Diving around the globe… with a purpose
When William was training at 3000 meters of altitude during the early days of January 2011, he was carefuly planning out his training and competition calendar for the year. Little did he know he was about to embark on his busiest year yet which led him to many achievements, not all of them belonging to the competitive realm…
2011: a year for the sharks
At the occasion of the 50-year anniersary of the election for President of JFK, William appeared in the legacy gallery of the website launched for the occasion. In his brief message, he talks about the uniqueness of breath-hold diving skills which allow him to lend his talents to scientists in the aid of ocean conservation.
Shortly after, he received a call from NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). The New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, needed a hand in the political campaign that was about to start in California in defense of sharks. Naturally William accepted. On February 14, the Assembly Bill (AB) 376 was launched in California. Set on its goal to change people’s perception of sharks, the NRDC associated their campaign with photos picturing William freediving with sharks in a natural setting…. quite the contrast for most Californians used to envision these large apex predators as men-hunters.
Training and conditionning
In March, William Wiilliam went to Egypt to start his deep water training at the Only One Apnea Center. A couple of weeks later, his good friend Adel Abu-Haliqa invited him to attend the Fazza, a static apnea competition held at the Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex in Dubai. William took a break from his training and attended the Fazza, where he placed third alongside static apnea ‘machines’ Goran Colak and Alexei Molchanov.
Straight upon his return to Egypt, William decided to see where he was at in a pool discipline he had not trained in for over a year, dynamic without fins (DNF). The training center was organizing a competition with both pool and open water discipline, called Sweet & Salty. On April 16, he dove seven 25-meter pool lengths to reach 175 meters DNF. This performance not only broke his own record by 19 meters, it also claimed him his 25th national record.
Teaching and coaching
Early in his freediving career, William started to teach specialty courses in breath-hold diving. Keeping to small groups, he is able to individualize his teaching to each participant and give special attention to what each person needs to learn in order to improve. In addition, for the past 3 years, William proposes one-on-one coaching for those wanting to realize their potential in competitive freediving. William’s background coaching swimming, designing exercise and breathing programs for clients and teaching at the post-secondary level proves to be both useful and effective. While only few candidates embark on one-on-one training with such a high level of required commitment, those who do get to reach goals which exceeded their initial intentions.
As the principal founding member of the AIDA (Association Internationale pour le Développement de l’Apnée) freediving Canadian governing body created in 2008, aptly named AIDA Canada, William felt it was his duty to give back to the sport by helping implement the AIDA education system in his birth country. Hence, the AIDA Education initiative was proposed to and accepted by AIDA International, the international federation. Back in January 2011, William went through a rigorous training to become an Instructor Trainer for the AIDA Education system. He went on to graciously train two groups of four Canadian instructors in Toronto and Montreal over the first three weeks of July.
William Winram, shark publicist
Meanwhile, back in April, the NRDC had contacted William to request further help from him. Would he come to San Francisco in late July to publicly speak on behalf of shark conservation? For William that meant taking time away from his training and preparation for the upcoming World Championships in early September, but he could not pass up this opportunity to put his story-telling skills to good use. He was able to combine this trip right after his time in Canada where he had just finished training eight new AIDA freediving instructors.
His time in San Francisco proved to be extremely busy, giving talks and conferences to scientists, law makers, financiers, aquarium staff, shark lovers and the general public. His audience, no matter the background in shark knowledge, was awestruck by the unimaginable pictures and stories William related. At the time, AB 376, the Assembly Bill launched to ban the sales, trade and possession of shark fins in California was being threatened by local groups who claimed the proposed ban was a threat to Asian culture. In fact, it was not so, as many Asian-Americans as well as polled Asians are sensitive to the issue of excessive and cruelfishing practices and would like to see that change. But would their voices be heard?
While a San Francisco, William was interviewed by award-winning Joe Mozingo, a LA Times journalist. On August 23, a full-page spread article about William’s freediving with sharks made the headlines in the Los Angeles Times.
