Apnea Indoor World Championship: Italy

As host, Italy will honour the event with a numerous line-up of Champions, made of 8 women and 13 men. Not only, the Italian Team will participate to all of the 6 specialities of the World Championship, both in the women’s and in the men’s categories.

The best results obtained until now by the Italian athletes generate positive expectations. Some of the personal records of the Italian athletes in the specialities of the World Championship and their comments follow.

Women team

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 233 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 215 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 165 m
4. Static Apnea (STA) à 6’40”

“Even though this year my training has been delayed due to an accident on my scooter, three months ago, with the bad fracture of my right forearm, the recent results at the Dugondo Cup in the DYN-BF has been excellent. So, I must say a feel well and am confident.”

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 205 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 175 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 136 m

“I hope I can battle until the end and obtain good results.”

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 204 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 134.66 m

“This year the World Championship will be disputed in Lignano, in a well known structure by many of us, and it will be nice to be back “home”! Regarding myself, I am happy to share this experience for the first time with two mates of my Club. Hope is to race well and to have fun.”

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 200 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 178 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 148 m

“I have started practicing this sport since November 2013, and I have entered the èlite category in March 2014. After 2 years I am here to represent Italy. For me all this is something completely new. I know there are many things I still need to understand and learn. So I am happy and flattered by this call, but I am realistic, and focused on my objective, which is to live the best I can this new experience, full of emotions that I will need to handle with, giving my maximum and honouring, as I can, my Nation and my Team”.

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 196 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 163 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 133 m

“I am honoured to be part of the Italian National Team, for this that is my first World Championship. Being able to live this experience deeply excites me. I hope to be able to confirm the results I have obtained at the Italian Apnea Indoor Championship, that have taken place in Turin last 20/22 May, and to be able to improve myself to contribute to the results of my Team.”

Apnea Endurance 16×50 m à 13’21’’9 (Italian Record)

“It will be my first World Championship, and I would like to end up more mature and experienced on the apnea World. This year my training has been focused on endurance, where I hope I can improve my personal best, but I would also like to do well in the race of excellence, the DYN monofin.”

Apnea Speed 100 m à 44”7

“The World Championship will be just after the Finswimming Italian Champ, and so it will be my last appointment of the Season. I hope to be able to close at best this year work with the experience of the World Championship, being able to challenge myself against athletes from all over the World, and possibly improving my personal best in the 100 m Apnea Speed.”

“This will be the first time I will challenge myself in an apnea competition, since I come from finswimming, but I aim to do my best and improve the time obtained during training. For good luck, I do not expect anything in particular, and I only want to have fun and race with serenity, to experience new emotions”.

Men Team:

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 268 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 213 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 184 m
4. Static Apnea (STA) à 8’18”

“Unfortunately I do not have great expectations for this World Championship, since I have not been able to train properly due to an injury that is still present (in fact I will not participate to the DNF race). I know that anything can  happen, so I do not start as already beaten, since I know I have worked the best I could and have a very deep knowledge of myself as athlete, but still I feel the regret of not having been able to sharpen all my weapons for this World Championship at home.”

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 242.40 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 200 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 177.76 m
4. Static Apnea (STA) à 7’02”

“I live this World Championship as an unexpected opportunity to live once again the emotions that I have felt in the past, bringing the Italian colours on the podium of the international competitions. I will be focused on the DYN BF, as it is relatively new, so it is quite affordable with distances that are still “human”, and on DYN, as it is the specialty where I have been able to distinguish myself in the past on an international level.”

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 237 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 200 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 158 m

“I am a newcomer in the international competitions, so I hope I will not disappoint. I am convinced it will be an amazing experience, from which I will be able to learn a lot for other competitions that will come in the future. I expect to have fun, to be afraid and finally to be satisfied of my performance, whatever it will be.”

