training

My family is going on our annual trip to Cozumel in three weeks. We used to dive but gave it up in favor of traveling light and just snorkeling. Since we've been snorkeling more, I've gotten into free diving, at least to the extent that my kids and I can do it. I tend to workout about five days a week and I'll swim some days, hit the weight room some days, play racquetball once a week, walk a lot with the dog, run on the treadmill, ride the bike to nowhere (interval training), etc. I've been training for the trip some the past couple of weeks by going to the pool twice a week and swimming with fins. I"ll swim one length (25 yds) underwater and flip over on my back for the return trip.... all legs, no arms, both ways. I'll do this for 30 minutes. It takes a couple of laps for my breathing to get under control. It seems like maybe I'm kicking harder at first and expending more O2. When I start to relax more, I can swim slower and actually not feel out of breath when I get to the other end.

So, I was planning to continue this for the next few weeks until we leave along with the other usual workouts. Seems like this would be a reasonable way to prepare for snorkeling and limited free diving - swim with fins underwater - but I thought I'd ask to see if there's anything else that I should be doing. Unfortunately, I can't get my wife to prepare ahead of time so I feel the need to be more than capable of taking care of myself in case I need to help her at any time although she often wears the life jacket. It's the protective side in me. I also worry some about my daughter but she and our son are very comfortable in the water... just maybe sometimes TOO comfortable. :shakehead

a few things you could do.. on your dog walks, treadmill, stationary bicycle, etc. do some apnea training.. hold your breath.. not to the extent of hitting your head on the sidwalk or floor, but to the extent that you get more used to the co2 build up.. and another "on land" training thing to be doing is equalizing... learn the frenzel technique, maybe you already do this but the more effortless you can make equalizing the better. Have a great trip!
Later, Fred

Thanks! I've not heard of the frenzel technique but I don't have trouble clearing. Much appreciated!

BradMM,

Be careful while practicing in the pool, many freedivers have blacked out doing it. It's best done with a buddy watching, then switch.

It would be wise to read up on the sport. One easy place to start would be this months issue of Dive Training. It's free in all dive stores, and has a basic article about freediving.

There are many books with much more, like "Freedive" by Terry Maas and David Sipperly, or "Manual of Freediving" by Umberto Pelizzari.

Enjoy Cozumel!

Chad

Chad Carney:

BradMM,

Be careful while practicing in the pool, many freedivers have blacked out doing it. It's best done with a buddy watching, then switch.

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Over at a spear fishing forum, I found a really good article on the blacking out problem and they now have a vest that you can wear for that. I'll try to find it and post the link.

I don't push that hard but I have to believe that the risks are not nearly as great, statistically speaking, as with SCUBA. I'm always with my kids when I do this in the ocean and there's a life guard at the pool so I'm not too concerned but the buddy concept is certainly the way to do it.

The "Freediver's Safety Vest" that Terry Maas has posted about is in development, not even to beta testing yet. Expect to spend a grand on it. Even so, it won't replace a buddy because it isn't guaranteed to bring your face out of the water.

According to Kirk Krack of Performance Freediving, freedive spearfishing is the most dangerous sport in the world. Most of the deaths have nothing to do with the spearfishing aspect but with the freedive aspect. EDIT- I said Over 80 deaths happen each year in the Medeterranian alone. I think that only applied to 2003.

Statistically speaking more people probably die freediving than SCUBA. Partly because most freedivers are solo or same-day-same-ocean and have little training while most SCUBA divers dive with a buddy and have formal training.

For a lifegaurd to be effective they need to know exactly what you're doing, be paying sole attention to you, and be aware enough of freedive techniques to be able to recognize impending blackout. A pool lifeguard has a lot of other things to look at.

So if you're doing most of your diving with more casual divers who aren't prepared to rescue you at 30' depth, a conservative approach is important.

Jim

JimQPublic:

The "Freediver's Safety Vest" that Terry Maas has posted about is in development, not even to beta testing yet. Expect to spend a grand on it. Even so, it won't replace a buddy because it isn't guaranteed to bring your face out of the water.

According to Kirk Krack of Performance Freediving, freedive spearfishing is the most dangerous sport in the world. Most of the deaths have nothing to do with the spearfishing aspect but with the freedive aspect. Over 80 deaths happen each year in the Medeterranian alone.

Statistically speaking more people probably die freediving than SCUBA. Partly because most freedivers are solo or same-day-same-ocean and have little training while most SCUBA divers dive with a buddy and have formal training.

For a lifegaurd to be effective they need to know exactly what you're doing, be paying sole attention to you, and be aware enough of freedive techniques to be able to recognize impending blackout. A pool lifeguard has a lot of other things to look at.

So if you're doing most of your diving with more casual divers who aren't prepared to rescue you at 30' depth, a conservative approach is important.

Jim

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Some really good points here. Speaking from a lifeguard/instructor point of view, I can say that the "typical" lifeguard is trained to recognize how distressed swimmers and drowning (active & passive) persons behave. They are not trained to recognize nor anticipate a surface or ascent blackout. A typical guard is told to treat someone who is face-down and motionless for more than 30 seconds as a passive drowning.
I'm willing to bet that I am one of only a handful of guard instructors that actually address blackout or LMC issues associated with freediving and practice the responses. Open up communication with the guard at the pool that you plan to train at and get their input. In all honesty, they may frown on any type of apnea training done at the pool after all, they are striving to eliminate/minimize risk.

Man, what happened to the website!?! I couldn't get on all afternoon.

Anyway, very good points above but I thought I'd post the link to the vest article anyway:
http://www.freedive.net/swb.htm

Here's the stats from the article:
COUNTRY............................FREEDIVERS........SWB DEATHS/YEAR
United States- Continental..........10,000...................3
United States- Hawaii..................5,000...................6
Greece....................................50,000...................6
Australia..................................15,000..................10
Italy.......................................12,500...................12
Portugal....................................3,000..................3-5
NewZealand...............................1,000...................2
SouthAfrica................................8,500.................0-1
France.....................................30,000................8-10 (In 2003, 33 French
.......................................................................freedivers died fromSWB)

I don't have the stats on SCUBA but your point about training makes a lot of sense! ... and I'm NOT planning buying a vest!


Freediver, where in Jacksonville can you teach freediving??? Or do you do this as a part of dive trips? I got SCUBA certified in College Station as did all my family members. We just don't live there anymore.

BradMM,

I've seen Terry's article, but it's good to post the link again. I wish the vest was a closer reality, but it's a big project.

JimQPublic just took the Performance Freediver course, and I did as well back in 2003. Freediver probably has too. If you can find the time, 4 days, you would really get a lot out of it.

Or if in Ft Lauderdale in July, check out the "Blue Wild Spearfishing Seminar" in my avatar & signature.

Kirk Krack, Daryl Wong, and Art Pinder are the primary speakers. Also Dr. Neal Pollock from DAN (Divers Alert Network) and Manny Puig (Sharkman) are participating in the Expo.

Dive safe!

Chad

BradMM:

Freediver, where in Jacksonville can you teach freediving??? Or do you do this as a part of dive trips? I got SCUBA certified in College Station as did all my family members. We just don't live there anymore.

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Sorry BradMM, I didn't realize you had a question here at the bottom of your post!
I do clinics in the Athens quarry where I also do most of my scuba instruction. I have also done clinics in conjunction with trips (freshwater and salt). They are geared toward recreation and safety, much less emphasis on the competitive aspect of the sport. I introduce some ideas and concepts that I believe (or at least I hope) are unique to me.