DexterFree-Diving: Competitive Apnea
April 25th 2008 01:59
How long can you hold your breath?
Returning to the surface
Ever since I saw the Luc Besson film called Le Grand Bleu (The Big Blue) I have been a devotee of the sport known as Competitive Apnea. What sounds simple in theory is actually one of the most physically extreme challenges the human body can undertake.
The quest for depth
Free Diving means holding your breath and going underwater without the aid of scuba gear or any other breathing apparatus. Competitive Apnea is all about who can go down the deepest, travel the most distance or remain submerged the longest time on a single unassisted breath.
A stunning test of endurance, the human body actually adapts to prolonged exposure to the pressurised environment resulting in changes to blood cell variables, Lung Physiology and lowered heart/pulse rates.
Making their mark
There are several disciplines recognized by the professional bodies, rather than reword, here is a brief overview from Wikipedia:
“Pool disciplines
Static Apnea is timed breath holding and is usually attempted in a pool (AIDA).
Dynamic Apnea with fins. This is underwater swimming in a pool for distance. For this discipline the athlete can choose whether to use bi-fins or the monofin (AIDA), (CMAS).
Dynamic Apnea without fins. This is underwater swimming in a pool for distance without any swimming aids like fins (AIDA).
Depth disciplines
Constant Weight with fins. The athlete has to dive to the depth following a guide line that he or she is not allowed to actively use during the dive. The ‘constant weight’ ("poids constant") refers to the fact that the athlete is not allowed to drop the weights during the dive. Both bi-fins and mono-fin can be used during this discipline (AIDA).
Constant Weight without fins follows the identical rules as Constant Weight with fins, except no swimming aids such as fins are allowed. This discipline is the youngest discipline within competitive freediving and is recognised by AIDA International since 2003 (AIDA).
Free Immersion is the discipline in which the athlete uses the guideline to pull him or herself down to depth and back to the surface. It is known for its ease compared with the Constant Weight disciplines, while the athlete is still not allowed to release weights (AIDA).
Variable Weight is a record discipline that uses a weighted sled for descent. Athletes return to the surface by pulling themselves up along a line or swimming while using their fins (AIDA).
No Limits is a record discipline that allows the athlete to use any means of breath-
hold diving to depth and return to the surface as long as a guideline is used to measure the distance. Most divers use a weighted sled to dive down and use an air-filled bag to return to the surface (AIDA).
"The Cube" is also known as "Jump Blue" and is a discipline in which an athlete has to descend to 15 meters and swim as far as possible in a cubic form of 15 x 10 meters“
Diving with Monofin
Here are some of the records in the sport: (Also from wikipedia)
Static Apnea
-women: Natalia Molchanova (Russia), 8m00s
-men: Tom Sietas (Germany), 9m08s
-men (not yet recognised by AIDA): Stephane Mifsud (France), 10m04s [4]
Dynamic Apnea
-women: Natalia Molchanova (Russia), 205 metres
-men: Dave Mullins (New Zealand), 244 metres
Dynamic Apnea, without fins
-women: Natalia Molchanova (Russia), 149 metres
-men: Stig Severinsen (Denmark), 186 metres
Constant Weight
-women: Sara Campbell (UK), -90 metres
-men: Herbert Nitsch (Austria), -112 metres
Constant Weight without fins
-women: Natalia Avseenko (Russia), -57 metres
-men: William Trubridge (New Zealand), -86 metres
Free Immersion
-women: Sara Campbell (UK), -81 metres
-men: William Trubridge (New Zealand), -108 metres
Variable Weight
-women: Tanya Streeter (Cayman Islands), -122 metres
-men: Carlos Coste (Venezuela), -140 metres
No Limits
-women: Tanya Streeter (Cayman Islands), -160 metres
-men: Herbert Nitsch (Austria), -214 metres
Video 1: Guillaume Nery: World Record Free Dive
Video 2: Loic Leferme: No-limits free-diving world record
Video 3: Herbert Nitsch: 183m World No-Limits Free-diving record
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