[immerlustig]

greetings subaquaticus,

regarding question 1:

i would guess that your ear pain was caused by not equalising properly. equalising can be more difficult when you overstretch your neck. but then again at 25m you should have more than enough air, so that shouldn't necessarily be the problem.

regarding question 2:

that can be answered by someone knowledgable about comp rules. not me.
on the other hand doing a full turn, and then letting yourself sink won't do you any good unless you equalise.

maybe you could explain a bit more how you equalise.

i'm sure you know erif fattah's document, also jome has posted a link to another document recently which seems very detailed as well.

hope that helps some,

roland