competition preparation questions

[dannybuoy]

This sunday, june 4th, i'll be entering my first competition: http://www.dordtdive.nl

The program is as follows:

10:30 Registration
11:15 Briefing
11:30 Warming Up Static
12:15 First Official Tops Static
14:10 Warming Up Dynamic
14:55 First Official Tops Dynamic
17:30 Award ceremony
17:45 Dinner

I'm getting a bit nervous, being a newbie, but also because i've never done static that early before, and the pool is colder than what i'm used to at 26 C, so i have a lot of questions on how to prepare. For example, should i go running today, June 1st, or rest till sunday? My last training session was this tuesday. Is it better to get a lot of sleep or very little the night before the competition? I kinda sleep during my first part of the static anyway. And at what time should i eat? I'm planning to have my usual training day breakfast very early, round 7, that day, but is it better to skip breakfast and eat some bananas in between static and dynamic?

Thank you for any imput,

Daan

 

[Sergiu]

I still have to perticipate in an official competition so will watch this thread carefully! Just on routine, whatever you choose, it would be great to do it in the same sequence at least once (say tomorrow or better Saturday) - wont get you a new daily routine patern but will likely give you confidence.

On eating, I would eat as little as possible the day of the competition, in certainly not between static and dynamic but then again, that's my gutt feeling not experience talking!

serge

 

[jome]

Hi,

Preparation is a very individual thing, so I'll give you pointers that seem to work for me.

First, if you already have some good routine, don't go changing it in the last days. In the competition, you always see people doing weird stretches and impressive looking preparations and think, "oh my god, everybody is better prepared than me". The biggest mistake you can make is trying at the last minute to copy one of those fancy looking things hoping it will suddenly give you and edge. It will do nothing but mess up your performance.

So, go there, do the thing you have trained your mind and body to do, the way you always do it.

Second, don't set you expectations too high, keep your goals realistic. For example, if you have a dry static pb of 5 minutes, don't expect to do 5+ in the competition, because "at least in comp my motivation is up" or something silly like that. Make your goal such that it takes an effort to reach, but that you can surely reach it, so you don't crap out if you in mid dive notice that this wasn't a pb dive - you make the best of what you can, and then, if you feel extra good, you can push the edge a little.

Then some concrete advice

Static:
-Personally I prefer morning statics. I would not eat any solid food that day before the static. I would make sure I'm hydrated, but avoid being neurotic about it...I might consider having one "nutri drink" or similar liquid meal replacement. If I were to eat something, it would be like 1 banana or something

I would definately not go running for at least a week before the competition. You don't want to be physically recovering from exercise for static (look up EPOC in google, for one thing)

I would try to get a good rest the night before. I would not on purpose try to stay up to somehow make my self tired...Because usually I'm so nervous before comp day I will not sleep anyway.

If you are not using a wetsuit, don't go in the water too early or you will be cold for your attempt...Not exactly "warm up", as you will be shivering from the cold. Even with a wetsuit I usually use 30 min max for the warmup. If you have a suit, don't worry about the water. 26c is plenty warm in a suit and the temperature is out of your control - so don't fuss about it.

If possible, practice a few statics with countdown, so it doesn't come as surprise. One trick I use a lot is that I do my last warmup as I would do a competition start, but I use the count down announcement of the previous competitor to practice the start. I find this eases the nerves very well, as you have sort of already done 1 start, the actual start won't be so stressful. Just don't make it too long so you have time to recover for your actual attempt. I try to have 4-5 minutes between my last warmup and the start.

Don't make your warmup routine too complicated, or it will only cause extra stress when you try to follow it by the minute. Just do some warmups and try to make sure you have enough time to rest before the attempt. Keep it simple enough so you can stick with without a fuss.

After the start you will most likely feel your heart beat faster than normal, feel anxious and nervous. This may lead you to think your performance is ruined. It's not...Just relax and do what you always do, you will see it returning to "normal" within half a minute or so. It does eat some of your time, but as you didn't set your goal too high, this doesn't matter You can still make a very good performance. Training pb's and competition pb's are different things. Concentrate making your competition pb, never mind what you have done in training...

It's also a good idea to practice the surface protocol, so that you know it instinctively. If you are close to your limit, you don't have the resources to start thinking and trying to remember it. I always complete the surface protocol the same way, even if I'm just in training or doing some warmups. For me, it's 6 recovery breaths, remove facials, sign ok, say "i'm ok". Even for easy statics, I always do the 6 breaths. It still leaves a couple of secods margin for the 15 sec time window, but when you're nervous you may start panicing and do the sp too early if you haven't set your self a "minimun amount of breaths" - resulting in bad recovery and samba. So train it, time it, stick with it.

