RENEE BLUNDON
RENEE BLUNDON
In A Nutshell
Renee Blundon is an American competitive freediver and freediving instructor. She trains and teaches freediving courses in the USA and internationally. She also conducts workshops and coaching on her freediving specialties; advanced equalization, free-immersion technique and monofin technique. Although she enjoys all of the freediving disciplines, she spends most of her time training in free-immersion, constant weight and dynamic apnea with a monofin.
BIO
Beginnings
Renee Blundon was born and raised in Lyme, Connecticut, with a profound love of the water from the early age of five when she first learned to swim. She was a certified life-guard for three years in her teens and joined an adult swim team at 19, which provided the training to become a life-long skillful swimmer.
In the spring of 2013 Renee left the US to travel solo throughout East Africa. It was in Tanzania when she first began diving in the warm, clear blue waters of the Indian Ocean. She joined the Dar es Salaam underwater hockey team, connecting with several freedivers in the area who introduced her to freediving.
Renee took her first freediving course in June 2014 in the chilly quarry waters of Durban, South Africa, with spearfisherman, Trevor Hutton. Afterward she continued training in Tanzania and in the US in lakes throughout Massachusetts and Maine.
Then in January and March 2015, Renee trained in Zanzibar with Freedive International, and completed her SSI Level 2 and 3 courses.
Going Pro
In May in 2015, Renee completed her Apnea Academy Instructor Course with Umberto Pelizzari and his team. Afterward, she began teaching freediving courses in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and then in Dahab, Egypt from September 2015 onward. Within the following seven years, she became a PADI Master Freediving Instructor, EFR Instructor Trainer, AIDA Master Freediving Instructor, competed in a dozen or so freediving competitions as well as three World Championship events, achieved two US National Records in Free-Immersion and taught/coached over 700 students.
COMPETITION RESULTS
2015, RedCcup (Nov. 6 & 9), Dahab, Egypt
Free Immersion -48 m / 157 ft, Constant Weight -40m / 131 ft
2015, Freedive Dahab Mini Comp (Nov. 23), Dahab, Egypt
Free Immersion -56 m / 184 ft
2016, RedCcup (Aug. 25-27), Dahab, Egypt
Free Immersion -57 m / 187 ft, Constant Weight -55m / 180 ft, Static 4:05
2017, Russian Freediving Competition (May 30-31), Dahab, Egypt
Constant Weight -50 m / 164 ft, Constant Weight -56m / 183 ft
2017, RedCcup (October 24-26), Dahab, Egypt
Free-Immersion -60 m / 197 ft, Free-Immersion -63m / 206 ft
2nd Place Overall Female Winner
2018, RedCcup (May 30-31), Dahab, Egypt
Free-Immersion -68 m / 223 ft, Free-Immersion -70 m / 230 ft
1st Place Overall Female Winner
1st Place Winner for Female Deepest Free-Immersion Dive
2018, RedCcup (Aug. 27-30), Dahab, Egypt
Free-Immersion -62 m / 203 ft, Free-Immersion -64 m / 210 ft, -66m / 217 ft.
2nd Place Overall Female Winner
Placed #3 out of 10 in Free-Immersion
2018, CMAS Freediving World Championship (Oct. 1-7), Kas, Turkey
Constant Weight with Fins -60 m / 197 ft, Free-Immersion -62 m / 203 ft.
USA National Record in Free-Immersion
Placed #8 out of 23 in Free-Immersion
Placed #10 out of 28 in Constant Weight with Fins
2019, Dahab Championship (April 25), Dahab, Egypt
Constant Weight Bi-Fins -50 m / 164 ft.
2019, Dahab Apnea Spring Comp (May 28 & 31), Dahab, Egypt
Free-Immersion -60 m / 196 ft, Free-Immersion -62 m / 203 ft.
2019, AIDA Dahab Championship (Sept. 2-6), Dahab, Egypt
Free-Immersion -59 m / 193 ft, Free-Immersion -62 m / 203 ft, Free-Immersion -63 m / 206 ft
2020, AIDA Dahab Apnea October (Oct. 18-22), Dahab, Egypt
Free-Immersion -64 m / 210 ft, Free-Immersion -65 m / 213 ft, Free-Immersion -66 m / 216 ft
2021, AIDA Dahab Apnea April (April 4-8), Dahab, Egypt
Free-Immersion -64 m / 210 ft, Free-Immersion -67 m / 219 ft, Free-Immersion -68 m / 223 ft
2021, AIDA World Championship Pre-Competition (Sept. 14 & 16), Limassol, Cyprus
Free-Immersion -64 m / 210 ft, Constant Weight -59 m / 193 ft.
2021, 27th AIDA World Championship (Sept. 24), Limassol, Cyprus
Free-Immersion -72 m / 236 ft (red card SP)
2021, CMAS Freediving World Championship (Oct. 1-7), Kas, Turkey
Free-Immersion -77 m / 252 ft.
USA National Record in Free-Immersion
2021, AIDA Freediving World CUP (Nov. 15-22), Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Free-Immersion -68 m / 223 ft, Free-Immersion -71 m / 233 ft, Free-Immersion -74 m / 242 ft, Free-Immersion -75 m / 246 ft.
Placed #3 in Free-Immersion
PERSONAL BESTS
DEGREES & CERTIFICATIONS
- Apnea Academy Freediving Instructor (May 2015)
- Apnea Academy Advanced Equalization Instructor (Nov 2015)
- Apnea Academy Monofin Instructor (May 2015)
- AIDA Master Freediving Instructor (April 2017)
- PADI Master Freediver Instructor (June 2016)
- PADI Freediver Instructor Trainer (June 2016)
- PADI Divemaster (Dec 2015)
- EFR Instructor and Instructor Trainer (June 2016)
- AAS Interior Design / Multimedia Design Degree (May 2011)
Parsons the New School of Design, New York, NY - Graduate of Introduction Leaders Program (Sept. 2012)
Landmark Education, New York, NY
ADDITIONAL INFO
FREEDIVING INSPIRED PHOTOGRAPHY
Renee expresses her passion for freediving through creative underwater photography, displaying her works at Art Inspired by Freediving. Her aim is to allow nature to be the artist, only to capture and reproduce it as accurately as possible in a form that can be admired above the water. Her curated collections include highly creative underwater pieces on the topics of freediving, conservation / awareness, marine life and underwater landscapes.
Renee also launched Seaunseen in March 2014, in collaboration with Alan Sutton, a website to inspire the world with creative imagery, stories and information about sea life and diving.
Interests
Renee writes poetry and stories about freediving. She also enjoys running, swimming, hiking, drawing, designing, rock climbing, photography, videography, underwater hockey, yoga and singing, especially kareoke.
