On May 14-15, 2022 fourteen highly-skilled freedivers braved the waters of the Pacific Ocean and competed for points in the following disciplines: Free Immersion (FIM), Constant Weight Bi-Fins (CWTB), Constant Weight Monofin (CWT), and Constant No-Fins (CNF).

The competition was supported by a medical team led by experienced freediver, Emergency Medicine physician and Deep Dive Medicine founder, Dr. Fernando “Bizo” Silva.

While freedivers are accustomed to seeing  SocalSpear-It‘s Lance Lee Davis’ name on the athlete list of competitions topping his own CNF US National Record, instead, he played a central role in the build and production of Vertical Green; and as Head of Safety, worked closely with Dr. Silva. A Competition Safety course was conducted the week prior for pre-qualified cold water freedivers interested in joining Vertical Green’s Safety Team.

Vertical Green was officiated by CMAS International Judge & US Freediving Federation Head Judge, Rebekah Phillips, owner and instructor at Bay Area Freediving. A CMAS Judge course was offered and instructed by Phillips in conjunction with the competition for those who were interested in becoming a US Freediving Federation Assistant Judge. Not only did she run a judge’s course and officiate for Vertical Green, but her experience at major, established comps allowed her to play a crucial role in overseeing the logistics planning and execution of the entire Vertical Green competition.

The name “Vertical Green” is a play on Vertical Blue – an homage to the infamous freediving depth competition held at Dean’s Blue Hole in The Bahamas; while also poking fun at the juxtaposed green water, and less than ideal, dive conditions of California.

Read more about the competition as experienced by the athletes, organizers, and volunteers of Vertical Green in the blog.

We have a long list of sponsors to thank! Visit the page to learn more.