It is beyond the Big Blue to understand the neglect it must feel right now. Dusted off after months of lying on the shelf. Competitions have come and gone, freediving records set, and other tid-bits of freediving trivia all left lying by the wayside. Unfortunately the author has been away, then on his return spent rather a lot of time photo and video editing. Probably too much. ( Well, definitely too much spent on the highly-addictive flickr site).
Even now I am only making a placeholder - a promise of things to come, once the season gets into full swing. In the meantime I am making emergency use of this journal, for the purposes I originally set it up; to record training and photographic knowledge for future reference. This entry falls firmly into the category of 'underwater photography'. On our trip to Kenya a few weeks ago, my underwater rig hit it's most problematic patch ever. Shutter locking up and strobe refusing to fire being frequent offenders. To my surprise triumph over adversity came into play, and I actually recorded one or two reasonable shots. The misfiring strobe was a worsening issue though, and needed sorting.
So on the hottest day to-date, of 2008, I took myself off to those nice people at Cameras Underwater, next to Embankment Station. Within minutes, the culprit was identified as the flash sync cable. Forty quid to replace that didn't hurt quite as much as a new strobe would have done. Discussion then turned to upgrade, as the back of my mind has been housing the thought of submerging an EOS400D at some stage. Out popped a book of underwater images, all taken with a recent compact digital ( and most without strobe ). The difference in quality between those images and the equivalent on SLR, I really don't think would have been appreciable. Recent compacts have superior lenses, reduced shutter lag, and nice big LCD screens. As long as you have the option to manually set the white balance, then you can think about putting it into a housing. I don't know why I have overlooked this in the past. My expensive set of filters not only reduce the light hitting the chip, but they are only effective at quite shallow depths. Seasoned pro's like Matt Kitchen have been advocating MWB on video for some time, but I suppose I'd assumed it would be fiddly for stills and not worth the effort. All the while having to do fiddly edits in Photoshop trying to correct the cyan colour cast.
The second part of the magic recipe, is to attach a decent wet-mount wide-angle lens. Now this I know will not work with my trusty Olys, as the built-in lens is too wide itself, and vignetting / distortion becomes a problem. But at least I now have a 2 stage plan - try out MWB on the existing rig, and make sure I'm happy with the replaced fibre-optic cable. As a slot-in upgrade in a year or so, see what latest compacts are on the market, and add one of these plus housing to my strobe / arm assembly. Oh yes, and make an investment in a decent WA lens. It's the way forward, I'm sure.
Next month, expect the usual mix of freediving news and gossip. In particular, there should be some news about Harry Houdini. Stay tuned.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sent to Coventry
It's not called respiratology. It's respirology, and people who study it are called respirologists. Lung stuff, basically. There exists an association of these respirologists, and last summer they were looking for extreme sports people to talk at their annual conference. I'm all for lung power, so I volunteered.
As Christmas 2007 approached, I found myself spending hours hunched over my laptop, desperately attempting to piece together a PowerPoint presentation on my favourite topic ( meaning freediving this time, rather than myself ). All for twenty minutes' worth of stammering, wildly gesticulating, sweating profusely and nervously laughing. My after-dinner presentation style has been emulated worldwide, mainly by 19 year-old best man victims.
Location-wise, I was posted to the outer regions of Nuneaton, to a hotel called The Paramount Hinckley. Not nearly as bad as you might imagine, it was what I would like to class as The Hotel Babylon of The Midlands. Glitzy lighting and do-la-la-la lounge music. They put me in a room with a tiger stripe bed spread and black pillow cases. When I had told them that I could "gee, go low" perhaps they misunderstood.
Arriving there at about 7pm or so, my plan was to get a bite to eat, watch a movie in my room and then early to bed with the tiger. Food was being served in the bar, and so was the Leffe. Before the froth had time to settle on the first glass, a guy at the bar struck up conversation with me. An exercise physiologist from Loughborough University. He'd been talking earlier in the day, to a packed auditorium of 300 people. Up until this point, I'd guessed at a maximum audience being roughly a third of this. So he gave me the low-down on the layout, stage and equipment. Not to mention a heightened state of nervousness. The Leffe drained away quickly, and needed refilling.
My new found friend had another engagement, and I was nowhere near my original objective of attending to my growling gullet. No sooner had I ordered some food though, than I was next accosted by a group of Scuba diver respirologists. How do we all find each other? Must be a shape thing, as we all had size 7/10 T-shirts on. Diving tales and Belgian ales show no respect to timekeeping, and my early night developed into a late one. The saving grace being to avoid the Karaoke session at the end. I was prepared to make a fool of myself on stage just once on this trip.
Whenever I compete, the night before the performance I don't sleep. My nerves build up to a crescendo until the point I get into the water, and then they just dissolve. At the Paramount, I thought I'd try the same technique before the presentation by going for a swim beforehand in the hotel pool. The calming effect worked until I emerged from the water, showered and looked in the mirror. Panda eyes with dark circles stared back. Not so much lack of sleep, more that my goggles had been on too tightly. With an hour to go, I tried reciting the presentation in my head, but all I could think of was the audience wondering what I had done to get two black eyes.
I was slotted into a pre-lunch session alongside two other speakers in the same subject area. One was a researcher into hypoxic training, and the other a project manager for a recent experiment into altitude effects on physiology, where the research took place on Mount Everest. I was first off the blocks, and my competition calming technique kicked in. Perhaps a little rushed, it was all over in about 15 minutes ( aren't so many things? ), but at least left a good 10 minutes for the questions. The other two then took their turns. The next seemed infinitely more scientific than my presentation, and the final one seemed that bit more enthralling than my accounts of underwater derring-do. I wondered if my talk was just a little too anecdotal - light-hearted, but little substance of anything that really mattered to the audience.
As everyone dispersed for lunch, my exercise physiologist friend approached, along with a couple of others. The talk had been a resounding success, by all accounts - well, theirs at least. More importantly, they were keen to follow up on my offer of freediving volunteers for medical research. ( My freediving comrades are yet to be enlightened on this, of course. ) Several ideas were put forward. Neurological function measurement pre and post Samba or blackout. Performance gains through respiratory resistance training. Analysis into the effects of Buccal pumping. All worthy topics of investigation.
Perhaps we are moving toward a point where we freedivers need to think about putting something into medical research that doesn't involve ego massage. Of course it is superb to marvel at how much vital capacity we each have, and how our haemoglobin is so efficient at transporting oxygen. Isn't it what makes us so great? Going that little stage further though, there might be wider benefit in knowing a bit more about the long-term physiological impact of freediving. For all of us.
A final word on the photograph. It is a Triumph motorcycle, perched behind the Atria bar at the Paramount Hinckley. Not entirely sharp, but think of it as motion blur. And a triumphant presentation.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Dahab Depth Demons
Dahab, Egypt. Dusty coastal town where the Sinai meets the Red Sea. Unlike Sharm-El-Sheikh, a place that feels like it's part of Egypt, not Disney World. With a treasured resource that any freediver would dream of - over 90 metres of depth, bored into an enclosure within a coral reef. They call this 'The Blue Hole'
An Anglo-Australian consortium set out there the first week in December, on a mission. To set depth records.
Four freedivers, two safety scuba divers, and one surface co-ordinator. Ben Noble ( AUS), Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler, Sam Kirby, Laura Storm, Matt Kitchen, Penny Noble ( AUS ) and myself. Our support base in Dahab was provided by none other than Lotta Ericson and Linda Paganelli of 'Freedive Dahab', with assistance from freedivers Sofus Kreutzmann & Katerina Smirnova.
Our team had 6 depth records to set, four of them using a sled. Ben was aiming for No-Limits, Variable Weight, and Free Immersion. Anne-Marie for Variable, and for myself Variable plus Free Immersion. I had pangs of guilt over the Free Immersion, as Marcus Greatwood had only just broken this a few weeks previous. The planning for this trip had by far preceeded that performance, and I couldn't drop 50% of my objectives. I'm just not that much of a gentleman.
