Vertical Blue 2025 CMAS Wrap-Up

Asya Kleshchevnikova, Sports Columnist
Head of Customer Service & International Sales
asya@molchanovs.com

Editor: Kristina Zvaritch

The Glorious History of Vertical Blue

The 15th edition of Vertical Blue took place on July 1 - 11 in Dean's Blue Hole in Long Island, Bahamas. Since its inception in 2008 by world record holder William Trubridge, Vertical Blue has been one of the rare privately-held freediving competitions with world record status, Diveye, and an online broadcast. It was often dubbed “the Wimbledon of Freediving," and has long served as a stage for elite athletes to attempt personal bests and break world records.

Notable performances in previous editions include Herbert Nitsch’s 120m (394ft) CWT dive in 2009, Natalia Molchanova’s 100m (328ft) CWT world record in 2011, Sayuri Kinoshita’s 72m (236ft) CNF record in 2016, Alexey Molchanov’s 130m (427ft) CWT dive in 2018, Alenka Artnik’s 122m (400ft) CWT dive in 2021, and Kateryna Sadurska’s 77m (253ft) CNF world record in 2023.

Vertical Blue 2021, which held according to CMAS rules, became the deepest competition in freediving history as of yet. That year, 42 athletes from 21 countries set 13 CMAS World Records and 52 CMAS National Records. The average depth athletes reached at Vertical Blue 2021 was 79.6m (261ft), and July 21, 2021, became the deepest day in the history of the sport when the average announced depth reached 92m (302ft).

The Magic of Dean’s Blue Hole

Unlike the freediving World Championships—where organizers choose different locations every year—Vertical Blue is always held at Dean's Blue Hole, renowned for the numerous world records set there. Technically, Dean's Blue Hole is a vertical underwater cave located several meters from the beach. It's often referred to as a natural vertical pool with the following diving conditions:

• Maximum depth of 150m (492ft)
• Water temperature of 28 - 29°C (82 - 84°F)
• No thermocline
• No currents or waves
• Perfect visibility

The only downside of Dean's Blue Hole is the darkness. Athletes diving deeper than 60m (197ft) usually use headlamps to light up the rope; otherwise, they can become disoriented.

The event schedule is also favorable for athletes. With nine competition days and two days off, athletes can choose any six days to perform. They can also choose to dive in any of the available four competitive depth disciplines: CWT, CWTB, FIM, and CNF. The only aspect the athletes cannot choose is which freediving governing body’s rules their dives will be judged by. This year, Vertical Blue was held according to CMAS rules.

2025 Results

The 2025 edition of Vertical Blue differed significantly from previous years, mainly because there was no Diveye and no online broadcast. While the location remained remote, the competition registration fee was significantly higher, which may have discouraged some athletes from participating. Vertical Blue 2025 welcomed only 17 elite athletes representing 16 countries.

Nevertheless, we still saw several world-class performances. Arnaud Jerald (FRA) opened Vertical Blue 2025 with a strong 125m (410ft) dive in CWTB, matching Alexey Molchanov’s world record set during the 31st AIDA Freediving World Championship 2023. By day 5, Arnaud set the CWTB world record deeper to 126m (413ft). Meanwhile, organizer William Trubridge (NZL) faced early disqualifications on days 3 and 4 in his CNF attempts to 82m (269ft) and 85m (279ft) but finally secured a white card on day 5 with a 104m (341ft) CWTB dive. Claire Paris (USA) set her first world record in the Masters 2 category on day 3 with a 57m (187ft) FIM dive.

Arnaud Jerald (FRA) at Vertical Blue 2025. Photo © Daan Verhoeven

On day 5, Claire also set another Masters 2 world record with a 60m (197ft) CWTB dive, followed by her 50m (164ft) CNF performance on day 6. Alenka Artnik (SVN) stood out on day 7 with a 123m (404ft) world record dive in CWT, equaling Alessia Zecchini’s 2023 performance. Also on that day, William finally successfully managed an 85m (279ft) CNF dive and received a white card for it. Day 9 concluded the event with additional records: Claire Paris dove 57m (187ft) in CNF (Masters 2), while Alfredo Roen (ESP) set a Masters 1 world record in CWT with a 101m (331ft) dive. In total, 3 absolute world records, 21 national records, and 6 masters world records were achieved during the event.

Throughout the nine competition days, athletes completed 73 dives, with 57 of them ending in white cards. During the event, the depth ranges spanned from 33m - 126m (108 - 413ft).

Congratulations to all the athletes who crossed half the globe to compete at Vertical Blue 2025, adapting to this year's modified competition structure and still showing their best. Hopefully, next year, the competition will return to its legendary scale.