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 224 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 200 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 175 m
4. Static Apnea (STA) à 7’27”

“The World Championship is a great opportunity for me to close this nice racing season and try to bring home some medals. It is the amazing opportunity to compete with the strongest athletes in the World, being part of one of the number one teams on the international scene. Expectations are high, as is the training level reached by the Italian Team, both women and men. But in any case, with any result, it will be a fantastic event.”

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 218 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 175 m

“I am not the kind of person that creates too many expectations, but for sure I will try to do my best and improve my personal records!”

1. Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN) à 207 m
2. Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF) à 200 m
3. Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 168 m

“For me it is a great honour to be part of the Italian Team, but most of all it is important to be now part of a group of athletes and friends of whom I have great respect and admiration. It will be the strength of the Team that will be important for me. Being together and listening to the advices of my teammates and the Staff, to absorb more information and experiences possible. I am at my first event in an International scenario and I am really looking forward to being in the water and giving the best possible contribution to my Team. I am strongly convinced it will be a week of emotions that will make me grow both as an athlete and as a person!”

Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF) à 180 m

“I simply expect to obtain a good result, also because competition has grown considerably”.

Apnea Speed 100 m à 33”68

“I have disputed my first apnea race at the Italian Championship in Turin in May. For me it would be a great satisfaction to improve the Italian Record during the World Championship and, evidently, going on the podium. I am not sure this will be possible though, as I do not know very well the competitive World of apnea and who my competitors will be.”

Apnea Speed 100 m à 36”30

“I do not have great expectations for the World Champ in Lignano, as I am a novice in the apnea sport, and this is my first call in the National Team. I hope to have fun and to improve my time, to honour the Italian Team.”

The line-up of athletes is completed by: Gaspare Battaglia, Simone Dama, Stefano Figini and Matteo Rum.

Below the athletes participating to the different specialties:

Men’s Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN)

1. Alessandro Zacheo;
2. Andrea Vitturini;
3. Luciano Morelli;
4. Aldo Stradiotti;
5. Massimiliano Vidoni;
6. Vincenzo Ferri.

Women’s Dynamic Apnea with monofin (DYN)

1. Alessia Zecchini;
2. Cristina Rodda;
3. Tatiana Di Poi;
4. Tiziana De Giulio;
5. Martina Mongiardino;
6. Livia Bregonzio.

Men’s Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF)

1. Alessandro Zacheo;
2. Andrea Vitturini;
3. Aldo Stradiotti;
4. Massimiliano Vidoni;
5. Vincenzo Ferri;
6. Luciano Morelli.

Women’s Dynamic Apnea with bi-fins (DYN BF)

1. Alessia Zecchini;
2. Cristina Rodda;
3. Tiziana De Giulio;
4. Martina Mongiardino.

Men’s Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF)

1. Alessandro Zacheo;
2. Andrea Vitturini;
3. Luciano Morelli;
4. Aldo Stradiotti;
5. Massimiliano Vidoni;
6. Michele Tomasi.

Women’s Dynamic Apnea without Fins (DNF)

1. Alessia Zecchini
2. Cristina Rodda
3. Tatiana Di Poi
4. Tiziana De Giulio

Men’s Static Apnea (STA)

1. Gaspare Battaglia;
2. Andrea Vitturini;
3. Luciano Morelli;
4. Massimiliano Vidoni;
5. Aldo Stradiotti;
6. Michele Tomasi.

Women’s Static Apnea (STA)

1. Alessia Zecchini;
2. Cristina Rodda;
3. Tiziana De Giulio.

 

Men’s Apnea Speed 100 m

1. Stefano Figini
2. Stefano Konjedic
3. Davide Barbon

 

Women’s Apnea Speed 100 m

1. Erica Barbon;
2. Nicole Uyttewaal.

Men’s Apnea Endurance 16×50 m

1. Matteo Rum;
2. Simone Dama.

Women’s Apnea Endurance 16×50 m

1. Martina Mongiardino.