The team had multiple roles - Laura and Matt doubled underwater safety with filming, Sam doubled freedive safety with scuba communication, and Penny doubled surface photography with counselling / mentoring. The schedule was tight - 4 days training, and 2 days record setting.
Even before we flew out of Gatwick, we knew there would be issues. Most of the group were experiencing cold viruses to some degree or other. Ben managed to ward his off with nasal rinses, I was lucky and didn't pick mine up until after the attempts, but Anne-Marie suffered the most. Despite valiant attempts to overcome the bug, and training at every opportunity, she knew on the last day of training that she wasn't going to make it. Having a feverous virus is no way to set records.
As we began our sled training, we soon discovered there was a lot more to it than just strapping-in and enjoying the ride. The first demon of sled disciplines has to be nitrogen narcosis. It robs you of all sensibility, logical thought, and even an awareness that you have succumbed to it. One of our tasks with Variable Weight, once we had disembarked from the sled, was to return it to the surface for the next person to use. A simple case of apply the brake, fill the lift bag, turn off the valve and release the brake. A five year-old could do it, surely? On a shallower dive I had no problem, but past 50 metres, it was a different story. Did all the steps and the sled didn't go up. So I then spent half a minute applying and releasing the brake. A bit like turning a light switch on and off when the bulb has blown. Eventually, the proverbial bulb did light up, and I put more air in the bag. Then forgot to turn off the valve, so the sled arrived at the surface with an empty cylinder - useless for the next person. A lesson for the future - when you can't think properly then resort to survival instincts - leave the sled down there and head for the surface! I could easily have stayed down for longer, and paid a price worth more than a surfaced sled.
Continuing with the incompetence theme, the next day I plummeted down to 80 metres and managed to take my hand off the brake. Then, umm, couldn't find it again until the sled whacked into the plate. No problems with equalisation there, then. Anyway, I wasn't the only narcotic in the group - at least one other person managed to drain another cylinder by forgetting to turn off the valve. Interestingly, I was always under the misapprehension that nitrogen narcosis disappeared at the surface. On one dive, I was in the land of the fairies for a good minute after I had surfaced. Everything was hilarious, and everyone was my best friend.
We had no rest day built-in. For me, this was a mistake. As well as the constant racking up ( or down ) of depths each day, my body was slowly dehydrating. I realised this an hour or two before my first record attempt, and by then it was too late. The initial attempt was Free Immersion to 71 metres. Just one metre below the depth set the day before. The whole dive was a disaster from the outset. As I made the first pull, I felt pressure release from my lungs as valuable air forced its way into my stomach. Seconds later, I could feel even more air fizz through my noseclips. I started tensing up as I started gliding and slipped sideways, and at the same time, managed to lose half a mouthfull of air. Somewhere below 60 metres, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to calculate that 1 x full lungs, minus the air I lost at each various stage, equals zero. I could no longer equalise. I used my mouth to attempt to pump out a few cubic centimetres but this just made things worse, as I then ruptured blood vessels in my trachea. The bottom plate was tantalizingly close, and I could feel pain in my eardrums, as my fuzzy head tried to decide whether to continue or stop. That decision was taken out of my hands as I reached the plate, took the tag and turned. But as I pulled myself up, I could feel blood working its way down into my lungs, so I knew there would be problems at the surface.
I didn't blackout until just after attempting to take off my goggles after surfacing, and it was only for a few seconds. But a blackout is a blackout, and means no record. Combined with the rupture, it also meant that diving again that day was simply not possible, so it was all down to my contingency day now.
Things now weren't easy for Ben Noble, as he had 2 records to attempt, just after witnessing my blackout. It's not an encouraging sight. His target was a rope pulldown using arms only, to 50 metres. He made none of the mistakes I had, and came up as fresh as a daisy. About an hour later, he had his Variable Weight attempt at 72 metres, and surfaced equally jubilant. Ben is very measured in his approach, and quite meticulous with preparation. This day was no exception, and he reaped the rewards. His outstanding attempt with no-limits had to wait another 24 hours. Even freedivers need to decompress sometimes.
Last day / last chance at the Blue Hole, and the wind had picked up, so there was surface chop to worry about as well. Talking of chops, my depths were now much more conservative - 7 metres hacked off the 71 I had originally attempted, and my Variable Weight reduced to 80 metres. Better safe than sorry. First off the blocks though, Ben had his No-Limits to nail. At 80 metres, this would make him Australia's deepest freediver. In true Ben-style, it was executed flawlessly. He almost looked disappointed that it had been so easy. Without doubt, from where I was sitting, he could have gone much deeper.
My turn on the sled, and it was a case of same depth, same story. Even to the extent of becoming my nation's deepest male freediver. Another lapse of judgement though with my strategy. As in training, I had chosen to pull myself up the line rather than fin. Of course, I had overlooked that in 20 minutes time, I had a 64 metre Free Immersion to complete....using my arms. Would they hold out? My surface interval disappeared like blue lightning, but then 2 or 3 armstrokes into the descent, so did my noseclips. I had knocked them off. With my left hand I grabbed onto my nose so that I could continue equalising. With my right arm only, I pulled, so that I could continue descending. This was equally as catastrophic as the day before, and I was sure that if I continued, I would be heading for another blackout. Something in my head told me there was no going back, no giving up, so I carried on. There seemed to be enough strength in my arms, and as I headed toward the surface, a stubborn confidence crept in. At the top, I was clean. I should have been relieved, put it felt more like pure defiance. I just couldn't let the depth demons beat me.
Safe freediving means never doing it alone. Ultimate freediving means doing it within a team, and I felt extremely proud at what our team had achieved. It's not just about reaching the bottom plate, it's all the other things - rigging, de-rigging, mutual support....not to mention the superb photos and videos. Clips can be seen here of Ben's FI/VW and here of my 2 records.
With our exercise nearly complete, all that remained was to head into the desert, and celebrate with AIDA sparkling wine and camel koftas, and sing national anthems. It's what we do.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Winter Sled Team
The last six weeks have seen a UK freediving phenomenon take place. No news here, though, and there has been good reason for that. I've been ever-so-slightly busy making this news public, dealing with related press enquiries, liaising with PR agents, doing interviews...the list goes on. I now have a little more time on my hands, and to avoid repetition, a summary about our new world champ's achievements can be read at the bottom of the BFA homepage. The interview I did with Sara will follow in due course.
A couple of exciting new websites are now out there. One is Sam Kirby's Saltfree site, and the other is Liv Philip's. Both well-designed, and worth bookmarking. Gone are the days when you could get away with crafting html in notepad to build a website. For the time being I'm sticking with flickr, Ebay and Blogger for my own efforts. Internet bi-finning, if you will.
The British Freediving Championships have just been awarded, and the 2007 Women's award goes to....Liv Philip! Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler gets retrospective awards for 2005 and 2006. Well done to the ladies. The 2007 award may seem at first glance to be a little unusual. Don't we have a triple World Record holder with Sara Campbell, and should she not be the holder? Well, points are made up from the core disciplines of static apnea, dynamic and constant weight. So although Sara has a solid 90 points to contribute from one discipline, Liv has points in all three and therefore outranks. No controversy here - Sara has focused on depth disciplines and reaped the rewards there, so Liv equally deserves recognition for diversifying her efforts.
On the men's front we have 2 new UK record holders - Marcus Greatwood regains the title that was his at the outset - Free Immersion, with a solid 61 metre performance. Dave King has knocked us all sideways, with a new constant weight record of 78 metres. Set only a few weeks after returning to competitive freediving from a 3 year absence. What depths would he be plundering if he had been in-training during that time? Prospects for the 2008 GB team are looking very good now, both Men and Women's. Wherever the World Championships are, I shall be watching from afar and wishing the team well.
Last but not least, we are expecting good news from Australia, as Ben Noble heads out to Dahab next week with several of us as his UK entourage, to set some sled records. I'm looking forward to a ride on the sled myself, as well as all the other good things that Dahab has to offer.
