Instructor drowns at freediving competition - Eilat Israel

[DandyDon]

Diving instructor drowns in Eilat freediving competition | The Times of Israel

A 29-year-old diving instructor died two weeks ago during a freediving competition at the Dolphin Reef in Eilat, police said Tuesday

Police opened a criminal probe against the owners on Tuesday to investigate whether negligence was a factor in the instructor’s death.
The instructor, who was competing against other divers to hold his breath for the longest period of time, seems to have passed out and drowned after a short time.
The Dolphin Reef in Eilat responded to the investigation by saying: “The instructor snuck into the pool area after hours without our knowledge and took part in an activity we do not allow. We are sorry for this tragic outcome, and we are doing everything we can to ensure accidents like this do not happen again”.

 

[drbill]

My condolences to the family and friends. However, I just do not understand the fascination with breath hold activities. You are either killing brain cells... or, in this case, all your cells.

 

[Hank49]

Rest in Peace diver.

It sounds like he was maybe training alone in a pool. This isn't the first time an experienced free diver died doing this. My son blacked out in our PFI course in 5 feet of water. If he'd been alone maybe he would be gone also.
It is pretty wild diving to over 500 feet on a breathold But maybe something good will come of it. New medical technology. We're rewriting the book on human physiology.