From the Miami Herald:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiheral...ts/15078277.htm
SPEARFISHING
Trio snares team titleBY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@MiamiHerald.com
A three-man team from Southern California won top team honors Wednesday in the U.S. National Skindiving Spearfishing Championship in Pompano Beach.
Ryan Moore, Ritchie Zacker, and Brandon Wahlers -- guided by Fort Lauderdale captain Jason Wetmore -- earned 213.52 points in the daylong breath-hold spearing competition out of Sands Harbor Marina.
Their catch included the tournament's largest fish -- a 28-pound, 6-ounce black grouper speared by Moore, 19, of Palos Verdes.
Moore said he got the fish 65 feet deep off Boca Raton Inlet.
''It was on top of the reef,'' Moore said. ``I dropped down, shot him in the back. He went in a cave, and I went down and brought him up. He made me work.''
Leo Ramos and Paula Gomez of Miami Freedivers won top mixed-team honors with 82.13 points. Mike Hickey of Palm Beach Freedivers was the top male with 93.27. Sheri Daye of Broward Longfins was top the female with 41.16.
The tournament's youngest and oldest competitors -- 12-year-old Tawny Grogin and grandfather Ron D'Albora, 73, both of Hillsboro Beach -- finished third in the mixed-team division with 31.07 points. Tawny's 15-year-old sister, Kerry, also competed, but on a different team.
Tawny was proud that she held her breath and dived 45 feet deep to spear a hogfish, red grouper and two margates.
''Me and my sister picked it up from my grandpa,'' she said. ``He took us out so much, we liked it.''
The contest was hosted by Broward Longfins and sanctioned by the Underwater Society of America. It is a qualifying event for next year's world championships.
A spearfishing seminar and expo will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at the IGFA Hall of Fame and Museum in Dania Beach. Speakers include spearfishing pioneer Art Pinder and Kirk Krack, who trained magician David Blaine and golfer Tiger Woods in breath-hold diving.
The expo features dive equipment sales, artwork and a silent auction to benefit the Twin Palms Center of Boca Raton, which assists mentally-handicapped adults. Admission is $65 for the day, $20 for the expo only.
__________________
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...ports-headlines
California the top team at freedive spearfishing championship
By Steve Waters
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted July 20 2006
Pompano Beach · South Floridians took the top two individual spots, but three Southern California men took the team title Wednesday in the National Freedive Spearfishing Championship.
Mike Hickey of Palm Beach Freedivers had 14 fish weighing 79.27 pounds that, combined with an additional one point per fish, gave him 93.27 points.
Miguel Guinvart of Miami Freedivers was second with 10 fish and 88.13 points. Ryan Moore of the Greater Los Angeles Council of Divers was third with 11 fish and 86 points and had the biggest fish of the day, a 28.06-pound black grouper.
Sheri Daye of Boca Raton was the top female at 41.16.
Moore won the team title with Brandon Wahlers, who had 16 fish and 78.25 points, and Ritchie Zacker, who had 11 fish and 49.27 points for a total of 213.52 points.
The team of Harolf Dean, Yain Chang and Julian Cruz from the host Longfins Spearfishing Club was second at 180.14. The Massachusetts Freedivers team of Scott Turgeon, Andrew Geist and Fabricio Bueno was third at 179.21.
The spearfishers competed between Boca Raton Inlet and Port Everglades Inlet. Each was allowed to bring a total of 20 fish to the weigh-in at Sands Harbor Hotel and Marina.
The most common species weighed in were yellowtail jacks and hogfish. Also brought to the scale were snapper, cero mackerel and margate.
The Miami Freedivers team of Leo Ramos and Paula Gomez won the mixed division with 19 fish and 82.13 points. The husband-and-wife team of Emil and Mandy Bravo was second at 35.12. The grandfather-and-granddaughter team of Ron D'Albora and Tawny Grogin was third at 31.07. D'Albora, of Hillsboro Beach, was the oldest competitor at 73 and Grogin was the youngest at 12.
Grogin, who is going into the eighth grade at Westminster Academy, shot four fish -- a hogfish, a red grouper and two margate -- weighing 14.7 pounds. Her grandfather, who taught her how to spearfish, added a 2-pound fish.
Grogin's older sister, Kerry, 15, also competed in the mixed division, but the jacks she and teammate Bruno Munoz brought to the scale were just below the minimum size limit for the species established for the championship. That didn't bother Kerry.
"I'm more excited that I went 60 feet," said Kerry Grogin, whose previous deepest free dive was 42 feet. Grogin said they hunted between Port Everglades Inlet and Anglin's Pier. Tawny, who dove as deep as 45 feet, hunted from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea to Deerfield Beach.
"I am the winner here today," said the girls' proud grandfather.