A couple of exciting new websites are now out there. One is Sam Kirby's Saltfree site, and the other is Liv Philip's. Both well-designed, and worth bookmarking. Gone are the days when you could get away with crafting html in notepad to build a website. For the time being I'm sticking with flickr, Ebay and Blogger for my own efforts. Internet bi-finning, if you will.
The British Freediving Championships have just been awarded, and the 2007 Women's award goes to....Liv Philip! Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler gets retrospective awards for 2005 and 2006. Well done to the ladies. The 2007 award may seem at first glance to be a little unusual. Don't we have a triple World Record holder with Sara Campbell, and should she not be the holder? Well, points are made up from the core disciplines of static apnea, dynamic and constant weight. So although Sara has a solid 90 points to contribute from one discipline, Liv has points in all three and therefore outranks. No controversy here - Sara has focused on depth disciplines and reaped the rewards there, so Liv equally deserves recognition for diversifying her efforts.
On the men's front we have 2 new UK record holders - Marcus Greatwood regains the title that was his at the outset - Free Immersion, with a solid 61 metre performance. Dave King has knocked us all sideways, with a new constant weight record of 78 metres. Set only a few weeks after returning to competitive freediving from a 3 year absence. What depths would he be plundering if he had been in-training during that time? Prospects for the 2008 GB team are looking very good now, both Men and Women's. Wherever the World Championships are, I shall be watching from afar and wishing the team well.
Last but not least, we are expecting good news from Australia, as Ben Noble heads out to Dahab next week with several of us as his UK entourage, to set some sled records. I'm looking forward to a ride on the sled myself, as well as all the other good things that Dahab has to offer.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
When the Water's Deep and the Fish are Big
When there's much to write about, then there's little time to do so. For this brief update, I will let pictures ( both moving and still ) paint a thousand words. Because you really wouldn't want to read that many, would you? Since I last waxed lyrical, the first notable achievement was Liv Philip's new Dynamic No-Fins Record:
Video Clip #1
Whatever the video clip does or doesn't convey, the atmosphere was electric. It's the most impressive performance I have ever witnessed first-hand, let alone judged. Liv is using a very precise technique which has allowed her to almost eclipse her equivalent performance with a pair of fins. My not-so-secret question about this is, if the technique works so well without fins, what would be the effect of using the same stroke with a pair of short bi-fins? It's an experiment worth trying.
Next on the list was a trip to Ecuador and The Galapagos. Myself, Laura Storm, Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler and Matt Kitchen ( not to mention fourteen other much-more-accomplished-than-myself Scuba divers ). Not only could I write a thousand words about this, I actually recorded a lot more than that in my diary. One of my favourite Dive publications suggested they'd publish a transcript, and I'm currently waiting to see if they're still game. If not, then it may have to be here that the short version appears. The photos sum up some of the adventure:
Fishy Photos
Finally, our return to Blighty heralded the preparations for Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly to have a go at a spot of statics. A little different to the usual inductions Liv and I do, it fell under the category of entertainment:
Video Clip #2
Those of a critical disposition might think their times were a bit lame. Not so, when the pressure is on and the Producer has insisted the whole thing be filmed in the most awkward position possible. The boys did considerably better in training, and better-than-average compared to would-be apneists trying out for the first time.
Last but not least, a note to self. ( Yes, this is supposed to be a personal diary for me to record things I need to remember about freediving training and photography. ) Seeing as you had such a nightmare trying to use manual settings on the C7070 for Wide-Angle subjects in bad light, perhaps you might want to experiment next time with the hidden scene mode called 'Underwater Wide-Angle'. The clue is in the name...
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Campbell's Broth
Three months pass... autumn is on the horizon...and despite much activity in the freediving world, silence from Beyond the Big Blue.
With some things, being in the thick of them means you don't have as much opportunity putting finger to keyboard. Enjoying the British summer is another good excuse – so now that the rain has finally stopped, I can at last get out in the garden with the laptop.
First things first, then: some new records for UK female sector. No fewer than 4 have been broken, and three of those more than once. One of them ( Free Immersion ) going 2 metres deeper than the men's equivalent. What gives? A new name, a new face, and a blaze of publicity in tow. The name ( and face, shown here ) belonging to Sara Campbell, from Dahab. For years I have been telling students, that if you can only do one activity out of the water to help your freediving, choose yoga. Sara is a guru in that department, having taught it for some time now. Last year she decided to try playing around with a monofin. Now she's been down to 70 metres with it. A depth that the elite normally take several years to attain. Sara has bagged constant weight, constant weight without fins ( 40m ) and free immersion ( 62m ). Record no. 4 was not Sara's for the taking, though. Liv Philip showed that she too, can break her own records if she chooses to, and did just that with a 5 min 32 second hold in Maribor, Slovenia at the World's Indoor Individual Freediving Championships. The UK is hearing a lot about Sara at the moment but let's not forget that Liv, our highest ranked female, is also breaking records. As for us men, we seem to be resting on our laurels...
Talking telephone numbers, Herbert Nitsch went down on a sled to 700 feet and back again in June. He did use a bit of wizardry to do it, but all above-board, if below surface. ( Amazing how plastic coke bottles and bits of polystyrene are the latest technological breakthroughs in freediving – I just love it when simple practicality triumphs over leading-edge gadgetry. )
The competition season is well underway now, and I have had the pleasure in taking part in two. Firstly, Coupe Des Calanques in Marseille, organized by Gregory Piazzola. With about 60 athletes taking part in this, it was a first in that scoring was for teams of two. The idea being, that one experienced freediver would partner a newcomer. ( Or for some teams, that two elitists would partner up and try and walk away with top prize ). I stuck to the brief, and was lucky enough to have Ms George Miller as my partner. I say lucky, because I couldn't have asked for someone who was a better sport about the misfortunes that were thrown at her. A constant weight dive canceled because of rough sea conditions, and a yellow card in static for a mistake not of her making. No histrionics, no toys thrown out of prams – just good humour, and a cheeky grin to go with it. The whole competition was all about having fun, and no-one was being too serious ( not even the 'dream teams' ). A great representation from the UK, with Liv Philip and Tim Money joining George and my 'Tea for Two' as the 'Free Hugs' team. And of course, trusty coach / photographer / psychotherapist Laura Storm. Competing in Nice is a hard act to follow, but Marseille proved itself another worthy French arena.
Last but by no means least....Double Dip, a UK national competition at the NDAC. Home ground for this competitor, and a freak weekend of mainly good weather for the occasion. I can't do justice to Sam's transcripts of the weekend, so I have linked to that. Every time Sam and Laura put on an event here, it seems to surpass the previous. This time, both men and women had some serious competition in the form of a guest appearance from Sara Campbell. Sara managed to do what I did not – reach the depths she had inscribed, and thus achieved the highest scores. Not that I was disappointed – I have a wonderful piece of Bristol Blue Glass taking pride of place in our living room to prove otherwise. So this quarter's news from a British perspective of freediving closes, with more than a little respect to our diminutive newcomer. Who has now kicked my ass twice.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Loïc Leferme (28 August 1970 – 11 April 2007)
As with many freedivers, the first big name I heard of in the sport was Jacques Mayol, courtesy of Luc Besson’s ‘The Big Blue’. The second was another Frenchman - Loïc Leferme.
I was learning the basics of freediving in Plymouth in the summer of 2002, being taught by Howard Jones, when Loïc’s name cropped up more than once. Like Howard, it seemed that he also instructed would-be freedivers, in the slightly sunnier environs of Nice. Doing a sales pitch for another instructor is never easy, although we all do it from time to time. Howard managed to promote Loïc’s wife Valery’s home-made baguettes more than anything else, but at least I knew another name and another location.
