Quote:
Originally Posted by BennyB
Freedivers of the world, don't expect to see any new faces coming out of Britain for a while.... they're all whinging about the price of medical certificates, how hard it is to get the tube and why they should compete if they're not going to win their first comp.
There - i've had my angry rant. If any English competition freedivers think i'm being harsh then fine, let's hear from you.
|
Hi Ben, I'm sorry I didn't enter the competition, but I think you are being too harsh.
Last year I did enter the Crystal Palace Pool comp, and I enjoyed it and wanted to compete again.
It was extremely difficult to get to by public transport. I tried to go by train, but the train did not go to Crystal Palace station, and left me several stations away. I had to get a cab. This was not the main reason that I did not enter this year, but it is a valid point.
The main reason I did not enter was that at this time of year, I am ill with colds and flu a lot of the time. Right now I am recovering from flu and a chest infection. It would be impossible to do a decent performance and dangerous to compete in this state. Last year's comp was in the summer, when I could be pretty certain of feeling well on the day.
Another valid point is 'Why should I compete if I am not going to win anything?'. I enjoy competing for its own sake, and entered last year's competition knowing that I was unlikely to win anything. I was happy with my performance because I knew it was at least at a reasonable level. Now I think there are many freedivers in the UK who are much better than me, and who train much harder than me. This has put me off competitive freediving, because I feel that unless everyone else decides to give up early, or a miracle happens and my performance suddenly improves for no reason, I will be nowhere near the other competitors. I have trained a lot, but now I am unable to do anything more than once a week pool training, and dry training. This is not because I am lazy, I have to stay out of the pool because the chlorine damaged my lungs.
I did not want to pay for the medical certificate and entry fee when there is a high risk of having to cancel on the day, due to illness or being unable to find a cab to take me there.
Many 'non-competitive' freedivers decide to try one competition for fun, and often enjoy it, as I did. It is a lot harder to keep going to many competitions when there is no chance of winning anything.
Maybe there is a misunderstanding about the thing of 'not winning anything'. What I mean is not that if I don't walk off with first prize, I will be disappointed and never compete again. It is more the feeling of not standing a chance. If I entered the Olympics as a runner, I would know that unless
all the other competitors gave up halfway, I would definitely be last. I don't know how this problem can be solved in freediving. I explained that in
this post.
I think these reasons are the same for many people who did not enter.
This thread has many interesting points about why people decide not to compete.
http://forums.deeperblue.net/freediv...r-decline.html
I am very sorry that the comp did not go ahead.
Lucia
