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Today Suunto ambassador William Trubridge is going for the big record, the one he's been building up for – 102 m in Constant Weight No Fin (CNF), the purest freediving discipline. It's where divers descend and ascend without any artificial means. “Unassisted freediving is where you're freediving with no fins or any propulsive assistance of any kind and trying to go as deep as possible on that one lungful of air,” says Trubridge.If successful, it will break his own record of 101 m. The dive will last just over 4 minutes and will be split equally in time between descent and ascent. "I don't have a fear of being at depth or going to 100m, but I do have a fear of not making the dive perfect or being disqualified and essentially failing," adds Trubridge. This week he has made a couple of warm-up dives, one of which did not go to plan. Despite taking place in the Bahamas weather has been cool and Trubridge began his first big dive shivering from the cold which affected his performance. But before heading into the water today he was feeling confident. “I still feel that drive and thirst to go deeper. It hasn't been quenched yet,” he says. The dive will take place at 11 am EST. Stay tuned to Facebook to find out how it went. Today was looking to be another action packed day at Suunto Vertical Blue with 11 other National Record announcements and an average depth of 79m!

Adventures take us to new experiences and out of the everyday. Kilian Jornet says that exploring is human; Greg Hill that adventure is a mindset. Watch the Suunto Adventure video and hear what Kilian Jornet, Greg Hill, Jill Heinerth and Conrad Stoltz think of adventure. Top image: © Bruno Long

Windy conditions at Deans Blue Hole didn’t prevent deep dives and exceptional performances during the weekend at Suunto Vertical Blue. On Saturday the competitors broke three national records. Kate Middleton of New Zealand dove to 68 m (CWT), Alejandro Lemus of Mexico to 86 m (FIM) and Ryuzo Shinomiya of Japan to 60 m (CNF). In this Day 3 highlights clip you can check out an interview with Mexico's Estrella Navarro Holm of Mexico and other highlights from the third day of competition including a new CNF record from Ryuzo Shinomiya of Japan. Meanwhile in this clip you can watch highlights from day two of #VB2014, including interviews with Kate Middleton of New Zealand, Lena Jovanovic of Serbia and scenes from Deans Blue Hole. Main image: ©Rebecca Woodmore

Since the launch of the SuuntoDive Paradise contest, divers from all over the world have been eagerly sharing images and videos of their most memorable diving moments. The submissions are incredibly diverse, and capture the sheer variety of adventure experienced on each and every dive. It’s no surprise that underwater wildlife, especially encounters with turtles or dolphins, are regarded as some of the most precious memories. The great news is that the grand prize of the SuuntoDive Paradise contest is an exclusive dive trip to the Maldives, so pristine waters and plenty of underwater creatures can be expected! Here are some of the submissions so far… Kathryn Mooers decided to go for a spin during her first night dive in the Cayman islands, while Bradley Raoul was joined by a friendly stingray he named “Frisbee“ on his snorkeling tour at Coral Gardens, also at the Cayman islands. Miriam Payne shared the moment her husband proposed to her 20 meters underwater in Keri. Peter Brown said that his most memorable dive experience was introducing his 12-year-old son to diving. For Jenny Cheng, it was encountering her first humpback whale in Tonga. Michael Hartman’s favorite photo was shot in Stingray City, and Dee Aramis shows that you can have a fun time playing with volcanic hot spring bubbles in Weh Island, Indonesia. As for video submissions, Emily Pasco shows us what the Maldivian underwater world can offer, and user “bluespeed“ showcases diving at Liberty Wreck, a transport ship that once was beached on the island of Bali, but moved off the beach by a volcanic eruption which turned it into a popular dive site. There’s still time to enter the contest and win your ticket to the Maldives! Enter the contest HERE, submissions are open only until December 8th.    

On just the first day of Suunto Vertical Blue seven freediving records were set! Here is a peek at the South American record set by Carlos Coste of Venezuela (64m CNF), along with national records by Mateusz Malina of Poland (113m FIM), and Samo Jeranko of Slovenia (102m CWT). Enjoy!

Freediving is a sport that pushes the limits of human possibility. Divers descend to incredible depths of the ocean – all in a single breath. From November 27th to December 5th, the world’s top freedivers will gather in the Bahamas for one of the largest freediving competitions – the Suunto Vertical Blue. Founded and organized by record-breaking freediver William Trubridge, the invitational competition will see 35 divers from 19 countries compete at Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas. Plunging to a depth of more than 200 meters, Dean’s Blue Hole has a reputation for being one of the greatest freediving locations on the planet. Its deep, warm and calm waters provide freedivers with the perfect environment to attempt to break national and world records, or exceed their own personal bests. This year, Alexey Molchanov and William Trubridge will renew a rivalry that has intensified over the last couple of years. Between them they hold the current world records in the sport’s most popular depth disciplines. Trubridge is looking to improve on his world record 2010 CNF dive to 101 m. “It's the purest discipline,” he says.As for the ladies, the competition between Misuzu "Mimi" Okamoto and Tomoka Fukuda will be one to watch – they were both on the Japanese national team along with Hanako Rose – who took gold at this year's World Championships in Italy. Says organizer William Trubridge: “This year's Suunto Vertical Blue promises to be another gripping event. The beauty of the event is that every athlete gets up to six attempts, so they can build up to huge performances and record attempts, or try to consolidate across all three disciplines for the overall prize. This is a recipe for nail-biting finishes and monster performances in the world's best freediving location.”Says Joan Sola, global sports and community marketing manager for Suunto: “We are pleased once again to be a partner of Suunto Vertical Blue, which brings together the world's top freedivers. Whether pushing the boundaries of human possibility or their own potential, it is an amazing festival of freediving. Suunto has worked with William for a number of years and we are proud to support him in his many record-breaking dives.” We will be updating these pages regularly with the latest news from Dean's Blue Hole. You can also follow live on the official Vertical Blue Facebook page.