This was perfect timing to create more attention to the shark plight in California.
World Championships
Seven months of non-stop travelling finally caught up with William in August. He developed a severe bout of bronchitis which put his freediving training to a near complete halt, one month from attending the 4th World Cup followed by the World Championships in Kalamata, Greece. Nonetheless, William travelled to Greece if only to attend as a coach to his two athletes, Ed and Rob, representing UK and USA respectively. While these two both achieved new national records, William also managed an 80-meter dive in the constant weight without fins discipline, a top-three ranked performance.
During his time in Greece in September, William was also filming a tv-piece for ABC Nightline, watch the clip here.
Victory for sharks in California
On October 7th, Governor Brown signed AB 376 into law. Finally, after months of campaigning, California became the third state after Oregon and Hawaii to ban the possession, sale, trade, and distribution of shark fins. The ban comes into effect January 1, 2012. While this is an immense step forward in the global effort to prevent eradication of these essential apex predators, the fight is not over. Indeed, shark finning takes place at sea, far away from monitoring. The best way to anihilate this brutal practice is education. Education of the people who actively seek shark fin products and education of the general public to make them aware of the plight of these animals. With too few sharks in the ocean, the latter cannot sustain itself, as the sharks keep the whole chain of oceanic life in balance.
Freediving Cruises
For the third year in a row, William paired with Fred Buyle to propose week-long freediving courses aboard a 49-foot sail boat in the Ionian Sea. Usually organized by Ocean Encounters early October, these trips are very popular because they offer a high-quality breath-hold diving instruction by two world champions freedivers limited to a small size group and held over one week of sailing the blue waters of the Ionian Sea, Greece. Participants the world over sign up for these freediving cruises as they are the perfect combination of a course and a vacation all-in-one. In 2012, the Ocean Encounters cruises will navigate in the Saronic Gulf.
Underwater photography
A picture is worth a thousand words as the saying goes. Earlier in the year, William was invited to be one of four underwater photographers whose selected photos would be featured in the Blancpain 4th Edition of Fifty Fathoms Magazine. Hence, William’s spectacular spread of photos of a breath-hold diver approaching a great white shark appears along side the portfolio of Fred Buyle, Ethan Daniels and Aaron Wong in this prestigious high-quality printing format. This is William first-time published work.
Diving with the kings of the sea
Early November, William Winram and Fred Buyle took a group of ten divers to experience the adventure of their life. They would be to meet great white sharks up close and personal in the Eastern Pacific waters. Not only did they get to see them, they got to freedive with them, an experience all of them welcomed but did not know was possible. Nothing short of superlative were the reactions by the group who took home not only fabulous photos of their intimate encounter with marine creatures but also had their memories etched forever in their hearts and minds. In 2012, the selected participants will join William and Fred to witness a shark-tagging expedition, for scientists who seek to study sharks and ensure their conservation.
Shark tagging intiative in Reunion Island
Late November, William Winram and Fred Buyle went on to Reunion Island at the request of a local initiative by the underwater federation wanting to find solutions around the issue of – sometimes fatal – shark bites. While neither Fred nor William were able to tag a single shark during their non-stop 2-week operation, they gathered a vast amount of information about the behavious of these animals. In addition, they trained local divers to carry out their work. While the local media poked fun at their inability to tag while they were in Reunion island, William and Fred’s observations and skills were put to good use as shortly after their leaving, local diver Guy Gazzo and his team tagged a bull shark in the Roches Noires area. Shark tagging on a breath-hold is a very demanding activity which requires keen breath-hold skills, endurance and patience. It is not to be done alone under any circumstances.
The Watermen Project
As 2011 is finally wrapping up, much energy has been spent all year toward ocean conservation. After months of solliciting, Willian has finally found some funding through a generous Foundation. A non-profit organization has been created to help generate further donations towards the financing of shark-tagging initiatives and other ocean conservation efforts requiring breath-hold diving skills.
Stay tuned for more about this new venture and do browse the rest of the website for more stories and photograhs.