MÉRIDA, YUCATAN .- “The discipline of freediving or Apnea will be the spearhead to promote the cenotes and biodiversity of Yucatan, generating a culture of sports tourism in the state”, the Yucatan Institute of Sports reported in a statement.
During the 17th edition of the Sports Talks of the Yucatan Sports Institute (IDEY), the national champion of the category, Yucatecan Frida Ruiz Lemus, considered that there is great potential to exploit this modality in Yucatecan territory.
Hand in hand with the agency, she will seek to generate events to develop the ability of children and youth in this diving discipline.
Frda was a guest in this week’s broadcast of the IDEY’s Facebook page, and she declared that this is an excellent opportunity for people from all over Mexico to attend official Apnea competitions in the Yucatan cenotes, which would promote the state’s sports and adventure tourism segment in the short term.
The head of the agency, Carlos Sáenz Castillo, joined the 21-year-old athlete’s intention to promote more freediving events in Yucatán. Even take advantage of the girls and boys of the Sports Initiation Academies that are in 106 municipalities, so that they promote the care and cleaning of the cenotes across the state.
“The dives that are carried out are done with all the safety measures and with trained first aid personnel, in addition to the fact that the waters of the cenotes are totally transparent and favor the practice of dives for pleasure, fun or sports competition”, Sáenz Castillo pointed out.
He indicated that the practice of apnea in cenotes is common in the territory, but more events and promotion need to be done so that children and youth are interested. This brings national and international championships, as well as tourism, in addition to the fact that there are many municipalities that have places suitable for successful diving.
“There are almost five thousand cenotes in Yucatan and the largest ones represent an opportunity to practice apnea; since there are two modalities, which are by depth and distance,” explained Frida Ruíz Lemus, who assured that this discipline can also be performed in the ocean, with certain climatic differences.
In addition to being a national champion with 21 gold, five silver and two bronze medals, in 15 national and international competitions, she is a certified diving instructor (PADI, for its acronym in English) and a former swimmer for the Yucatan state team.
Also, she is a first aid instructor and has a Diploma in High-Performance Training in the discipline. In turn, she was a Yucatecan Sports Merit in 2015 and named Best Citizen in 2018 in the state for her foray into sports. In addition, Firda holds a college degree from the Universidad Marista de Mérida.
Currently, she directs the Lemus submarine school, whose headquarters are in the Bacalar neighborhood in Valladolid, Yucatan. There he offers instruction to those who want to learn freediving in the cenotes of Yucatan.
