This year Vertical Blue will host the strongest lineup of male freedivers that have ever participated in an event.
Herbert Nitsch, Martin Stepanek and William Trubridge are the only athletes to have set depth world records since 2008, and VB 2010 will be the first occasion that all three are competing in the same event.

Hot on their heels are a group of formidable athletes who are all either ex-world record holders or national champions, including Guillaume Nery, Ryuzo Shinomiya, Dave Mullins, William Winram, Walter Steyn and Robert King.
It is fitting then that this year Vertical Blue will inaugurate the very first edition of the Suunto Dive-off, a contest to confirm who is the best all-round freediver in the world.
The system is simple and eloquent: in each of the three disciplines, (CNF, FIM and CWT) an athlete can earn up to 100 points, depending on the ratio of their best performance compared to the best dive in the event.
So if Jack registers the deepest FIM dive, with 110m, then he receives 100 points, whereas Joe's dive to 90m earns him 90/110 x 100 = 81.8 points.
This way each discipline has the same weighting, and the freediver with the best aggregate (out of a possible total of 300) wins the Suunto Dive-off and is crowned the best all-round freediver of the year.

Vertical Blue will maintain the same format as its past 2 editions: 9 days of diving organised into 3 acts between April 17-27, with a day of rest between each act.  Potentially freedivers could attempt each discipline several times, and we are anticipating that records may fall repeatedly as the top divers attempt to finish the event with the deepest performances.  No longer will there be any conservative "holding it back for the next event," and the judges will be measuring the line all the way to the bottom...

More news will follow soon on what will be the most high profile individual event of the 2010 calendar.