I had no idea that Loïc was such a grande fromage in the sport, until I went to the London Dive Show early the next year. Howard had arranged a presentation by both Loïc and Guillaume Nery. The two of them were world record holders - Guillaume in Constant Weight, and Loïc in No-Limits. As presentations go, it could have been better if the audience had a better understanding of French, or the speakers of English. The video footage was superb, though, and I’ll never listen to ‘The Scientist’ by Coldplay without a vision of Loïc on his sled.
Only a few months later I was nervously taking the plunge in Limmasol, Cyprus, at my first freediving competition. Yet another Howard Jones production, and with a lot of goodwill and help thrown in from friends and freedivers from around the world. By then I not only knew a few more big names, I was surrounded by them. Loïc seemed to stand out more than the others though - not just because of his flowing mane, but someone who seemed to have the rare quality of presence, but without the big ego in-tow. As the competition came into being, it was obvious that Loïc was very much integral to the whole machine. He seemed to somehow manage safety freediving for hours on end, without a break. Not the easy stuff either - several times he had to demonstrate his rescue skills, which of course were exemplary. When it was time for my dive, I felt like a mouse at a cat party. Without saying a word, Loïc looked at me and instilled a sense of calm. It was a paradox - here was the World’s deepest freediver, giving up his time and energy so that a mere novice could try his hand at the sport in which he was King.
Over the years, Loïc was a safety diver for me at least three or four times, mainly at the CIPA competitions in Nice. After one of my less-impressive dynamic performances, Loïc congratulated me as if I had broken a world record. I never had the opportunity to return the complement and safety dive for him. I don’t even recall buying him a drink. Some of us managed to get a laugh out of him though, more than once, and always for the same thing. He found it very amusing when British freedivers all huddled together in our own group when ‘socialising’. And took great delight in breaking us up.
Sometimes Loïc looked so serious or thoughtful, yet so quick to change his expression into a broad grin. And as quickly as his expression could change, so would his focus, always having time for those around him.
Loïc Leferme is not with us anymore. Not his physical presence anyway. But for those of us that dangle a few metres beneath the waves on a sunny day, and let the breathless calm envelop us…well, if you do it, you know the feeling. The next time it comes, for me at least, some of that feeling will be Loïc.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Get in the Water
If the last posting whetted your appetite for things World Championship-related, then you can read more in the February editions of Sport Diver and Diver magazine. Not to mention my brief summary of proceedings on the BFA website. On the subject of Diver magazine, you can now read online about our top Angel Laura Storm, and her ‘Buddy of the Year 2006’ trip to St. Kitts.
If the bad weather and winter blues are setting in, and you’re not getting in as much freediving training as you’d like, perhaps you can consider a couple of performance boosts. Firstly your hydration. If you think that summer heat is the only seasonal factor to dehydration, think again. Cold weather is also dehydrating, and overwarm central heating systems don’t help either. Dehydration has a big impact on apnea performance. Get drinking!
Boost no. 2 is of the ethereal kind. We all have our pre-apnea ‘chill-out’ methods, and you could do worse than consider meditation as one of them. OK, traditionally this is something we associate with religion, and not all of us are of that persuasion. Paul Wilson has cherry-picked a number of techniques from various religious sources, de-mystified and simplified them, and compiled them into his new book, The Quiet. If you pick up a copy of this book, you do need to go into it with an open mind. You can’t totally disassociate the spiritualist element from meditation, but then I’m not sure many of us can do that with freediving either. This book allows you to have your own beliefs, whatever they are, it’s just that you are expected to have a belief of some sort in order to get a reasonable benefit. My belief? That it might improve my statics. And it did.
If the bad weather and winter blues are setting in, and you’re not getting in as much freediving training as you’d like, perhaps you can consider a couple of performance boosts. Firstly your hydration. If you think that summer heat is the only seasonal factor to dehydration, think again. Cold weather is also dehydrating, and overwarm central heating systems don’t help either. Dehydration has a big impact on apnea performance. Get drinking!
Boost no. 2 is of the ethereal kind. We all have our pre-apnea ‘chill-out’ methods, and you could do worse than consider meditation as one of them. OK, traditionally this is something we associate with religion, and not all of us are of that persuasion. Paul Wilson has cherry-picked a number of techniques from various religious sources, de-mystified and simplified them, and compiled them into his new book, The Quiet. If you pick up a copy of this book, you do need to go into it with an open mind. You can’t totally disassociate the spiritualist element from meditation, but then I’m not sure many of us can do that with freediving either. This book allows you to have your own beliefs, whatever they are, it’s just that you are expected to have a belief of some sort in order to get a reasonable benefit. My belief? That it might improve my statics. And it did.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Livvy our Luvvy
As 2006 draws to a close, I wouldn’t want to see the year end without posting a few thoughts about the recent 5th AIDA World Freediving Championships.
I have written news articles for Diver magazine and the British Freediving Association about this, and once there are web pages published with these articles, I will add the links here. A few brief facts and figures for now:
Denmark won the Men’s, with the Czech Republic and France gaining 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Russia won the Women’s, with Sweden and Canada taking 2nd and 3rd.
Great Britain ( men ) came in at 16th out of 25
Great Britain ( women ) came 10th out of 16
Herbert Nitsch made a new world record in constant weight with an 111 metre dive
Livvy Philip made a new UK record with a 5 minute 24 second breath-hold.
The athletes’ views on the event have been mixed. I don’t think anyone could argue that there was scope for better organisation. Looking back on my own reviews, I have been critical and some might say, harsh. Unfortunately the British team were at the receiving end of some of the ‘challenging’ situations that happened, so if that has created un unbalanced bias, so be it. A good reporter can dismiss personal involvement and write unbiased accounts. I chose not to, as I have preferred ( at least in my longer article ) to recreate the sense of frustration and add some realism to the whole affair. Next time I’ll bury my head in the gritty stuff and gloss over the cracks. Links to appear soon.
Casting back my thoughts to the Great Britain team performance, I can only say that it was exemplary, at least in the way we behaved as athletes and sportsmen / women, to ourselves and to other teams. There were some lessons to be learned, though, and I hope we can use these as a plan to create a stronger team in the future. This world championship was the first where dynamic scores contributed to team positions. When we look at Denmark, three things have contributed to their winning men’s performance. Firstly, their supreme abilities in dynamic. Not one out of the three of them scored less than 173 metres. ( The UK record currently stands at 156. ) Secondly, differentials between individuals was low. Having 3 athletes closely matched in abilities is usually a better strategy than having a broader range. Lastly, their focus on pool disciplines. If pool disciplines take a nominal 67% of the overall score, then this is where to put the work into.
In the UK we have a double-edged sword. To train in constant weight there are only a couple of facilities ( one involving trespassing ) offering depths in the 60m + range, and are somewhat cool with subdued lighting. Does this make the UK an ideal candidate for pool training? Unfortunately not - pools allowing freedivers to practise are few and far between. In our cotton-wool society, we would rather let the untrained general public do whatever breath-holding they want to in public pool sessions, than allow a group of properly-trained and equipped athletes practice when they ask permission to. Still, we can’t blame society - we need to educate them, increase awareness, and try to foster relations with swimming pool operators where we can. The ‘we’ in part, being the British Freediving Association. Further still, perhaps more can be done to spread a net out for new talent? ( Sam Kirby’s Mermaid Challenge from 2005 was a great initiative, and the recent Maverick’s Crystal Palace pool competition put together by Matt Kitchen, another. ) Another possible thought would be to streamline some of our pool sessions, so that those with the ability have access to sessions where they can put in solid training time. Freediving is a fun, sociable sport, but we should make some provision for serious competition too.
One final observation from Hurghada, was to do with how we train during competition. Although it wouldn’t have drastically changed our final team positions, we may have scored a few more points by changing our training methods. Looking back, we seemed to put a lot of effort into sequentially making performance improvements. Nothing wrong with that, but we might have overlooked keeping a consistent approach between training and competition times. So if a particular individual coaches you in a particular way on your training days, the same person repeats this on competition days. The more variables removed, the more the scores improve.
