The Politics of Freediving

[thin_air]

at the ingenious idea of andrsn...

this is a thread for ideas, opinion, concerns and the like of the politics of freediving.

With the different agencies competing for athletes to choose there agency to certify the record, a fierce competition has begun.

This is the article that is a concern to me. The view the "outsider" to the sport have in perspective to the sport. Louise Trewavas is a sports journalist the did an article on Yasemin Dalkilic's record attemp. And, in my opinion did a decent job on some aspects but also butchered some other aspects of the sport.

She also made a point on how the event has become a media circus more then an organized event, i having never attended a competion have no idea but would really like to know what everyone thinks about this.

Even if your new to the sport lets hear your opinion.

that my thought of the day

[snorklebum]

I think you are duplicating a thread here, maybe why little response.
My thought is, the woman is naive. Has she covered sports much? Been to a super bowl or Indy? Or even rock climbing events? That´s what happens in sports. One minute you´re out there competing with yourself and your buddies, the next you´re covered with sponsor stickers.
(Naturally the publication she writes for is free of ads and hype and sending her to cover the event has nothing to do with the hype machine she is describing.)

[Angus]

This is not a duplication of a thread but an expansion in which we hope to generate more dialogue about the politics of the sport that is includes but goes beyond image and reactions to opinions.

A year ago I was concerned about the search for world records in which a diver sets up a dive and then calls in an agent from acrediting association such as AIDA to authenicate the dive. We are seeing where that has led. Endless disputes, duplication of these 'official associations' and still no clarity on this. Too an outsider I can see how this aspect of the sport could look like boxing or worse, professional wrestling in which there are multiple associations that all have the "world champion" but avoid like crazy ever having these people meet.

With Pellizari's last record the controversy started immediately and it is the same problem. When one is surrounded by supporters it is hard to know what actually happenned. Although I am truly impressed and in awe of the atheletic prowess that these deep dives require and display I am bone weary of all the carping, second guessing, hostilities, sulking, posturing, of these single person dives.

At this point I only pay real attention to information on regional and world events in which multiple teams are competing. I find it interesting that there is much less controversy about records that are set in those events than in what I now think of as "Narcissist in search of a more sponsor dollars" events. When your competitors are there watching you and accept your performance there is no question that you did well. Just notice that Dive Girl is not harshing on the Ibiza competitions.

How would people react to a world record in the 100m freestyle that was done by a swimmer alone in the pool and watched by supporters and an representative from the Speed Swimmers Association? Part of what makes the regional and the world events more meaningful is that the individual competitor does not get to wait until everything is perfect for them. True competition requires the ability to perform when that performance in needed and not just when everything is just right for one competitor. Part of being an athlete is knowing how to get ready, how to prepare for the external demands. I am positive that if you asked competitive freedivers if it was easier to dive deep in training rather than in competition I doubt you hear many who say that this wasn't true.

For me, the deepest dive in an official regional or world competition is the true record. If you want to argue this than you would have to accept times in track and field or competitive swimming that were done in practice as many of them are faster than the official world records.

I would gladly accept a compromise on this. Why don't we have two classes of records, those set in competition and those set by single divers and their favorite accrediting association and give them equal standing. Here is a test (I failed it too) who won in there categories at the last worlds and what were the numbers? How about the previous worlds? And the won before that? Yet many of us can quote Pippins last three records, or Tanya's. Right know, because of how we record records these single diver events are overshadowing the regionals and world competitions which I think harms the sport. I want to see these events reach higher standards and to become the showcase of the sport. Then it becomes a sport and not just a collection of personalities.

[underh2ohio]

Well stated Mark.

I think records should only count when done in official competitions with others, be they regional, national or world competitions. If this were the case we might see many more competitions spring up. This would probably increase the popularity of our sport and give it more media coverage as a side benefit. Here in the USA for example maybe we could have both summer and winter Nationals with the best results advancing to the Worlds.

In most sports in order for a record to count it must be done during a competition with your peers. If I could kick a 70 yard field goal in football, it would matter to nobody if I did not do it during an official game. What sports are there that permit you to set a record, when not in an official competition? Spearfishing?
Fishing? Mountain climbing? I don't think there are many.

Mike

[Stephan Whelan]

I agree, however there is a further complication:

All the major certifying agencies (AIDA, IAFD, FREE) have said they are looking to hold a World Championship themselves - the same problems that have dogged the individual record attempts are likely to haunt the world's as well.

The only way to solve this is to get all the major agencies to start recognising each others records.

[Angus]

It is clearly time for consensus building. I think part of this problem has been the use of "personalities" to define our sport. This has been evident in other areas where individual personalities hold sway, such as chess. Attempting to get Olympic status would help this (although I am not a big fan of the nationalism that the Olympics encourage). If I understand it correctly a sport needs to have international participation to eventually qualify. This would create a singular standard in which competitors would be seeking the qualifying competitions that would then qualify them to compete on the world stage.

This is just one idea and I am certainly not wedded to it. I think that we can be an important voice in finding a path to consensus in this if we are open to hearing differing points of view that are genuine and open to compromise in an effort to find a sustainable solution for freediving competition.

[thin_air]

thanks to everyone who understood what i was trying to say, i guess i need to learn to express myself better(i think in french then translate to english, sometimes my sentences are screwed up).

angus: i believe that you are totally right on this point. all the agencies should get together and discuss a way to do all records for constant ballast, unlimited and, the other categories. This way with one template some agency could do more constant wieght or unlimited ect. they would also need to have, a few times a year, competitions kind of like a world cup circut and make it more of a spectator sport (cameras, submarines and of course surface boats) and have more media interaction.

i do however feel sorry for the atheleats (sp) and would like to hear some of their opinions on the matter of wich agency to go for in the record ect...

i want to here some opinions on the matter please
thanks