Nevatt fails final world record bid in Masterton

Martinborough freediver Kathryn Nevatt failed in her fifth and final attempt in Masterton today at the women's dynamic without fins world record.

The 33-year-old architect reached the target mark of 160m that was set by Russian Natalia Malchanova back in 2009 but was disqualified after failing a strict surfacing protocol on two counts.

Los Angeles-based chief judge Grant Graves told a crowd of about 80 spectators she had failed to
finish the required post- attempt statement of `I'm okay' and had touched the side of the pool to steady herself before she first exhaled through her nose after surfacing.

It was Nevatt's fifth attempt in the past six days at the Genesis Energy Recreation Centre pool in Masterton and was the third time in a row she had been shown a red card disqualifying the attempt.

On Sunday she had smashed Malchanova's world record distance by four metres before being fouled out and on Tuesday had come up barely a metre shy of the target mark before a red card was shown.

Nevatt said she had felt weary and a little shaky before making her final attempt and had known she was going to struggle to better the world record today.