Between static and dynamic, I would eat something very light. Banana sounds like a good idea and maybe drink some mild sports drink. It's important to have energy for dyn, but not solid food in your digestion, so try to have at least an hour of time to digest your banana.

I'll leaving dyn preparations advice to someone else, as it's not my strongest point. But basically, just do what you always do...And don't stress too much about the results! If it is your first competition, you will be setting a new competition pb no matter what you do - unless you get a DQ.

 

[dannybuoy]

Thank you for those pointers, Simo,

Cold won't be a problem during static since i got a 5mm Elios suit. The problem is mostly that the comp. is so early, it messes up my entire routine. I need the food man, i'm build like spaghetti and burn through calories like a torch through paper. But i'll keep in mind i'll only have to do two things, instead of 4 hours of training, so i'll either skip breakfast or make it very light. Plus that sportsdrink you mention, for which i use 1/3 applejuice 2/3 water, seems to do the trick too, eh? So it's no problem to feel a bit hungry when going for a max DYN?

Oh, and so not to put any more pressure on myself i kept my AP's far below my PB's, but i really like your idea of a competition PB. Sunday, if i make it there and don't black out, i'll get 2 competition PB's :thankyou Hurah!

 

[QazzaQ]

Good points Simo. I agree with every one of those, with some personal modifications of course. I still have some other comments on preparation, especially for dynamic. There may be some repetition to Simo but ignore it...

(1) Do some stretching. Muscles work by contracting, so stretching is very beneficial to increase their efficiency without building up that unnecessary, oxygen-consuming mass. Stretching also makes the movements more fluent, which is very important for monofinning. And if that is not enough, it can relieve some locked-up muscles that would otherwise burn your precicious oxygen.

(2) Do some warm-up dives (and stay warm while doing it). I had HUGE problems triggering my diving reflex before dynamic without triggering hypothermia as well. It can still be done: Don't go to water too early; go in just in time to do your warm-ups (I use 2 dives) and have a 5-10 min rest before official top. As for the warm-ups dives I concentrate only on the relaxed technique, and dive for as long as the first unpleasant feeling comes (about 50% of maximum performance), and come up instantly after that. This I do 2 times to trigger the reflex. Nowadays I have the 1,5mm poolsuit so the timing is not that critical anumore, and I can spend the rest of the warm-up time sleeping in the bottom zzz

(3) Rehearse for the stress of the competition event. When doing long training dives I intentionally build as much stress for myself as possible to simulate all the possible tings that can go wrong in competitions. For example I do something stupid, like go running the day before training, and if before competition dive my legs feel a bit powerless I still know that I can dive the distance I dove when I was still recovering from that running exercise. This helps me to stay calm and makes fighting the excauses to abort the dive easier...

(4) Don't follow other person's preparation hints too rigorously. The best divers have most likely tried hundreds of different warm-up ideas, and are using only a handfull of them. What works for them may not work for you at all. Try different things while training, and slowly build up the routine you feel is the most effective for your future competitions. I would still advise you to try and keep your routine as simple as possible.

(5) Don't change any major thing before a competition dive and don't aim too high too soon. It will only cause you trouble. For this sunday's competition there is little you can do, so focus on gaining a pleasant experience, and learning on how the process works instead of counting seconds and meters. If you have fun there it is more likely that you come back the next time for some more experiences than if you would have just barely made your PB despite having the most unpleasant dive of your life (and not even to mention possible negative thoughts from a samba or BO). For example Tom Sietas told me once that he intentionally tries to go to as many competitions as possible just to learn and develop the routine to perform in those circumstances. So even the best divers this sport has ever seen have to work for pulling of a good dive when it counts: you are not alone in feeling slightly nervous in there

These are the preparation tips that I can think of on a short notice. Perhaps I will add a supplementary post later, but let's go with these. Complmementary (and contradicting) comments from other competitors are more than welcome...

Some very good hints on mental preparation / problem-solving and stretching can be found at http://www.divingfree.com/ask/

Dive safe,

-EeroS

 

[jome]

Oh, one more...

You have been given to pages worth of tips here. It's propably pointless to try and absorb them all at once. The first few competitions are mainly a learning experience for almost every diver. It took me 5 competitions before I could make a performance without doing some stupid mistake. But still, my results kept improving.

So go in there, have a good experience and don't worry if everything doesn't go absolutely the way you planned.

