Help Marinina Freediver get to World Championships

Hello.

My name is Marinina McGowan and I am a freediver.

Before I was born, my parents fell in love with an old Italian folk song about the sea. The song tells the story of the sea fairy "Marinina":

"Over the ocean flies a merry fay,

Soft her wings are as a cloud of day,

As she passes all the blue waves say,

Whither whither is your home?

Come and Turn us into foam!"

My parents decided to name me after this sea fairy. Its a cute name but I never felt it was me. I was always Nina McGowan. I lived on land after all. Nina's feet walked the streets of Dublin. Nina breathed Dublin city air. I definitely had no fairy wings to carry me across oceans and down to underwater realms.

But in 2019 by accident, everything changed when I found the sport of freediving. Freediving is the sport of diving deep underwater without the use of breathing apparatus.

My first amateur freediving dives progressed deeper and deeper. Soon I was starting to take on previous national records. I had practiced breath work techniques in yoga but in the water I discovered that I had a particular aptitude for the extremely difficult task of journeying to the bottom of the sea on one human breath. Diving deep down in the dark depths of the ocean I finally understood that the name Marinina was not just a name. It was a calling. Nina has finally become @Marinina_Freediver

And so began a challenging personal adventure. It's been very, very hard work but brilliant fun. My life has been transformed to the extent that now I find myself in this incredible position: Im going to the CMAS Freediving Outdoor World Championships with a Tricolour on my back to represent Ireland in October this year.

So, now I have to think about how Im going to get there.

I have to take some time off work while I do this, and I never really planned on getting this far, so I find myself a bit cornered financially. The competition lasts 10 days, but I'll need to be on site to train for 1 month beforehand to adapt to the deep water. I have self-funded all of my training to date, resulting in 4x National Records in my discipline of CNF (No Fins). Heres my AIDA ranking:

https://www.aidainternational.org/Athletes/Profile-3e74d067-4e55-4fc1-86a8-ce38bbc26ccd

I have approx 3000e secured between my own funds and a contribution from Dive Ireland towards me being able to compete at this international level event with the proper training and support. But I need about another 4000e to make this happen.

The costs look like this:

4 weeks on site pre-comp training: 1500e

Return flights Dublin-Dalaman plus transfers 1000e to include equipment transport

6 weeks accommodation about 1500e

Living expenses 1500e

Comp entry fees/ licence / subscription 800e

Equipment (Comp Wetsuit etc ) 700e.

Freediving is a growing sport and very exciting to watch. The competition will be broadcast live on YouTube, and DiveEye, the underwater drone will follow divers on their dives. I would love you all to follow me online while I try for a Masters division world record! C'mon Ireland!

Thank you so much for looking at this gofundme and considering giving me a dig out! Any help at all is massively appreciated.