In fact, I think I’ll hang on to that for my motto for 2007. Let’s hope for a good year for us all.
I have written news articles for Diver magazine and the British Freediving Association about this, and once there are web pages published with these articles, I will add the links here. A few brief facts and figures for now:
Denmark won the Men’s, with the Czech Republic and France gaining 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Russia won the Women’s, with Sweden and Canada taking 2nd and 3rd.
Great Britain ( men ) came in at 16th out of 25
Great Britain ( women ) came 10th out of 16
Herbert Nitsch made a new world record in constant weight with an 111 metre dive
Livvy Philip made a new UK record with a 5 minute 24 second breath-hold.
The athletes’ views on the event have been mixed. I don’t think anyone could argue that there was scope for better organisation. Looking back on my own reviews, I have been critical and some might say, harsh. Unfortunately the British team were at the receiving end of some of the ‘challenging’ situations that happened, so if that has created un unbalanced bias, so be it. A good reporter can dismiss personal involvement and write unbiased accounts. I chose not to, as I have preferred ( at least in my longer article ) to recreate the sense of frustration and add some realism to the whole affair. Next time I’ll bury my head in the gritty stuff and gloss over the cracks. Links to appear soon.
Casting back my thoughts to the Great Britain team performance, I can only say that it was exemplary, at least in the way we behaved as athletes and sportsmen / women, to ourselves and to other teams. There were some lessons to be learned, though, and I hope we can use these as a plan to create a stronger team in the future. This world championship was the first where dynamic scores contributed to team positions. When we look at Denmark, three things have contributed to their winning men’s performance. Firstly, their supreme abilities in dynamic. Not one out of the three of them scored less than 173 metres. ( The UK record currently stands at 156. ) Secondly, differentials between individuals was low. Having 3 athletes closely matched in abilities is usually a better strategy than having a broader range. Lastly, their focus on pool disciplines. If pool disciplines take a nominal 67% of the overall score, then this is where to put the work into.
In the UK we have a double-edged sword. To train in constant weight there are only a couple of facilities ( one involving trespassing ) offering depths in the 60m + range, and are somewhat cool with subdued lighting. Does this make the UK an ideal candidate for pool training? Unfortunately not - pools allowing freedivers to practise are few and far between. In our cotton-wool society, we would rather let the untrained general public do whatever breath-holding they want to in public pool sessions, than allow a group of properly-trained and equipped athletes practice when they ask permission to. Still, we can’t blame society - we need to educate them, increase awareness, and try to foster relations with swimming pool operators where we can. The ‘we’ in part, being the British Freediving Association. Further still, perhaps more can be done to spread a net out for new talent? ( Sam Kirby’s Mermaid Challenge from 2005 was a great initiative, and the recent Maverick’s Crystal Palace pool competition put together by Matt Kitchen, another. ) Another possible thought would be to streamline some of our pool sessions, so that those with the ability have access to sessions where they can put in solid training time. Freediving is a fun, sociable sport, but we should make some provision for serious competition too.
One final observation from Hurghada, was to do with how we train during competition. Although it wouldn’t have drastically changed our final team positions, we may have scored a few more points by changing our training methods. Looking back, we seemed to put a lot of effort into sequentially making performance improvements. Nothing wrong with that, but we might have overlooked keeping a consistent approach between training and competition times. So if a particular individual coaches you in a particular way on your training days, the same person repeats this on competition days. The more variables removed, the more the scores improve.
In fact, I think I’ll hang on to that for my motto for 2007. Let’s hope for a good year for us all.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The Exit
Here’s a freediving challenge you might not want to try. Let’s say you’ve just had a fantastic fortnight’s holiday in Kenya, taking in a safari in the Masai Mara and lots of Scuba diving at the coast. You’re heading back to the airport in the early hours of the morning, bouncing along a pot-holed track in the middle of nowhere, in the back of a 4x4 with all your luggage. Ahead in the distance, the road disappears into a fairly large expanse of water. Same stretch of road was dry 48 hours previously. Difficult to tell just how deep it is, but surely no more than half a metre or so. Your Father is driving, your Brother in the front passenger seat. He puts down his foot and goes for it. Suddenly the car loses traction, and moves sideways, in what isn’t a puddle at all, but a dormant river, newly awakened by recent flash floods. It’s eroded the road away, enough to just about submerge the car you are in. Water is flooding in, and your Father and Brother are desperately trying to clamber out of their windows. Your windows don’t open, and with the pressure of the surrounding water, neither do your doors. At this stage, you will be excused if some degree of panic sets in….
Laura Storm not only managed to kick her way out, but incredibly kept a small bag with her camera and mobile phone in, just above the surface of the water. Able to call for help, what could have been a tragedy evolved into a traumatic escapade. She missed her flight home, of course. The car and luggage were retrievable, albeit the luggage contents ruined. The car? In the UK would have gone straight to the crusher. In Africa things are handled differently - if it ain’t really, really broken - fix it. And so the garage did, in a matter of days. There’s more to the story than this, but I’m relaying things 2nd hand here. Give me a rope and plate anyday - this is too Blaine-ist for my liking.
A short paragraph on training ( purpose of the blog, and all that ). It’s going well. Managed a PB in dynamic 2 weeks ago. Over 100 metres, but some cards have to be kept close to one’s chest as the World Championships approach. Doing lots of running, cycling, pool training, static tables, apnea walks, and being careful with diet. The only downside has been Constant Weight training - haven’t been able to do any depth training since late August, so a bit of catching up to do. I have a week in Egypt before the Championships kick off, so should be able to make up. He hopes.
Last but not least, another word about my mate Theo ( he seems to have kidnapped my blog somehow ). Yeah, he set another record. Yeah, it was impressive - 167 metres in dynamic, and he didn’t even look ruffled at the end. This was at the Maverick’s Crystal Palace Pool Competition, organised by Matt Kitchen. Sam Kirby and I were judging. Challenging stuff - we had to dish out disqualifications in dynamic for 33% of performances, which is difficult when most of them are friends. ( Or were, should I say. ) So a great feeling for us to judge such an impressive performance. This gives me 2 national records under my belt that I have judged. So if you’re reading this Theo - thanks for letting me share in your success!
Next post - post-World Championships.
Laura Storm not only managed to kick her way out, but incredibly kept a small bag with her camera and mobile phone in, just above the surface of the water. Able to call for help, what could have been a tragedy evolved into a traumatic escapade. She missed her flight home, of course. The car and luggage were retrievable, albeit the luggage contents ruined. The car? In the UK would have gone straight to the crusher. In Africa things are handled differently - if it ain’t really, really broken - fix it. And so the garage did, in a matter of days. There’s more to the story than this, but I’m relaying things 2nd hand here. Give me a rope and plate anyday - this is too Blaine-ist for my liking.
A short paragraph on training ( purpose of the blog, and all that ). It’s going well. Managed a PB in dynamic 2 weeks ago. Over 100 metres, but some cards have to be kept close to one’s chest as the World Championships approach. Doing lots of running, cycling, pool training, static tables, apnea walks, and being careful with diet. The only downside has been Constant Weight training - haven’t been able to do any depth training since late August, so a bit of catching up to do. I have a week in Egypt before the Championships kick off, so should be able to make up. He hopes.
Last but not least, another word about my mate Theo ( he seems to have kidnapped my blog somehow ). Yeah, he set another record. Yeah, it was impressive - 167 metres in dynamic, and he didn’t even look ruffled at the end. This was at the Maverick’s Crystal Palace Pool Competition, organised by Matt Kitchen. Sam Kirby and I were judging. Challenging stuff - we had to dish out disqualifications in dynamic for 33% of performances, which is difficult when most of them are friends. ( Or were, should I say. ) So a great feeling for us to judge such an impressive performance. This gives me 2 national records under my belt that I have judged. So if you’re reading this Theo - thanks for letting me share in your success!