But then, come back and read this advice again. There are propably some points you missed before but make sense after the comp

And like I said, don't change your routine on the last minute. BUT, like Eero said, experiment and find a good one. Competition is a good chance to talk to people and spy on them. Take home good looking tips and try them in your training and pick up what ever works to your own routine. But it's important to do these experiments during training season, not just before a comp...You go into a competition with the bag of tricks you currently have.

 

[dannybuoy]

Thank you Eero and Simo (again),

I'll try and stick to my usual stretching; you're right, some freedivers stretch their bodies in ways that would make my limbs send me eviction notices, and i won't try and copy them. I will take your advice on the two warm up dives at 50% and then a 5-10 minute rest, as i've experienced with training that usually my third or fourth dive is where i 'get it', when it becomes easy.

The trick i use for my nerves, something i picked up when i played basketball, is to regard them as a sign that my body wants to go-go-go, so i tell myself to hold it in until i get my official top. Then when i get the signal, i let my body go-go-go and i usually find that nerves then work to your advantage. Last training i applied this and started out a little to quickly -hell i almost burned rubber, so i'm gonna have to watch that this sunday.

Simo, i'm going to have another competition on June 11th, so i'll be sure to read your comments again before that. I'll also post how i've done here, provided i do halfway decent. I'm really beginning to look forward to it.

 

[Evita]

Nice advice, guys.

I am also getting nervous before my first competition next weekend, so it was really good to read this. The idea of a competition PB is very helpful!

dannybuoy, please post again and let us know how your first competitions went - what did you learn?

 

[dannybuoy]

What a great competition;

Imagine the very best way of entering your first competition and that is what happened. Not to me, but that made it only slightly less exciting. Get this: a guy, fresh out of his first course where he already impresses, not only beats out the other newbies, but everybody else too; not only does he win the competition, but he breaks a new national record, and not only does he break the national record, but he does so without a neckweight. Henk van Greevenbroek did 6'26 and 119 m DNF on his first competition, enough to win it, add 5 meters to a national record and he told me he chose DNF because he didn't have good fins yet, and that because he had no neckweight yet, he just didn't inhale fully. (!!!) I now have a new local hero.

My results were a mixed bag'o'nuts. If it had been a training day i would've called it a hard day, but for a first competition i'm quite satisfied, especially in retrospect. Static was a struggle, since i'd never build up a routine for that (unless you count doing static in bed when you can't sleep) and i was nervous. The good things about it were i don't remember the last minute before official top, so that means i was in my own world, and i did a new PB of 5'01. DYN was another struggle, partially because the water was so cold and i didn't know how to time my warm-up, so i hadn't done most of it. But again, last two minutes before official top i was getting in the zone, and i matched my PB of 100 meters. Then i just got stupid; i touched the wall, thought for a fraction of a second about turning around, decided against it rapidly and came up, where i was in such a hurry to get the 100 approved that i took off my mask and said "I'm okay" as i gave the sign. I immediately knew i'd messed up and saw in the juror's face that he was going to be sorry to give me a red card. But he did, and he was right, and i cursed myself for about two minutes before i could laugh about it.

So i did ok, i reckon. I made the stupid mistakes a newbie is supposed to make, like Simo said, and i now know i have to train surface protocol, time my stretching routine, and get some routine for static. But it was a fine fine day: 3 people went over six minutes, 9 people did 100 or more (without DSQ's, grmplfff), and every good performance was applauded. I hope all competitions i enter will have such great spirits about them.

 

[Evita]

Good on ya! Congratulations on your PB and the learning experience - I guess it is all about how you handle the nerves and the mistakes every newbie makes, and it sounds like you handled it really well! Nice read, and a nice event too, by the sound of it.

Best of luck for the next one, and I have noted your pointers - I should definitely also make a habit of doing the surface protocol right. Get it on the back bone. Warm up... a competition is so different from training that I don't really know how to warm up for it. In training I usually do PBs after 30-60 min in the pool... and then I am exhausted, so it wouldn't work in a competition with several disciplines in one day. Different warm up routine required for multiple max attempts. My first competition results will probably go to shots because of this, but a good warm up routine will hopefully come after a few competitions (and many mistakes ).

 

[Kars]

For some people a coach could help eleviate the diver from many points of stress. When your coach happen to participate as well spread your OT by leaving a spacious gab in your announced performances.

I find it very nice to have a coach who takes care of my schedule, prevent distractions, is my personal safety guy, does the countdown and count up as I surface, etc.

