Training for Freediving Competition

Static, Dynamic and Constant Balance Disciplines

I kept marine aquariums and started to scuba dive when I was 14. When I was 20, I reached the instructor level and work at r Rowands Reef Diving shop, on Granville Island in Vancouver, BC. While I've been scuba diving most of life, freediving is new to me. Mandy-Rae Cruickshank, is the women's freediving champion of the world. I've been training twice a week in the pool and in the ocean for my first national competition.

For me, the thrill of freediving is that it's as close as you can get to being a mammal in the water; it's like being a mermaid. You use your lungs, body and mind. It's more natural than scuba diving because you're not dependent on equipment. When you're going headfirst into the ocean at deep deaths you have to have a great deal of mental control!

You're able to appreciate the marine life without bubbles from tanks and alien-like gear. In freediving you're silent; you don't move at all because you're holding your breath, so you can get right next to rock crabs, sunfish, rock cod, lots of jelly fish, sea urchins and enjoy thel topography below the surface.

Competition Freediving

In competition freediving there are three disciplines: Static, Dynamic and Constant Ballast. The first two happen in a pool, where you hold your breath and see how far you can swim. The main competitive discipline is Constant Ballast, which takes place in the ocean.

You duck down and kick down under the water as far as you can and then kick yourself back up without any aide of a lift device or using the line, ie a rope or a chain that acts as an orientation device under water, and which you can use to help pull yourself to the surface.

The equipment consists of a mask, fins and a weight belt - 8 to12 pounds. Neoprene wet suitsare 2-5mms thick, 5 in cold water. The fins are longer than regular snorkeling fins as they do all the work, when kicking up from great depths. Mandy Rae just set a record at 88 feet; long fins are important to help divers return to the surface.

At the start of the competition, the diver announces what length of breath is being attempted and if the diver is under she is disqualified. If she exceeds it, extra points are granted. The main difference between competing and training is in the timing. In competition, there is a set amount of time to complete dives, so there's pressure on the divers to perform according to regulations.

It's important to know your limits and stay within those margins. In the dark, there are plankton reefs and where it's deep, there's no light at all. During deep dives in competition, technical divers and medical people are on hand. There have been fatalities, but that is true of every sport.

Breath Training

To train yourself to hold your breath, you do Static training in the pool, where you lay face down, hold your breath and relax in the water. Someone counts and you get a poke every minute. I can hold my breath for 4 minutes. At that point apnea takes over, so I'm deprived of oxygen and my body starts to shut down. My vision starts to get blurred and sounds grow further way.

When you reach that point you're usually instructed to come up, because in competition if you pass out or lose motor control of your body, something called Samba, you'll be disqualified. You need to get to the point where you're pushing it and almost passing out, but not quite, so you're still able to come up to the surface.

When you do rise up, you need to remember to be streamlined with your head down - if you look up you can stretch your trachea. It's possible to get the bends too so you go down to the depth you dived, in intervals of five minutes, each time going further down.

The techniques of freediving aren't new. Pearl divers in the South Pacific have been doing this for generations, but it's really still a fringe sport. It's always been popular in France, (The Big Blue) and is slowly gaining recognition in North America.