Next post - post-World Championships.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Tbird Flies
Pictured here is one of the USA’s freediving freedom fighters, Theo Ivanovic. A national record-holder, survivor of a shark attack, and as of this week…proud father of new son Ilya. Another minor achievement ( which pales into insignificance compared to his most recent ), is that he snatched my NDAC constant weight record away from me about 3 weeks after I set it. So, not such a nice guy, huh? I suppose I can forgive him – at 64 metres he’s nowhere near his own PB, and joking aside, he’s one of freediving’s finest.
The last 2 months have seen a surge of activity in UK freediving. Firstly, the Saltfree Summer Splash 2006 competition – top UK female being Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler, and on the men’s front Paul Whincup. I chose not to compete, but to judge – something I have done before at national record attempts, but not in competition. I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy the experience, but I do know it isn’t something I want to progress further with. I’m judging again in a fortnight at the Mavericks BFA Pool Competition, so that perhaps that will influence my long-term decision…but I doubt it. I love competitive freediving, and if I’m not competing myself, then helping out with things like safety diving. I just don’t like disqualifying clean performances on technicalities, that’s all.
With the Saltfree Splash done and dusted, the BFA were able to select the 10-strong UK freediving team for the coming 2006 World Championships – just four short weeks away. My sponsors ( John Lewis and Suunto ) will be pleased to know that I’m provisionally on the team, although the split between the 3 competitors and 2 reservists will not be decided until after training has taken place in Egypt. Both men and women’s teams have a huge challenge ahead – standards have been raised higher than the last time the UK competed in Vancouver. We have new blood in the teams though, and are made up of people with spirit and good humour. I’m looking forward to being part of it, and to meeting old friends from around the world again.
The last thing to mention on the UK freediving scene, is last week’s BFA AGM, and the challenge for the chair. The two contenders are Steve Gardiner and Rachel Sharp. They are both good candidates for the post ( which has changed it’s aspect from ‘driving’ to ‘overseeing’ ), so it now goes to the vote. If you are reading this and are a BFA member, then read the manifestos carefully.
A couple of things to finish off with – my partially removed mole has undergone histology and been officially diagnosed as Lentigo Maligna. Bad that it is pre-cancerous and symptomatic of my sun-damaged skin, but good that it hadn’t turned invasive. The only additional treatment now is the final excision in January.
Lastly, I am about to wave goodbye to the Elf for two weeks, as she flies out of the October gloom to the shores of Tiwi beach, in Kenya. For me, I have just emerged from 6 weeks of post-op recuperation, head colds and tummy bugs. So when I am not working, I have a bit of catching up to do on the training front.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Sitting Next to Lois Lane
New wetsuit arrived last week. Although the sponsor logo looks stitched on in Photoshop ( some unkind people have said my head does too ), it hasn’t. I have to own up to admitting choosing the colour scheme. Blue, gold or black were the base colours to choose from. Not wanting to look like an extra from ‘Priscilla - Queen of the Desert’, I eliminated gold. Not wanting to overheat waiting for my boat to arrive, I eliminated black. Left with blue, and feeling somewhat patriotic, I added red and white. Unfortunately, I hadn’t really considered how the whole ensemble would turn out. I soon found out when I tried it on at our pool training session. Some people asked why I didn’t have red underpants on over the top. Others made flying poses. Some kind people didn’t laugh, but the majority behind me did. Not much I can do now….other than get a red satin cape to complete the outfit.Training continues reasonably well, and I managed to set an unofficial depth record in Constant Weight at the NDAC two weeks ago. Sixty-one metres is 14 short of the current UK record, but it is still a record at the NDAC. A great clip of the session it was part of can be seen here, expertly filmed by Simon the Jedi Knight. I discovered that part of the solution to my leg fatigue is to drop lead weight. By losing an 800g weight, my descent slowed significantly. The increase in glide time gave my legs an increased rest period. Ascending was then a breeze - kicking all the way. Of course there's a bit more to it than a bit of lead-weight-loss. My coach has been investing lots of her time and my agony down at the local gym. No pain, no gain.
Training will be having a short pause mid-September, while I have a couple of moles ousted ( my body, not my lawn ). No swimming for 3 weeks, they tell me. I’ve postponed the procedure until I’ve performed my judging duties at the Saltfree Splash competition, but if anyone wonders why I’m not resident at my normal pool training sessions after that, this is the reason.
People who know me well, may have noticed a sense-of-humour failure of late. I can only apologise, and report that an engineer is working hard to correct the problem. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
Monday, July 10, 2006
The Big Six-Oh
Ah. Resolutions to keep the blog up-to-date haven’t really been honoured, have they? Over 6 weeks have passed since the last post. I have managed to squeeze in a competition, holiday and my Mencap Dive Challenge in that time, and haven’t had much spare to jot down the proceedings.
So, in chronological order….the CIPA International first. Another sunny weekend in Nice with good friends, cheap rosé, and a scenic train journey from / to Waterloo. One ghost finally laid to rest ( last year’s static blackout ), 7th place overall ( out of 58 ), and a PB in dynamic apnea. My ranking now UK 1st place for the 3 main disciplines. Just what the doctor ordered.
Next stop, St. Kitts. Well, almost - the pilot turned us back to Gatwick 2 hours into the flight, seeing as a warning light had appeared on his flight console. That lost us 7 hours of the holiday. Another 45 minutes went when he couldn’t land the plane ( hey, don’t blame the pilot - it was nighttime, there was a thunderstorm over the runway, and St. Kitts doesn’t have the luxury of ILS, even though there is a mountain next to the airport ). A week of diving, jerk chicken, Stag beer, and the friendliest people you’ll meet anywhere in The Caribbean, more than made up for the delays.
Finally, my opportunity to do some freediving and raise money for Mencap came into being last weekend. Sixty donations of ten pounds ( or the equivalent ) to dive 60 metres to celebrate 60 years of Mencap. It wasn’t about breaking records, but it needed to be challenging. Challenging it was. My legs have never complained so much about being asked to propell me back to somewhere I can breathe. Even the shouts and cheers from The Angels technical support team couldn’t get them to deliver the power I was asking for. But I did make it back, brought the tag up from 60 metres, and remained conscious throughout. Just to add that little bit extra, 3 of The Angels ( Laura, Simon and Mark ) volunteered to stay in the cold and dark for 60 minutes. OK, 2 of them volunteered; one of them was clipped into place for the duration whether she liked it or not.
If anyone from Saltfree, The Angels, The NDAC, or those that donated money read this - a big thank you to all of you for your time and generosity. This was very much a team effort, not an individual one.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Take a breath, take a deep breath now
Now that June is nearly here, just how merry was May? For David Blaine, a bit damper than for the rest of us, and with no personal triumph. The breathhold stunt failed, and he was rescued when diaphragmatic contractions started forcing air out of his lungs. ( Any other stunt person who wants to try this and secretly breathe-up on Oxygen beforehand, take note. ) I could have felt even more smug about the whole thing if ITN had aired the interview I did with them a few days before the bid, where I accurately predicted the outcome. Anyway, Sky News at least gave me 5 minutes to spout forth my opinions on it, albeit after the shouting had died down. Despite the cynical voicings of the collective freediving community, I think we are all secretly grateful to Blaine for giving our shadowy sport a bit of publicity. I haven’t yet heard of any nasty accidents with impressionable people trying to mimic what he did. In any case, I’ve never seen one of those big perspex spheres in our local Homebase, so that’s bound to put most folk off.
My summer resolution now, will be to keep this blog up-to-date a bit more, with more focus on my personal training. I have been very kindly sponsored by The John Lewis Partnership, who are helping me financially with training and attending competitions. My immediate aim is to achieve the necessary AIDA ranking to enable me to qualify for UK team selection, for the next AIDA World Cup Championship in December. Normally us freedivers keep quiet about ambitions like this, along with our personal secret techniques. However, anyone who has followed my ramblings will know that I have no respect for cloak-and-dagger within the sport, which is why I have laid bare on the blog from the outset.
