Second Day of Philippine Depth National Championship (PDNC) Sees More New Records
The second day of the Philippine Depth National Championship (PDNC) 2019 held at Freedive Superhome at Panglao Island in Bohol, Philippines saw seven more new national records being set as Underwater360 was on site to cover the competition for our viewers (feature photo by Jake Alejandre)
May 19, 2019 – The second day of the Philippine Depth National Championship 2019 held at Freedive Superhome at Panglao Island in Bohol, Philippines saw seven more new national records being set as Thibaut Guignes (France), Park Jeong Min (South Korea), Marese Secades (Philippines), Yen Wanyu (Taiwan), Julian Jones (Philippines), Cezar Sayosay (Philippines) and Elaina O’Brien (Ireland) all set new national records for their respective countries.
After turning early on the first day, Thibaut Guignes was relaxed about his dive and had expressed absolute confidence that his renewed focus the next day would bring the results that he has achieved countless time during training. It was thus no surprise to all in attendance when Thibaut achieved a depth of 114metres to set a new national Free Immersion Apnea freediving record for France. Thibault was heartily congratulated by everyone at Freedive Superhome and his relaxed smile across his face confirmed to all that the issue was never in doubt in the first place.
The third diver of the day, Park Jeong Min set a new FIM national record of 95 metres for South Korea after turning early on the first day. Welcomed to howling cheers on his return to the organiser’s table, Jeong Min was all smiles as he waved back to the crowd.
“Actually, yesterday I had an early turn so I was disappointed,”Jeong Min revealed. “But today, I did well. It was a nice dive and was fun, so yeah, I’m happy.”
“Actually, I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Ninety-five metres is a depth I’ve reached already in training so it’s not too hard for me. Yesterday, I was nervous but today my coach just told me, ‘relax, just relax and do the same (you’ve always done) at training’ so, yeah, just like training…and (I just did it).”
After the PDNC, Jeong Min will be organising a freediving workshop for his students and he’ll also be part of the field taking part in the upcoming Asian Feediving Cup where he intends to try for deeper depths.
After the end of the competition, all the competitors were convened at Bamboo Place, Alona in Panglao for the PDNC Awards Ceremony and closing party. Freedive Panglao owner and Chief Safety and Logistics Manager Stefan Randig addressed all the competitors, organisers and crew as he thanked AIDA Philippines, AIDA International, the safety crew, judges, medics, media team, volunteers and freedivers for their dedication to the event and for staying safe. Stefan also expressed his hopes in making PDNC an annual event and even extending the competition into an annual championship circuit in other parts of Philippines such as Manila that could cover more disciplines. Stefan also thanked the event’s sponsors and partners:
Major Sponsor: Double K Premium Freediving Gear
Platinum Sponsors: Bestdive, Molchanov, Freediving Store, Alchemy,
Octopus Freediving, Octon Watches, Garmin Philippines, 3diver, Suunto
Bronze Sponsor: Kataw Freediving and Lifestyle Hub
Supporters: AIDA International, Department of Tourism Philippines, Dive Philippines
Media Partner: Underwater360
Charesse Salaysay was named the Best Overall Female Newcomer in the Filippino category. Upon receiving the award, Charesse had this to say, “This is just for fun and experience. I have been freediving for three years. This is my first time competing. I just wanted to try it for the experience.”
The Best Male Overall Performance in the Filippino category went to Oka Espenilla. who won with a total points score of 107.9.
“I wasn’t really expecting it,” said Oka of his win.” I came into this competition just wanting to dive my best dive and apparently it was enough to win the best overall, so I’m very very happy for that.
“I’m definitely gonna train more, gonna compete hopefully next year. Try to get my record back again. Let’s see where it goes. But I’m really happy about the community – the Philippine community. It’s my first time seeing like really deep divers from the Philippines. I’ve been diving for like six years and it’s only now that I’m seeing these people that are competing – it’s my first time seeing them. It’s really nice. Hopefully this continues on for the next few years.”
Lady Lisondra won the Best Female Overall Performance award with a total points score of 96 points.
“Oh, it was very unexpected but I’m so grateful and I’m so excited for the whole competition,” said Lady about her win. “So it’s really been amazing, diving, and hopefully there’ll be more competitions to come. I still want to continue competing and continue training.”
