Hello, I'm Rebecca Coales and I'm a mermaid!
In the last two years I've set five National Records in pool freediving, which is swimming underwater on just one breath. It's known as Dynamic Apnea. For my most recent record I swam almost four lengths of an Olympic pool.
I'm currently the female UK pool freedive champion and ranked 4th in the world in 2014. I therefore have automatic entry to this year's Freedive World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia from 19 - 28 June. This will be my second visit to the championships representing the UK.
To get this far, I've had to self-fund completely.
I now need financial support to cover the additional costs of training in getting to the next level.
I've not yet reached my limit in Dynamic Apnea so this extra training is crucial in unlocking the doors to my success
If I reach my funding target I can;
- Pay for airfare, entry and accomodation at the AIDA World Championships in Belgrade
- Pay for two extra months of strength training
- Pay for sports massage and chiropractic treatment once a month
- Receive technical guidance and mentoring from my coach
My coach Steve Millard says "I've worked with Rebecca for over two years. Seeing all her effort and determination, she now needs funding so that she can dedicate more time to her training and cover the additional costs ".
My strength and conditioning coach Mark Durnford says "From the very point of meeting Rebecca, her focus and determination to succeed has been incredibly apparent. She is meticulous at doing everything in her power to maximise her training, technique and results. It's clear that Rebecca's dedication and drive towards her goal is only going to end up in resounding success".
Here is a video of my first National Record of 120m in Dynamic No Fins set in July 2013 (I've since extended this to 145m)
I began freediving six years ago, but only started competing in 2013. I work part-time as a project manager as well as juggling six days of training a week. Freediving is a small but growing sport and we currently don't receive any funding as athletes to train or compete. I teach yoga and freediving to fund my support team but my heavy training schedule means I'm limited by time to raise any more money. Your support through this project means I can focus fully on my training with less stress about the finances.
My training team includes Steve Millard (Apneists UK), Mark Durnford (Create Fit) and Bristol Freedivers club. Team Bath (Bath University) have provided a small grant to cover my nutritional advice and physiotherapy. Aquasphere UK kindly supply my wetsuit and swim equipment. Nuffield Health Centre in Bristol provide complementary gym and pool use to get me to peak fitness. I'm also a brand ambassador for Sweaty Betty sportswear, Dive Sangha divewear and NuZest nutrition who help me to look good and stay healthy.
£10 will pay for an extra pool training session
£29 will pay for bodywork such as sports massage or chiropractic therapy to keep me injury and pain-free
£44 will pay for a strength and conditioning session
£125 will allow me to travel to and train in Manchester with my coach and meet fellow athletes
Part of my preparation includes competing at the UK National Pool Championships in March, so you can follow my progress.
More on www.facebook.com/beccafreediver and www.omdiver.co.uk