Yasemin Dalkilic

Yasemin is 31 years old today and I want to share my joy with all of you about the fact that we’re celebrating her birthday just days after a potentially fatal accident. Yas and I met in 1999 and during all these years she has been my partner, in life, diving and everything else. She is the best partner I could have ever hoped for, my inspiration, my light on dark times (and we’ve had some of those) and the reason I look forward to every new day. She is also the best example I could think of when it comes to dedication, hard work, integrity and commitment to the highest standards as an athlete, and that’s why she is respected by so many. Then again, she makes liking her very easy. Happy Birthday Love!

Rudi Castineyra

We have started training for Yasemin’s attempt in the Limited Variable Ballast category to 125 meters. If successful, she will break the old FREE record of 105 meters (held by herself) and better the AIDA mark of 122 meters held by Tanya Streeter for some years now. (more…)

Well, finally I’ve had to do it, get back into the politics of freediving, I must be crazy or love to suffer, or maybe this is an early symptom of mental disease now that I’m over 40 years of age :-) But, there have been some very good, respectful and constructive comments from people like Ivo Truxa, whereas at the same time I’ve been privately corresponding with Grant Graves, so I felt that adding my voice to this discussion would contribute some needed elements. (more…)

Well, as you all must have ready by now on Yasemin’s post, we’ve had to postpone the record event until April next year. Yasemin goes over the reasons for this very clearly, so let me talk about the diving side of things. (more…)

Hello all,

As a continuation of the technical aspects I touched on in the article “OUR GOAL: 125 METERS VARIABLE BALLAST!” I will go more in depth into the technical aspects of Yasemin’s dive protocol for her upcoming 125 meter attempt in the Variable category. (more…)

Well, we just came back from Turkey, from our first deep water training in almost 6 years! After almost 16 hours of flying, 2 weeks of interviews, media appearances and deep dives, we’re finally home, and we are exhausted. As you may remember, right before we left, Yas had endured weeks of antibiotics, decreased training and a flu that got weaker or stronger in turns, but never quite left her body. (more…)