New Zealand freediver Niki Roderick has extended her current NZ national record and continental record in the freediving discipline of constant no fins. On June 20, 2010 at the 3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup in Katamala, Greece, Niki executed a very clean dive to -60 metres CNF, just 2 metres shy of the current world record.
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| Kerian Hibbs and Niki Roderick (Photo: AIDA New Zealand) |
The dive also won her the Gold medal in the discipline, ahead of Canada's Jana Strain and Liv Philip for England.
"It's been a long road to get here with many challenging obstacles. What has resulted though is a huge leap forward in maturing as an athlete. Announcing 60 metres I was suddenly troubled with self doubt, three women had attempted it and all failed on their first attempt. The only one who went on to succeed was current world record holder Natalia Molchanova. I felt like it was this cursed number. Achieving it was such an amazing experience, not because it was this "big dive", but because I was stunned I simply enjoyed it. For me this is the most important aspect, being happy and so connected throughout a performance makes it untouchable." said an excited Niki at the end of the competition. When asked if she was planning on attempting a world record in the foreseeable future, she said "yes, we are now in talks about this."
Niki, originally from the Bay of Plenty, is now based in Florida where she is a freediving instructor alongside partner and world record holder Martin Stepanek.
Fellow Kiwi Kerian Hibbs, also competed at the World cup as part of his warmup for the Freediving Team World Champs in Okinawa, later this month. Hibbs successfully made dives to -90m in the constant weight discipline and -70m in the constant no fins discipline, earning him a Bronze and Silver medal respectively. Hibbs also placed 2nd overall in the competition behind champion Guillaume Nery from France.
"The New Zealand team are going into the World Champs as favourites to take the Gold medal alongside the french team " says AIDA New Zealand spokesperson Joy Cottle. "The NZ team comprising of World Record holder William Trubridge, Double gold medalist Guy Brew, and Kerian Hibbs, have had a brilliant build up to the event and are all looking very strong. We are looking forward to seeing some very exciting results over the next few weeks!"
