I had the privilege of presenting the Pohutu Trophy to AFC's own Alex Poole on Wednesday. He earned this Trophy at the FNZ (Freediving New Zealand) Pool Nationals competition in September last year for being the most improved diver.
When you register for a freediving comp, you must enter your personal best performances in each discipline (we call these PBs). This helps the event safety team and organizers plan accordingly.
2022 FNZ Pool Nationals started a new tradition of using that information to award the most improved diver. Alex Poole took out this inaugural award with three new PBs:
5 min 13 sec statics
124 metres dynamic with fins
82m dynamic without fins
And he isn't stopping there! I stopped by Panmure training on Wednesday to present him with the award and I arrived just in time to witness Alex break his static PB by 2 seconds. If you're new to freediving a 2 second improvement might sound small, but even equalling a competition PB can be challenging and requires concentration and commitment. Alex has shown he's not stopping with his inaugural Pohutu win and that he's determined to keep breaking those PBs.
Congratulations Alex! Well deserved and keep up the good work. It's inspiring to see you breaking your PBs and sticking with it.