I recently took part in an interesting discussion about asthma and freediving which included an excellent freediver who had severe, asthma as a child, a champion freediver who spent his childhood in a cramped apartment with 2 chainsmoking parents, and a degreed sports physiologist.
The focus quickly turned away from the effects of freediving on asthma and to the opposite causal chain: the effects of asthma on freediving.
The physiologist noted ( and I cannot verify this ) that a recent US olympic swimming team consisted almost entirely of asthmatics. The freediver who had childhood asthma (until mid adolescence) currently does depths and times that are quite surprising in view of her training habits (none) and experience ( infrequent). The champion noted that he had grown up in a thick cloud of smoke, and has lung capacity and other parameters that are just about off the charts.
We ended with a theory that oxygen deprivation, whether caused by asthma or pollutants (in this case cigarette smoke, with the extra added bonus of CO2 and CO) may cause and adaptive response aimed at utilizing available oxygen with greater efficiency: richer capillary beds, etc.
If this is so, then a history of asthma may be associated with anatomical and physiological adaptations which would be an advantage to a freediver.
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