FREEDIVING GOLD CLEAN SWEEP
Freediver Kathryn Nevatt (38) took out the trifecta at the Pan Pacific Freediving Championships in Tokyo 22-24 March
2018, coming away with gold medals in each of the three events plus regaining her title of Pan Pacific Champion. The
Queenstown Architect held her breath for 7 minutes 23 seconds in Static apnea, swam 198m underwater on a single breath
wearing a monofin in Dynamic apnea and 156m on a single breath doing underwater breaststroke in Dynamic apnea without
fins. “I’ve trained hard for this event and am really pleased that I managed to pull it all together when it counted.
It’s been a couple of years since I competed internationally and this is the first time I’ve managed a clean sweep of
gold medals abroad.”
Fellow Kiwi freediver Suzy Malseed (41) won the silver medal for Dynamic apnea with 193m and came fourth in the Dynamic
without fins with 131m. Malseed now resides in Australia and made a convincing come back to the sport as runner up to
overall Champion, after a break of several years while she became a mother to twins.
In addition, the New Zealand team took out third place behind Japan and New Caledonia in the teams competition based on
the points of the top three divers in each event. The New Zealand team consisted of divers ranging from former world
champion/medallists to beginners; Nevatt, Malseed, John Wright, Nathanial Fairweather, Damien Jones and Rosemary
Freeman.
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