Freediving New Zealand Depth Nationals 2022
Lake Taupo, New Zealand. 18-20 March 2022Freediving NZ Depth Nationals will be held off Motutere, Taupo from Friday 18th March 2022 – Sunday 21st March 2022.
The competition will comprise three sessions over three days. For each session, competitors can nominate any of the three AIDA depth competition disciplines (CWT, CWT-BI, CNF, FIM). Disciplines can be repeated, although final ranking will only take into consideration the best result in each discipline. As this is our national championship, competitors are encouraged to take part in all disciplines and challenge for the final ranking. All competition grade competitors should also be aware that all depth nominations are required to be within 5m of a depth you have achieved in the 3 months prior to the competition start.
There will be a recreation grade available for those new to competitive Freediving. Divers in the recreation grade will compete in the same disciplines, but with relaxed rules and against other recreation grade divers. These dives will not be eligible for international ranking, but will appear on the Freediving New Zealand Recreational Grade Ranking on the Freediving New Zealand website.
The competition is AIDA ranked, but it does NOT have world record status.
COVID 19
Under the Current Government Mandates we are able to run the event at Level Red.
Given the total number of people involved in this event, everyone will have to have an active My Vaccine Pass to participate.
We have limited contingency should key members of the team involve with running the competition; in the event multiple people have to self-isolate we may have to cancel the competition and with limited notice.
Should the current rules be changed due to current ongoing Covid situation we may have to cancel.
When booking accommodation or making travel arrangements please consider the cancellation policies to minimise your financial impact. See Fees for further details.
Location: Lake Taupo (Motutere, Lake District)
Lake Taupo is a 186m deep caldera, situated 350m above sea level in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. It has reasonably clear fresh water, generally with around 15m of visibility. The surface temperature will be around 19 degrees, but there are a number of thermoclines as you get deeper. The shallowest is usually between 12 and 20 metres deep and tends to be a 2-4 degree drop in temperature. The second tends to sit around 30-40m and is usually more noticeable, dropping the water to ten degrees or less. If you find a deeper thermocline, chances are you’re having a pretty good day already.
For depths of 90m or less, we will anchor the competition boat in the lee of Motutaiko Island, where we will be sheltered from all but the worst weather. For depths greater than 90m (120m competition depth limit, weather dependent), we will have to venture further afield from shelter, making these depths weather dependent.
The competition platform will include a counterbalance setup and sonar to keep track of divers when they are below. There will be at least two safety divers for every dive. We will have a fully qualified medic on the boat at all times and oxygen, both for emergencies and DCS prevention in accordance to AIDA recommendations where required.
Accommodation
For accommodation, we launch from the Motutere Bay Holiday Camp, where you can hire cabins or bring a tent depending on your budget and preference. They can be contacted on: 07 386 8963. There is also accommodation at Motuapa, which is halfway between the Official’s House and the boat ramp, and several AirBnB and BookaBach offerings in the area which can work as a base camp with the quiet, hot showers and beds.
Notes:
We will be launching the boats from their boat ramp at Motutere Bay Holiday Camp.
Entries
Entries will be online only, you will receive the entry form after payment.
If for some reason you can’t fill the form out, contact a friend or the organisers to do so on your behalf. Entries must be submitted by 8pm Tuesday 8th March at the latest.
When you arrive for the briefing, you will need to sign a liability release form, your entry form and a medical certificate of non contraindication for freediving. If it is more convenient, you can instead email a scanned copy of your medical to: nick.j.rhodes@gmail.com
All AIDA grade entries must supply a medical statement signed by a doctor. Recreation grade entries may self-sign unless you answer YES to any questions on the medical statement in which case the statement must be signed by a doctor
The medical certificate application can be found here.
Recreation Grade: Is an option for those new to competing to dip their toes in and find out if competitive freediving is for them. Rec Grade results are not recorded on the AIDA International Rankings and all dives in Rec Grade have a 30m depth limit.
Competition fees will be:
Member Fees:
Competition Grade (3 days) – $142 includes Competition T-Shirt
Recreation Grade (3 days) – $112 includes Competition T-Shirt
Single Day Dive – $62
Non FNZ Member Fees:
For foreign competitors or those who are not a member of FNZ’s affiliated clubs, there’s an additional $30 fee to cover FNZ Membership for the event when choosing Competition Grade.
Non Member (3 days) Competition Grade – $172 Inc Competition T-Shirt
Non Member (3 days) Recreation Grade – $142 Inc Competition T-Shirt
The competition fee covers boat, fuel and equipment use, competition costs, AIDA International competition fees and other competition requirements.
Entry Fees paid via Auckland Freediving Club Booking System
Cancellation Policy:
In the event you have to cancel your booking we reserve the right to charge $30 administration costs.
Should we need to cancel the competition we will endeavour to refund full entry fees, depending on timing we will deduct $30 and send you your competition T-Shirt.
Organiser: Nick Rhodes
Head of Safety : Phil Clayton
Safety Team : TBC
Head Judge: John Wright
Judges: John Wright, Guy Brew, Ali Alkhalifah
Medic: TBC
Boatmaster: TBC
Linemaster: TBC
Comms:
#FNZDepthNats22
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Provisional Timeline
Please check back regularly for updates.
All times are provisional at this stage and may change.
Tuesday 08 March 2022
| 18:00 | Registrations Close |
Thursday 18 March 2022
| 18:00 | Nominations Close |
| 20:00 | Competition draw for Friday available |
Friday 18 March 2022
| 08:00 | Officials’ briefing |
| 08:30 | Competitors’ briefing and registration. |
| 11:00 | First competitor’s check in |
| 12:00 | First official top time |
| 18:00 | Nominations for Saturday close |
| 20:00 | Competition draw for Saturday available |
Saturday 19 March 2022
| 08:00 | Competitors’ briefing and registration. |
| 09:00 | First competitor’s check in |
| 10:00 | First official top time |
| 18:00 | Nominations for Sunday close |
| 20:00 | Competition draw for Sunday available |
Sunday 20 March 2022
| 08:00 | Competitors’ briefing and registration |
| 09:00 | First competitor’s check in |
| 10:00 | First official top time |
| 14:00 | Provisional Results announced (subject to change) |
| 15:00 | Prizegiving |