coming back to the Congress. It was great to meet my friends and fellow Polish divers to share experiences and plans for the future. The event at the Zakrzówek Diving Base was also a great feast for all diving fans with stalls of diving equipment sellers. They provided everything for adults as well as kids!

If you were present at my speech, I hope you've learned something new or at least confirmed your already existing knowledge.

That's all for today, thanks for reading and don't be shy to visit my Facebook profile and to comment! You'll be hearing from me soon!

Last modified on Tuesday, 14 October 2014

On the 31st of August 2014 I participated in the 19. Race around the Tatras, which is a demanding track around the highest Polish mountains and goes also through the Slovak territory.

Near 100 participants of various skill level had gathered at the starting line in Nowy Targ, Poland - so as the race started it was visible that various groups are being formed. 

I started out determined with the first group of around 15 riders. We rode together until the 120 km, when 4 riders (me included) started going faster uphill in Strbske Pleso, Slovakia. We were going like this to around the 200km, but on a small hill in Białka Tatrzańska I decided to go a bit faster and arrived alone on the finish line with the time 05:45:00.

At the finish line I was told that I set a new record for this track: 202 km in 05:45:00 which is 13 minutes faster than the former record. I was really surprised! :)

It was not an easy track, but the satisfaction of finishing 202km in under 6 hours was soothing the fatigue ;)

After the race everyone got a warm meal and we could exchange our opinions on the race. 

It was a great adventure for me and I'm grateful to my general sponsor Grena Ltd. because without the bike they made available for me, I couldn't have made such a progress during the past months!

This was my first start in this Race and I'm sure you will see me there again! :)

Last modified on Monday, 08 September 2014

As the summer goes by my trainings continue to be as hard and harsh as ever! 

Regardless of the weather, I already rode more than 2500 km on my racing bike, which was bought for me by my sponsor - Grena Ltd.

It's great to be back on track with my team-mates and I really feel I'm making progress thanks to my intense training.

At the end of July our whole team went to Inzell in Germany to train speed skating in a stadium hall ice rink - the Max Aicher Arena. It's a pity we don't have such a facility in Poland, so athletes are forced to train abroad.

 

After coming back home at the beginning of August I started training with the Sochi bronze medal winning Konrad Niedzwiedzki in Zakopane. It was a great experience to train with an athlete like him! I look forward to our next trainings.

By increasing the amount of my training I realised I need a better diet. Therefore, I started working with a specialised sports nutritionist, who will help me plan balanced meals and will keep an eye on the supplements I need to take. I can't wait to feel the results of this diet!

On August 13th, together with my team-mates we started our team training in Sanok, Poland. We were training on roller blades, bikes as well as on the short track.

Apart from training, I also made time to take part in a competition – the prestigious Tour de Pologne for Amateurs race on the 8th of August. I placed 11th out of 1389 participants who finished the race. I was riding the 31,8km track and finished it in under one hour (0:59:15), which gives an average riding speed of 32,2 km/h.

I'm already planning my start on the 31st of August in  the 19th Race around the Tatras – 205 km track in the highest mountains of Poland! It's going to be fun! This is one of my favourite tracks, so I'm happy I can test my current training preparation in this race.

That's all for now and...let's get back to training! :)

Last modified on Thursday, 04 September 2014

As part of my preparations for the winter season I train a lot on my new bike. The Tour de Pologne for Amateurs is a great opportunity to see how far I've come during this training season.

So keep your fingers crossed for August, 8th!

On the homepage of Tour de Pologne for Amateurs you can find all information about this event and see the route.

Last modified on Friday, 01 August 2014

The camp on Tenerife was like a introduction to the preparations for the new season 2014/2015. 

There were 4 participants (team members) and the trainer Krzysztof Niedźwiedzki. The other part of the team had their training camp on Mallorca 2 weeks before us.

Let's take a look at the numers: 450 km in 5 days and 7500 m elevation, so really a mountain view.

After a few hours daily on the bike saddle we also had time to relax in the pool or playing billiards and others.

The biggest impression of this trip for me was meeting Chris Froome with his group "Sky" - winner of last years' Tour de France and the front-runner of winning the "Big Loop" - as well as Alberto Contador of Saxo Thinkoff  on a mountain track

Last modified on Tuesday, 22 July 2014