Category: Radio
Cornwall
Date: 12.01.2005
Printable version
Most divers and swimmers
will have practiced freediving at some point as every time you go underwater
whilst holding your breath, you are freediving.
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Cornwall is extremely proud of Hannah Stacey,
its champion freediver, who has just been named as the World's Best
Female Freediver for 2004, beating off competition from national freediving
champions from around the globe.
Nicci Holiday, Managing Editor of Radio Cornwall, says: "It
is a fantastic achievement for Hannah and we are thrilled for her. Hannah
is an incredibly talented individual in and out of the water!
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"Hannah approaches everything she does with determination
and flair and this award is a wonderful recognition of her ability to
achieve such feats."
West Cornwall-born Hannah, who works as a journalist at Radio Cornwall,
grew up by the sea and learnt to swim in the ocean, spending much of
her childhood at the beach bodysurfing.
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Hannah, who now lives in Porthleven, explains: "I've
always been a strong swimmer, never fearing the water and always happy
with the sun on my back.
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"There were early signs I could hold my breath.
I would often demonstrate the 'mushroom float' to my peers in swimming
lesons and at the age of seven I had no idea that you could do much
more."
The lifestyle first inspired Hannah's interest in freediving back in
2000.
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She says: "One weekend we decided to book a trip
on one of Howard Jones' Freediver courses at the SETT (Submarine Escape
Training Tank) in Portsmouth. When we arrived at the top of the tank
tower I couldn't believe my eyes, 30 metres of warm, aqua blue water!
"At the end of the day I'd made it to the bottom no problem. I
thought 'this holding your breath malarky's not all that hard' and by
day two I was hooked."
That was two years ago and, since then, Hannah has won two UK records,
a UK title and competed in Nice, Ibiza, The Red Sea and Hawaii as a
member of the UK team.
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This summer she went to Cyprus for the SONY Freediver
Open Classic and set a new national record for constant weight by swimming
to a depth of 54 metres by using just her own weight and a monofin.
