Safety Team

• LOUISA COLLYNS | CHIEF OF STAFF

  

  Louisa is returning for her fifth time as part of the safety team for VB, having been on the team in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 when she also held the role of Chief of Staff.

  In addition to Vertical Blue, her involvement in freediving competitions includes being Chief of Safety at the Blue Element Competition organised by Johnny Sunnex in Dominica in 2016, 2018 and 2019; and at the Molchanova Grand Prix organised by Alexey Molchanov in Ibiza in 2018. She was Platform Coordinator at the Caribbean Cup competition in Roatan in May 2016.

  Louisa is a highly experienced competition safety freediver, AIDA instructor since 2013, and founder of the school Freedive Ibiza. She is also an AIDA judge and previous member of the AIDA Safety Committee.

  While Louisa’s focus these days is on safety and teaching, she also competed at the AIDA Depth World Championships in Kalamata in 2013, a year after learning to freedive.

• MARCO COSENTINO | CHIEF OF SAFTEY

  

  Marco Cosentino is an Italian Freediver involved in competitive freediving since 2007. Vastly experienced as both Professional Safety Freediver and Freediving Master Instructor, in the last decade he covered the role of Chief of Safety and Senior Safety in some of the most important freediving competitions worldwide, to mention: Chief of Safety Team in the CMAS Depth 2019 World Championship, Chief of Safety Team of the Origin ECN Vertical Blue 2018, Senior Safety Diver in the Roatan AIDA Individual Depth World Championship 2017, Chief of Safety Team in the first edition of the Nirvana Ocean Quest Competition in 2015, Senior Safety Freediver for 9 editions of the Vertical Blue having been a member for the first time back in the 2009.

  He currently holds the position of AIDA Safety Commitee Officer and he is the founder and director of the “Professional Safety Freediver”®, a Vertical Blue Educational program developed with the aim of supporting the harmonization of competitive freediving safety standards at international level.

  Marco lives a life in the water; he trains Freediving year-round, and has personal bests below 60m in all Freediving disciplines. He is also an experienced sailor and passionate spear-fisher. Marco is based in Rome where he teaches freediving, spear-fishing and sailing.

• JULIEN BORDE

  

  Julien Borde is a French freediver, AIDA instructor trainer, AIDA judge, safety freediver and competition organizer. Julien was a safety diver in various editions of the Caribbean Cup and also safety during the AIDA World Championships in Roatan 2017 with Marco! Julien already knows most of the team and the athletes and he is really looking forward to being part of the Vertical Blue Safety team.

  He is located in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and owner of PranaMaya freediving school. He dedicates all his energy to promoting our sport by teaching AIDA courses from beginner to instructors level; by organizing trips in some of the best dive sites on the planet; and by organizing the Azul Freediving Challenge - a local competition for beginners and advanced freedivers. In the diving industry since 2003, Julien will bring his experience, his team spirit and his full energy for a successful Vertical Blue 2021.

• SAYAKA ITAGAKI

  

  From Japan, Sayaka Itagaki is returning for her third year as Vertical Blue safety. Sayaka has been swimming since she was a baby and has a passion for life under the water where she finds peace of mind and serenity.

  Sayaka started freediving was because she watched the one and only Tomoka Fukuda's documentary on TV in 2014. It sparked her interest, and she's never looked back.

  Since joining the VB team in 2017 Sayaka went on to be a safety assistant for Sofia Gomez's successful world record dives in Dominica, and the Pan Pacific pool championships in Japan. Saya’s first competition was the 2019 AFA Pool Nationals at which she won Best Female Newcomer and Silver overall medal.

• RICHARD MCKENZIE

  

  Richard’s journey in the world of freediving began in Australia and the South Pacific, where he trained as a freediver with The Underwater Academy under AIDA Instructor Trainer Lucas Handley. Having spent the past year living and training on Long Island alongside William Trubridge, as well as acting as a safety diver for his most recent world record attempt, Richard has been invited to join as a member of the safety team for the 2021 edition of Vertical Blue. As a former lifesaver, Richard brings with him a wealth of experience in water rescue and first aid into the depths of the ocean.

• OMAR MOURAD

  

  Omar Mourad has been manager and AIDA Instructor Trainer of Apnea Canarias since 2014. He has extensive experience in the water, as a lifeguard, Master in Scuba Diving and Freediving Instructor Trainer. Furthermore he is a first aid Instructor.

  Omar is the organiser of the ''Atlantic Freediving Cup'' competition and managed its safety team. In 2018-19, he was in charge of the deep safety team at The Authentic Big Blue freediving competition in Amorgos, Greece.

  In the last few years, he has been giving courses on Stress Management in Emergencies to the Spanish Air Force and Army.

  Omar lives in the Canary Island where he freedives all year round. He also has a very strong spear-fishing background, with great knowledge in this field of the sport. He loves Climbing and Trail Running.

• ALICE SIMONS

  

  Alice Simons is joining us in 2021 as a first year safety for Vertical Blue. Coming from the States, Alice has been swimming since before she can remember. Her love of the water stems from growing up on the coast and hours in the pool. After close to 2 decades as a competitive swimmer she retired and assumed she’d never compete again. After years hiking and searching for the next goal she discovered freediving in Thailand and quickly became enamoured with the sport. Alice has numerous water safety certifications and is Apnea Total and AIDA 4 certified. Alice is currently working remotely on Long Island and training in the Blue Hole. When she’s not training you can find her caring for two new island kittens Suuntos and Garmina.

• JAIME JULIANO | MEDIC

  Jamie is a registered nurse/paramedic originally from Chicago, now living in Florida. She has been working in healthcare for 15 years and has experience in emergency medicine, critical care transport, and flight nursing.

  She became familiar with the sport of freediving after a brush with cancer left her with only one lung. After her surgery and lung removal, she quickly began looking at ways to get herself back to a "normal" capacity. It was then that she came across the sport of freediving. Since then she has been learning as much as she could about the sport and has even taken the level 1 freediver course through PFI. Although limited by her physical restraints, she is still very passionate about the sport and is very excited to become more involved in the community.

Back to Top