Holding your breath for an unimaginably long time or diving unimaginably fast or far without breathing: Germany's best apnoea divers will be competing in the German Championships at the Chemnitz Sportforum this weekend. In the 50-metre indoor swimming pool at the Sportforum, 57 athletes from all over Germany will be competing for titles and records - often with spectacular distances and times under water.
"We actually have three main categories," says Markus Hinkelmann, Head of Apnea Competitive Sports at the German Scuba Diving Association (VDST) and also a member of the Chemnitz diving club, which is hosting the championship. In the distance events, the athletes try to dive as far as possible with a monofin, two fins or without any aids at all. In the "static" discipline, the aim is to "simply hold your breath for as long as possible without moving". There are also "speed distances" over 2×50, 4×50 and 8×50 meters, where the aim is to achieve the fastest time. Here, the athletes are allowed to surface and breathe - but every second on the surface extends the overall time, Hinkelmann continues.