Steve Waters can be reached at swaters@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-356-4648.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiheral...ts/15078277.htm
SPEARFISHING
Trio snares team titleBY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@MiamiHerald.com
A three-man team from Southern California won top team honors Wednesday in the U.S. National Skindiving Spearfishing Championship in Pompano Beach.
Ryan Moore, Ritchie Zacker, and Brandon Wahlers -- guided by Fort Lauderdale captain Jason Wetmore -- earned 213.52 points in the daylong breath-hold spearing competition out of Sands Harbor Marina.
Their catch included the tournament's largest fish -- a 28-pound, 6-ounce black grouper speared by Moore, 19, of Palos Verdes.
Moore said he got the fish 65 feet deep off Boca Raton Inlet.
''It was on top of the reef,'' Moore said. ``I dropped down, shot him in the back. He went in a cave, and I went down and brought him up. He made me work.''
Leo Ramos and Paula Gomez of Miami Freedivers won top mixed-team honors with 82.13 points. Mike Hickey of Palm Beach Freedivers was the top male with 93.27. Sheri Daye of Broward Longfins was top the female with 41.16.
The tournament's youngest and oldest competitors -- 12-year-old Tawny Grogin and grandfather Ron D'Albora, 73, both of Hillsboro Beach -- finished third in the mixed-team division with 31.07 points. Tawny's 15-year-old sister, Kerry, also competed, but on a different team.
Tawny was proud that she held her breath and dived 45 feet deep to spear a hogfish, red grouper and two margates.
''Me and my sister picked it up from my grandpa,'' she said. ``He took us out so much, we liked it.''
The contest was hosted by Broward Longfins and sanctioned by the Underwater Society of America. It is a qualifying event for next year's world championships.
A spearfishing seminar and expo will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at the IGFA Hall of Fame and Museum in Dania Beach. Speakers include spearfishing pioneer Art Pinder and Kirk Krack, who trained magician David Blaine and golfer Tiger Woods in breath-hold diving.
The expo features dive equipment sales, artwork and a silent auction to benefit the Twin Palms Center of Boca Raton, which assists mentally-handicapped adults. Admission is $65 for the day, $20 for the expo only.
__________________
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...ports-headlines
California the top team at freedive spearfishing championship
By Steve Waters
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted July 20 2006
Pompano Beach · South Floridians took the top two individual spots, but three Southern California men took the team title Wednesday in the National Freedive Spearfishing Championship.
Mike Hickey of Palm Beach Freedivers had 14 fish weighing 79.27 pounds that, combined with an additional one point per fish, gave him 93.27 points.
Miguel Guinvart of Miami Freedivers was second with 10 fish and 88.13 points. Ryan Moore of the Greater Los Angeles Council of Divers was third with 11 fish and 86 points and had the biggest fish of the day, a 28.06-pound black grouper.
Sheri Daye of Boca Raton was the top female at 41.16.
Moore won the team title with Brandon Wahlers, who had 16 fish and 78.25 points, and Ritchie Zacker, who had 11 fish and 49.27 points for a total of 213.52 points.
The team of Harolf Dean, Yain Chang and Julian Cruz from the host Longfins Spearfishing Club was second at 180.14. The Massachusetts Freedivers team of Scott Turgeon, Andrew Geist and Fabricio Bueno was third at 179.21.
The spearfishers competed between Boca Raton Inlet and Port Everglades Inlet. Each was allowed to bring a total of 20 fish to the weigh-in at Sands Harbor Hotel and Marina.
The most common species weighed in were yellowtail jacks and hogfish. Also brought to the scale were snapper, cero mackerel and margate.
The Miami Freedivers team of Leo Ramos and Paula Gomez won the mixed division with 19 fish and 82.13 points. The husband-and-wife team of Emil and Mandy Bravo was second at 35.12. The grandfather-and-granddaughter team of Ron D'Albora and Tawny Grogin was third at 31.07. D'Albora, of Hillsboro Beach, was the oldest competitor at 73 and Grogin was the youngest at 12.
Grogin, who is going into the eighth grade at Westminster Academy, shot four fish -- a hogfish, a red grouper and two margate -- weighing 14.7 pounds. Her grandfather, who taught her how to spearfish, added a 2-pound fish.
Grogin's older sister, Kerry, 15, also competed in the mixed division, but the jacks she and teammate Bruno Munoz brought to the scale were just below the minimum size limit for the species established for the championship. That didn't bother Kerry.
"I'm more excited that I went 60 feet," said Kerry Grogin, whose previous deepest free dive was 42 feet. Grogin said they hunted between Port Everglades Inlet and Anglin's Pier. Tawny, who dove as deep as 45 feet, hunted from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea to Deerfield Beach.
"I am the winner here today," said the girls' proud grandfather.
Steve Waters can be reached at swaters@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-356-4648.
