Amazing Day - April 10

Today was an amazing amount of fun, excitement, adrenaline and commiseration all rolled into one.

Fran let me judge the dives today - while she took on the role of safety diver. Leo was first to go, and unfortunately he blacked out just 2m from the surface. This time because I was in the water, i was able to "manage" if that is the right word the initial treatment of Leo, I could grab his neck weight easily to relieve pressure on his trachea- which has caught us out so many times with various divers, and was able to assist the safety divers by giving clear instructions - rather than having to yell them from the platform.

Frank was attempting a national record, unfortunately he could not equalise - so only made it to 15m. Next up was Kathryn who was using Kerian's monofin to extend out her CWT record, which she did with ease, next up....was what was about to become my greatest honor. Will Trubridge with his staggering 86m CNF record attempt.

Will had set the world record at 84m just a few days ago, this being 2m deeper is quite a big deal, so off he goes, quietly i was starting to doubt myself, thinking of all the things that he had to do when he came up, and all the things i had to look for. Grant Graves was the other judge, and he was also the person who trained me, so i felt a bit of pressure as i was sure if there was something to pick up, he wouldn't tell me.

So we hear the guy calling the depths say that Will was on his way back, 50m....40m....30m....20m...."we see him" someone called, and then as I looked down I saw Will swimming strong....really strong, it was like he had just done a training dive and only gone a few meters, then he broke through the surface, a million things are running through my head, did I stop the watch in my left hand, did I start the one in my right hand, did he touch the rope, did anyone touch him, did his airway go back under, shit..is he ok, I looked up and wow, the look on his face, so fresh and so so happy, Will was fine. Then the million dollar moment, he produced the tag that he got from the bottom plate to prove to us that he got there, we had to wait 1m before we could show our cards, I held the stopwatch up for Grant to see, as the minute mark ticked over, Grant looked at me and said " are you alright with it" - this was my moment, did I miss anything, confidently I said " yes" and then Grant nodded and we showed our white cards, confirming that Will had just set a new CNF World record at 86m with much yahooing and screaming from everyone around us, and a gigantic arm pump from Will who was ecstatic.
Heres the video of this dive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRB6h2E-uF8 - look for the scary lookign chick with blonde hair and a big mask on - thats me!

Next was "Big Dave Mullins" with his world record attempt of 113 CWT - this was to be a totally different experience, he made the bottom this is the deepest anyone has gone in competition, but started to loose himself around 50m - he pushed to hang on, and met Kerian at around 25m, still pushing, but he knew that he might not make it by himself, Kerian put his hand on his back to support him and helped push the big guy to the surface. When he broke through the surface he was out to it, but certainly not the worst blackout I have seen, and not the worst of the competition, however it was the worst one that Dave has experienced. The "rescue" went like clockwork, Kerian handed him off at the surface, surface safety and I supported him and brought him around without any problems. The big guy was disappointed but it was a good experience to be had, and as was said after the event - what we saw was not only Dave pushing his limits, but Dave pushing the limits of the human body - while it wasn't a world record, it was world history unfolding in front of us.

After the comp was over and everyone had settled down, one of the Safety Divers, Peter gave me some diving lessons and some swimming lessons, he was just the person to help me as he specialises in teaching diving to those who are afraid of the water, not that I think I am afraid of it any more, in fact I don't want to leave here - it is truly so nice, so peaceful and there is much to learn here.

There is only one day left of competition, I am judging the last day again, and we have 2 World Record attempts lined up - fingers crossed there are more white cards in the wings!