[Jason Billows]

Hi Sub.

I expect your ear problem resulted from poor equalizations. Could it have been a hood squeeze? Sinus squeezes can be quite intense and result even with proper equalizations, but I doubt you would have felt pain in your ear if that was the cause.

You can run you hand along the line for your entire dive. Within the last 1.5 meters you can even grab the line as many times as you'd like. However, you are only allowed to pull down once and up once. Above the 1.5 meter mark you are allowed to secure the line only once to turn, so stopping yourself with the line, then sinking lower before ascending would result in a disqualification. It would be considered the same as a multiple line pull.

If you experience ear pain again in a CB competition, try to right yourself without securing the line. If you clear your ear you can then continue your dive. I believe I read that Annabel had to do this before learning how to equialize properly.

Remember you can always access the rules listed on the AIDA website. It's always a good idea to review them before every competiton and to train with them in mind.

Jason