By Lloyd Williams, Senior Associate Editor 
Lee ... I always wave the Jamaican flag.
A JAMAICAN, David Lee, 28, set a new FREE-diving World Record on Thursday, in the unassisted constant ballast category for men.
Lee, from Port Antonio, reached a depth of 65 metres (213 feet), according to the organisation F.R.E.E. (Freediving Regulations & Educational Entity) International, with headquarters in Miami, Florida, in a total dive time of 2.14 minutes.
The record was set at 11.55 a.m. in the waters off Kas, Antalya, a town located on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey and it improved on the previous record of 60 metres(197 feet), that was held by Topi Lintukangas.
He bettered the previous record by four metres (13 feet), diving with no fins, no assistance and on breath of air.
"I always wave the Jamaican flag," Lee told The Gleaner.
The record was verified by F.R.E.E. International judges Gianluca Cora, of Italy, and Arthur Zaloga of Lithuania. Cora acted as surface judge, verifying compliance with all surface procedures and receiving the confirmation tag from the diver. Zaloga was positioned at the goal depth where he witnessed the confirmation tag retrieval and verified compliance with all underwater procedures.
FIFTH RECORD
According to F.R.E.E. International, this was Lee's fifth record in that category, having become the diver who set the first official record.
F.R.E.E. congratulated Lee on "... this remarkable accomplishment" and wished him continuous success.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Lee grew up in a watersports environment, influenced by his mother, Jan Lee, who, since the late 1970s, has owned Lady G'Diver (at Blue Lagoon, San San, near Port Antonio, east Portland), one of the most reputable dive shops in the Caribbean. He learned to swim before he could walk and did his first scuba dive at age four.
At age 17 he graduated from Titchfield High School, Port Antonio, and worked for two years as a dive master at Lady G'Diver.
Lee then moved to Tulsa, Oklahama, USA, where he pursued a college degree in information systems.
At age 21 he became interested in freediving and in November 2000, he began training under Rudi Castineyra, a Cuban national who lives in the United States, and one of the world's most renowned freediving trainers, and Yasemin Dalkilic, of Turkey, five-time freediving world record holder.
In four months Lee set the first official unassisted constant ballast world diving record to 45 metres (147 feet), without the use of fins or any propulsion device. On October 2001 he set a new world record in the unassisted constant ballast category to a depth of 47 metres (154 feet), achieving 51 metres (167 feet) on July 12, 2002.
Lee now resides in Tulsa where he works full-time as a systems manager for Rich-Mar Corporation.
