Will Trubridge, Suunto Ambassador and one of the world's leading freedivers has smashed two world records at the Vertical Blue Freediving competition held at Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas in early April, 2008.

The New Zealander twice sunk to new depths in the unassisted constant weight, no fins (CNF) discipline, with dives of 84m and, on April 10, an incredible 86m, breaking his own 82m mark which he had set the previous year. CNF is considered to be one of the hardest of the freediving disciplines as it relies on the diver's muscle strength alone for propulsion.

Freediving is governed by the International Association for the Development of Freediving (AIDA) which recognises eight different disciplines for world records and competition. The sport has grown considerably in the past eight years, and the Vertical Blue competition, organised by Trubridge himself, saw 15 international divers set a total of five world and 23 national records over 11 days.

AIDA uses specially modified Suunto D9 diving boat watches to ratify each dive, while Trubridge used Suunto D4s during Vertical Blue. For each dive, a pre-moistened, stretched and measured rope for boat with a circular base plate fixed at the target depth is set into the water. Velcro tags are clipped to the line with carabiners so that they sink down and sit on the base plate.

Divers must retrieve a tag and their Suunto diving watch is checked to ensure they reached the target depth. A small camera is also positioned on the base plate to film the diver retrieving the tag. Athletes also wear a lanyard attached to the line and in case for boat of a blackout, the entire rope is hauled to the surface, bringing the stricken diver with it.

"Using the Suunto D4 on the athlete's wrist and the rope, the system works flawlessly." says Trubridge. "This is the same method used by AIDA at the World Championships."

Just one day after his CNF record, Trubridge also set a new mark for the free immersion discipline (FIM) of 108m. FIM requires divers to use the rope as their only method of propulsion and is considered to have the 'purest sensations'.

The 27-year-old had encountered technical problems on a previous FIM attempt, which only served to reinforce his determination to break the record 'clean'.

"The carabiner with the tag became wedged on a piece of tape 5m off the base plate," explained Trubridge. "The sudden jolt on my lanyard as my carabiner hit the wedged one actually ripped the wire off the belt around my waist, although I wasn't aware exactly what had happened."

"I continued to the base plate, where I spent five seconds rummaging amongst the old carabiners for one with a tag - obviously I didn't find it."

Although it was later confirmed that he had reached the plate after consulting the Suunto D4 and video footage, Trubridge made another dive on the competition's final day, successfully reaching 108m without any hiccups.

"I was feeling a little burnt out, so the dive was harder than it should have been," said Trubridge, "but I'm very happy with how the whole competition has gone."

The next major competition for Trubridge, who spends seven months a year living and working in the Bahamas, is the AIDA World Team Championships to be held in September, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, where he will be competing for New Zealand. He is also bidding to host the next Individual World Championships at Dean's Blue Hole in April 2009.