In that case, what have I been doing to train myself for this weekend’s CIPA competition in Nice? Time I would normally have spent depth training in the quarry has instead been used as recovery from a cold virus, or instead doing a PADI Rescue Diver training course. I have been able to get some gym training in though, and concentrate on weight training for my underpowered legs. Also a bit of experimentation in the pool with using neck weights to counterbalance me. ( Big thanks go to Simon Reid for helping me with this, and supplying me with a 1kg neck weight for the forthcoming competition. ) My main objective this weekend is a clean performance in all disciplines. This may well mean dropping back significantly on depths / times, and this is far more difficult to do than instead raising the stakes.
Beyond the big blue of Nice, the not-so-big green of Tiddenham beckons, for something much more worthy than collecting ranking points. This time I want to collect money, and pass it on to Mencap to mark their 60th anniversary. This will take place at the NDAC on the 8th July. Donations gratefully received here.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a train to catch. All aboard for the Cote D’Azur.
My summer resolution now, will be to keep this blog up-to-date a bit more, with more focus on my personal training. I have been very kindly sponsored by The John Lewis Partnership, who are helping me financially with training and attending competitions. My immediate aim is to achieve the necessary AIDA ranking to enable me to qualify for UK team selection, for the next AIDA World Cup Championship in December. Normally us freedivers keep quiet about ambitions like this, along with our personal secret techniques. However, anyone who has followed my ramblings will know that I have no respect for cloak-and-dagger within the sport, which is why I have laid bare on the blog from the outset.
In that case, what have I been doing to train myself for this weekend’s CIPA competition in Nice? Time I would normally have spent depth training in the quarry has instead been used as recovery from a cold virus, or instead doing a PADI Rescue Diver training course. I have been able to get some gym training in though, and concentrate on weight training for my underpowered legs. Also a bit of experimentation in the pool with using neck weights to counterbalance me. ( Big thanks go to Simon Reid for helping me with this, and supplying me with a 1kg neck weight for the forthcoming competition. ) My main objective this weekend is a clean performance in all disciplines. This may well mean dropping back significantly on depths / times, and this is far more difficult to do than instead raising the stakes.
Beyond the big blue of Nice, the not-so-big green of Tiddenham beckons, for something much more worthy than collecting ranking points. This time I want to collect money, and pass it on to Mencap to mark their 60th anniversary. This will take place at the NDAC on the 8th July. Donations gratefully received here.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a train to catch. All aboard for the Cote D’Azur.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Six Days After
The virtual door bell has been ringing, but for something quite different to what I was expecting. Six days ago, three blasts shook the heart of Dahab. More terrorist bombs, this time aimed at the peaceful 'backpacker's' town where westerners and Egyptians co-exist in a harmony devoid of politics or religious hatred. Someone saw fit to shatter that idyll.
Twenty-three dead, mainly Egyptians. Many more casualties, some from Europe. And two freedivers among those injured. Lotta Ericson has written a first-hand account of what happened to her and her husband Peter, while they were out with Brigitte Hauenstein and Sam Still. Brigitte sustained quite severe injuries and will take some time to recover. Sam less so, but still bad enough to need his return to the UK for further hospital treatment.
Taking time out to answer press queries for this was the least I could do to help, but while this drama was unfolding, I took less kindly to questions about the forthcoming David Blaine stunt.
I was quoted ( a little too ) literally, while trying to explain to a non-diver why the illusionist was probably living up to his job title. The freediving community is divided between those who think his breathholding stunt dangerous and disrespectful, and those who think it is good publicity. Me? Well I believe I managed to boost hits to the BFA website by several hundred percent, and at the same time pour a bit more cold water into Blaine's perspex tank.
Last but not least, Mustang Sally turned up on my doorstep last Thursday. I've now taken her for a dunking, put her laces in, and repaired a little split I may have made. Let's see if pure carbon can help me achieve a new freediving ambition with CWNR - Constant Weight, No Resting.
Twenty-three dead, mainly Egyptians. Many more casualties, some from Europe. And two freedivers among those injured. Lotta Ericson has written a first-hand account of what happened to her and her husband Peter, while they were out with Brigitte Hauenstein and Sam Still. Brigitte sustained quite severe injuries and will take some time to recover. Sam less so, but still bad enough to need his return to the UK for further hospital treatment.
Taking time out to answer press queries for this was the least I could do to help, but while this drama was unfolding, I took less kindly to questions about the forthcoming David Blaine stunt.
I was quoted ( a little too ) literally, while trying to explain to a non-diver why the illusionist was probably living up to his job title. The freediving community is divided between those who think his breathholding stunt dangerous and disrespectful, and those who think it is good publicity. Me? Well I believe I managed to boost hits to the BFA website by several hundred percent, and at the same time pour a bit more cold water into Blaine's perspex tank.
Last but not least, Mustang Sally turned up on my doorstep last Thursday. I've now taken her for a dunking, put her laces in, and repaired a little split I may have made. Let's see if pure carbon can help me achieve a new freediving ambition with CWNR - Constant Weight, No Resting.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Unique Creatures
The world has spun a fair few turns since my last update, and there are things I have meant to record, should have recorded, and haven’t recorded. A filming session for BBC3, with Peter Sheard at the University of Luton, for example. Seeing as that was about a month past now, I will possibly leave the detail of that for another time - perhaps nearer to screening.
What I cannot let go amiss, is the news I was presented with on Christmas Eve. The infamous Vodka Elf has reached another level. Diver Magazine’s ‘Buddy of the Year 2006’. I’m now desperately trying to find a ‘Nominator of the Year 2006’ competition to enter.
Another alternative I’d put myself up for, is ‘Bad Buddy of the Year 2006’. The last fortnight has seen us ‘working hard’ in The Maldives, on a Manta Ray research project, run by Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler and husband Matt aboard MV Gaayia. If we hadn’t assisted, who else would have? My part was to photograph the underside of these magnificent creatures, to pick out their unique identification marks.
Prior to stepping aboard though, the Elf and I spent a week ashore with Matt and Anne-Marie, on Kuredu Island. One of our objectives was a little familiarisation with the ripping currents that flow through the various thilas and channels out there. At one point, we had a channel to cross, at a depth of 20 metres or so. Matt and Anne-Marie had crossed to the other side and were hooked in with their lines. As I pushed headlong into the current, I was concentrating on doing the same thing, as my progress was made inch by inch. However, there is no ‘I’ in Scuba - it should have been ‘us’. I had completely overlooked The Elf struggling, and who had by now hooked in about 20m downcurrent. To make matters worse, I misread the whole situation - that the easier and sensible thing to do would have been to let go and drift with the current. Instead I stayed hooked in, until Elf had caught up ( and drained a fair proportion of her air supply ). It was a dive where we all learned some useful lessons, and I was given a new name that questioned my parentage.
Not by Vodka Elf, though. It seems that forgiving is all part and parcel of being Buddy of the Year.
What I cannot let go amiss, is the news I was presented with on Christmas Eve. The infamous Vodka Elf has reached another level. Diver Magazine’s ‘Buddy of the Year 2006’. I’m now desperately trying to find a ‘Nominator of the Year 2006’ competition to enter.
Another alternative I’d put myself up for, is ‘Bad Buddy of the Year 2006’. The last fortnight has seen us ‘working hard’ in The Maldives, on a Manta Ray research project, run by Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler and husband Matt aboard MV Gaayia. If we hadn’t assisted, who else would have? My part was to photograph the underside of these magnificent creatures, to pick out their unique identification marks.
Prior to stepping aboard though, the Elf and I spent a week ashore with Matt and Anne-Marie, on Kuredu Island. One of our objectives was a little familiarisation with the ripping currents that flow through the various thilas and channels out there. At one point, we had a channel to cross, at a depth of 20 metres or so. Matt and Anne-Marie had crossed to the other side and were hooked in with their lines. As I pushed headlong into the current, I was concentrating on doing the same thing, as my progress was made inch by inch. However, there is no ‘I’ in Scuba - it should have been ‘us’. I had completely overlooked The Elf struggling, and who had by now hooked in about 20m downcurrent. To make matters worse, I misread the whole situation - that the easier and sensible thing to do would have been to let go and drift with the current. Instead I stayed hooked in, until Elf had caught up ( and drained a fair proportion of her air supply ). It was a dive where we all learned some useful lessons, and I was given a new name that questioned my parentage.