The list of winners and categories at the PDNC Awards are as follows:
Open Category for Best Discipline Newcomer
(The deepest dive in each disciplines for newcomers only)
-Best Constant Weight Newcomer male and female
Male: Robert Garcia 52 metres
-Best Constant Weight Bi-fins Newcomer male and female
Male: Julian Jones 53 metres
Female: Charesse Salaysay 37 metres
-Best Free Immersion Newcomer male and female
Male: Eldio Gulisan 55 metres
Female: Charesse Salaysay 45 metres
-Best Constant Weight No Fins Newcomer male and female
Male: Cezar Sayosay 45 metres
Open Category for Best Discipline
(The deepest dive in each disciplines)
-Best Constant Weight male and female
Male: Sendoh Wang 111 metres
Female: Suzanne Lim 62 metres
-Best Constant Weight Bi-fins male and female
Male: Andriy Khvetkevych 80 metres
Female: Yen Wanyu 57 metres
-Best Free Immersion male and female
Male: Thibault Guignes 114 metres
Female: Aki Shimoyama 48 metres
-Best Constant Weight No Fins male and female
Male: Gert Leroy 56 metres
Female: Bing Larocque 36 metres
Filipino Category
Best Overall Female Newcomer
-1st Place
Charesse Salaysay total points of 87.55
Best Overall Male Newcomer
-1st Place
Eldio Gulisan total points of 98.75
-2nd Place
Barnaby Crisostomo 97.75
-3rd Place
Robi Castillejo total points of 94.9
Grand Prize
Filipino Category
Best Male Overall Performance
-3rd Place
Barnaby Crisostomo total points of 97.75
The third prize winner received a Molchanovs Performance Hooded Suit, Octopus Noseclip and Octopus EQ Tool.
-2nd Place
Eldio Gulisan total points of 98.75
The second place winner received a Double K One-piece 2mm SCS Challenge Wetsuit, Double K Freediving Bouy, Octopus Lanyard, Octopus Noseclip and Octopus EQ Tool
-1st Place
Oka Espenilla total points of 107.9
The first prize winner received a Bestdive Custom-Made Performance Wetsuit, Alchemy V3-30 Carbon Fiber Blades, Alchemy HD Fin Bag, Garmin Gift Certificate worth 10,000PHP, Octon Diver Watch, Double K Freediving Buoy
Best Female Overall Performance
-3rd Place
Maria Noella Zosa total points of 63
The third prize winner received a Molchanovs Performance Hooded Suit, Octopus Noseclip and Octopus EQ Tool
-2nd Place
Charesse Salaysay total points of 88
The second prize winner received a Double K One-piece 2mm SCS Challenge Wetsuit, Double K Freediving Bouy, Octopus Lanyard, Octopus Noseclip and Octopus EQ Tool.
-1st Place
Lady Lisondra total points of 96
The first prize winner gets: Bestdive Custom-Made Performance Wetsuit, Alchemy V3-30 Carbon Fiber Blades, Alchemy HD Fin Bag, Garmin Gift Certificate worth 10,000PHP, Octon Diver Watch, Double K Freediving Bouy
All the following National Record Holders were presented with Certificates of Achievement:
Andriy Khvetkevych from Ukraine
Azam Hamid from Malaysia
Eleina O’Brien from Ireland
Jeong Min Park from Korea
Julian Jones from Philippines
Marese Secades from Philippines
Maria Noella Zosa from Philippines
Sendoh Wang from China
Thibault Guignes from France
Yen Wanyu from Taiwan
The lucky draw for the prize of a Suunto D4F was conducted for all-white-card holders:
Adrian Gjurasic
Aki Shimoyama
Andriy Khvetkevych
Barnaby Jake Cristostomo
Cezar Sayosay
Charesse Mae Salaysay
Christophe Jeanson
Elaina O’Brien
Eldio Gulisan
Farhan Sharief
Gert Leroy
Julian Jones
Lady Lisondra
Mishael Ardoña
Odessa Bugarin
Oka Espenilla
Richard Lo
Robi Lexeme Castillejo
Suzanne Lim
Yen Wanyu
Another lucky draw for the prize of Double K Freediving Bouy Large, Octopus Pulling System, Alchemy HD fin Bags was conducted for non-Filipino athletes:
Thibault Guignes
Sendoh Wang
Jeong Min Park
Daniel Koval
Andriy Khvetkevych
Kristin Kuba
Ken Kiriyama
Azam Hamid
Suzanne Lim
Michael Nelson
Yen Wanyu
Gert Leroy
Adrian Gjurasic
Aki Shimoyama
David Mellor
Elaina O’Brien
Christophe Jeanson
Wayne Tu
Special thanks to Bamboo Place, Freedive Panglao and Freedive Superhome.