Not by Vodka Elf, though. It seems that forgiving is all part and parcel of being Buddy of the Year.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Christmas Eve Eve
‘Tis the season to take care in pubs and clubs. A lot of us go drinking in public places at this time of year. So do predators. Today’s Metro reports on a Newcastle pub bouncer who was dished out a 5 year jail sentence for spiking a woman’s drink with GHB. He didn’t rape her, presumably because she ended up in intensive care as a result, but hopefully his sentence will serve as a deterrent to other would-be rapists. Also those who delight in playing pranks with the stuff.
All of us ( male or female ) should keep a careful eye on our drinks taken in public places. If anyone is unlucky enough to be targetted, then The Roofie Foundation have a helpline you can call.
No more postings due before Christmas, but do have a good one. A safe one too.
All of us ( male or female ) should keep a careful eye on our drinks taken in public places. If anyone is unlucky enough to be targetted, then The Roofie Foundation have a helpline you can call.
No more postings due before Christmas, but do have a good one. A safe one too.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Boating Tales
Christmas is now less than one week away, and my liver is thanking me for a brief interlude to the festivities. On Saturday night, about 20 of us held our 3rd saltFree Christmas party, at The Boat in Chepstow. Apart from the excellent food, drink and atmosphere, it’s the one time of year that both Scuba diver and freediver contingents get an opportunity to socialise together. Before things degenerated too much, we had awards and presents to be handed out. I was the lucky recipient of one of the awards, and before I had a chance to compose myself and decide what to say, the moment to stand up and say something had passed.
I wanted to say that I didn’t deserve an award, when everyone else had made sacrifices so that I invariably was given the first slot in our freedive rotation each month. I wanted to say how much I appreciated Sam and Laura’s drive and commitment that keeps everything going. I wanted to assure Sam that we would all make sure that we keep the saltFree group running, while she takes a well-earned rest to pursue her career interests. Perhaps it was better that I didn’t though - whatever depth awards I manage to pick up, I’ll never get one for public speaking. So for those people who were there on Saturday, and now find themselves here, please accept this in lieu.
I hope everyone who reads this blog has a great Christmas. Same goes for everyone who doesn’t read the blog. And let’s hope 2006 brings more successes, less illness, less confrontations, and more happy experiences. For everyone.
I wanted to say that I didn’t deserve an award, when everyone else had made sacrifices so that I invariably was given the first slot in our freedive rotation each month. I wanted to say how much I appreciated Sam and Laura’s drive and commitment that keeps everything going. I wanted to assure Sam that we would all make sure that we keep the saltFree group running, while she takes a well-earned rest to pursue her career interests. Perhaps it was better that I didn’t though - whatever depth awards I manage to pick up, I’ll never get one for public speaking. So for those people who were there on Saturday, and now find themselves here, please accept this in lieu.
I hope everyone who reads this blog has a great Christmas. Same goes for everyone who doesn’t read the blog. And let’s hope 2006 brings more successes, less illness, less confrontations, and more happy experiences. For everyone.
Monday, November 14, 2005
The Promised Land
Dahab, Egypt. Windy, dusty town on edge of the the Sinai. Full of divers, travellers and one or two lost souls. A place for dreamers too, perhaps.Talking of dreams, a few of mine have been laid bare in the messages of this blog. ( Which incidentally, is now nearing its first birthday ). In fact the whole purpose was to keep a diary of my training / research for two dreams – being able to take underwater photographs with a digital camera, and setting a UK freediving record. It all seemed quite straightforward at the outset – keep notes of everything, and then once it’s all been achieved, the work would be there for future reference.
The problem with achievements is that they have to be achieved. You can’t even get them on eBay, which is a nuisance. Of course, you can buy an underwater housing and stick a digital camera in it, but how do you get the same quality of image that you’ve spent 7 years perfecting with your familiar 35mm setup?
Then there’s the setbacks. Flooded strobes, incompatible lenses, poor technical documentation. The freediving was even worse. Hood squeezes leading to ear rupture leading to ear infection. Blackout in competition. Seeing the record I was aiming for being reset far beyond my capabilities.
All you can do is reassess – go back to the drawing board and start again.
If the blog postings were the question, then Dahab was the answer. A few months ago, I had no idea that the alignment would happen there. The Elf and I were just escaping for a fortnight, for the usual mix of Scuba and relaxation. But somehow I managed to get my camera rig set up and working. Then Lotta Ericson told me about her Triple Depth Freediving Challenge, which was running in Dahab during our stay there. The Elf managed to arrange to do a Trimix course to co-incide with my changed plans to compete. So now we were all set up for something with a lot more potential.
The Elf came through her Trimix course with flying colours, despite a few moments of self-doubt. No mean feat, and not something that everyone succeeds at. My camera rig produced the odd shot or two that I can be proud of. And last but not least, I will have an entry on this page for at least a short while, with a 60m mark next to it.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Proof of Purchase
Seven months have elapsed. A summer has come and gone. Famous people have died and new inventions have appeared. And until now, no sign of any underwater photographs from my 'new' underwater digital camera. Even the superceded model of this camera has now gone out of production. Well, I have now actually produced something, this weekend, with my SaltFree chums, freediving in our favourite quarry. It's a photo of Simon, one of our accomplished 'Angels of the Deep', who keep an eye on us when we are briefly down there.
For two and a half years now, a group of us have been going there month-in month-out, rain or shine. In all that time I have never travelled there without looking forward to the weekend, or left feeling downbeat. We all pitch in and help and encourage each other, meet new targets and achievements, and generally have a good time. This weekend was no exception. Good weather, some new faces, and lots of enthusiasm from everyone. For me it was a last training session too, before heading off to Dahab for the Triple Depth competition.
It was a timely discovery that Free Immersion requires a different approach once you become negatively buoyant. In Constant Weight, you can simply glide down to the plate and use your fins as stabilisers. If you try that with FI ( as I did ), you may well find the weight of your legs pulling you away from the line. It brought me to a full stop twice, and more than an arm's length from the rope, so at 40 metres I aborted the attempt and ascended. The next day I kept my momentum going with long, paused pulls, just to keep in contact with the line. This was far more successful and I made my target depth.
I used to wonder who, apart from my commentators, actually reads my one-dimensional e-scribbling. This little map now gives me a clue.
If this weblog entry hasn't been overly exciting, perhaps the next one will. Or perhaps I'll be able to copy and paste the text from the one I posted after the CIPA competition in May.
For two and a half years now, a group of us have been going there month-in month-out, rain or shine. In all that time I have never travelled there without looking forward to the weekend, or left feeling downbeat. We all pitch in and help and encourage each other, meet new targets and achievements, and generally have a good time. This weekend was no exception. Good weather, some new faces, and lots of enthusiasm from everyone. For me it was a last training session too, before heading off to Dahab for the Triple Depth competition.
It was a timely discovery that Free Immersion requires a different approach once you become negatively buoyant. In Constant Weight, you can simply glide down to the plate and use your fins as stabilisers. If you try that with FI ( as I did ), you may well find the weight of your legs pulling you away from the line. It brought me to a full stop twice, and more than an arm's length from the rope, so at 40 metres I aborted the attempt and ascended. The next day I kept my momentum going with long, paused pulls, just to keep in contact with the line. This was far more successful and I made my target depth.
I used to wonder who, apart from my commentators, actually reads my one-dimensional e-scribbling. This little map now gives me a clue.
If this weblog entry hasn't been overly exciting, perhaps the next one will. Or perhaps I'll be able to copy and paste the text from the one I posted after the CIPA competition in May.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