Stress messes up one's buffers really bad, avoid it like a plague.
It helps out to write out your preperation timetable, and have it with you.
Write on your hand your lane and Official top times.

Battleing the stress it helps to focus on ones technique, light focus on the heartbeat, quietly breathing, eyes closed through the nose, do a surface protocall reversal.

For dynamic I would recomment to do the warmup swim right after one's static. Just check out to test your swimming technique, turns, relaxation, and sp. It would also be wise to check out on the caracteristics of the pool, shallow truns, starting place, vents?. Keep the swimming to an absolute minium, just a very easy technique test, safe your buffers and warmth for the Official attempt. Than get out and get warm! Being cold is a cause for BO.

Like above pointed out muscle warm-up and stretching is importand, also for static.

In all I need about 1 hour and 15minutes to prepare for a part of the competition.
For me the difficulties seem to be to not get distracted and to downplay it's importance.

Have fun, enjoy the challange of the things that go not according to plan. I did my static PB in a competition while I had from the start a terrable itch and swallowing reflex. During this static I thought at about 1'30 cenciearly about giving up, though I ALWAYS give my best shot no matter how bad things seem to go. I'm glad I didn't this time either!

Have Fun!

Kars.

 

[dannybuoy]

Yeah, definitely practise the protocol, for the mind does funny things after a max. Take your time, too, i was way too hurried and 15 seconds is longer than you think. The one thing i can tell you now about warming up after this first competition is that whatever you do and however many laps you do to warm up, first try and shake off those lactaids you've built up during static. During training they might mean energy for your muscles, but during the wait between static and dynamic they turn into cement in your legs.

Good luck on your first competition, Evita, hope you enjoy yourself. Keep us posted, eh?

 

[jome]

I'm probably going to get a lot of second opinnions, but personally, I haven't found stretching before statics beneficial. After stretching, I do indeed feel more relaxed, but objectively judged, my times do not get any better, in fact they get significantly worse. As to why this is, I've no explanation. But on some days, when I'm feeling extra crappy (sore muscles from exercise etc), stretching is the only way to get any kind of reasonable result. But on the good days, it only seems to hurt. Go figure.

But I'm by no means saying that stretching is a bad thing, I'm only challenging the idea of doing it as part of the preparation. In general, being flexible can only help your static. And it helps dynamic enormously...

 

[laminar]

This is a great thread! Brings back memories of being nervous.

My biggest piece of advice is to have fun in each event and build on that for each competition that follows.

1. Static:

-Use a low announced performance that you can make on the worst of days. Every time I've used an aggressive AP for static it's backfired. I would say between 1-2 minutes less than your goal, erring on the 2 minute side. For example, if my target was over 6 minutes, then I'd announce 4'00 or 4'30". Again, some people hate getting tapped every 15 seconds for longer than usual, but if you are starting out, you'll be happy to make your AP and get full points, then to have a feeling of dread if things are harder than usual. This also helps you forget your ultimate goal. Your goal should be just making your AP and that should be really easy. Then everything else is icing on the cake.

-Have a coach for sure if you can and don't worry too much about your warm-up. Everyone is different, but I think many get too stressed about their warm-up not being perfect, which leads to over ventilation (because they are nervous) and then samba/BO. Breath normally, be a jellyfish in the water, and stay cool.

2. Dynamic:

-A nice way to get ready and initiate a dive reflex in my experience is to get in the water right at the start of your official warm up (45min) without your suit. Do one or two 25m lengths very slowly, feeling the water and your stroke mechanics, not using any muscle power, whether it's monofin or no-fins, and letting the water cool you down. I get too hot in pools and for me this is an awesome feeling. Then get out. Dry off. Put on warm clothing and relax. You probably don't need anything more than that.

-To warm up or not to warm up? I've seen lots of first time competitors do several dynamic lengths to warm up with varying results and then try the no-warm up style and surprise themselves. Experiment with this for next time. I love it. I love it because you are getting into the water for after you've been dry which always feels so good on the skin. I always try to focus on the sensory experience of dynamic rather than the distance. Again, announce a lower AP but add 1 metre for a turn. It's always good to make the turn even if you've had a bad dynamic, so that you never form a fear of the "wall." So I'll typically announce 51m or 76m or whatever.

Whatever you do for static or dynamic or constant weight, one of the most important things is to stay still for 6-10 minutes before official top, whether you are breathing or not, and be relaxed. You'd be surprised how few people actually do this, but I think it makes a huge difference.

And really, have fun, be prepared, but remember that you will have all sorts of competition experiences.

Let us know how it goes!

Pete

 

[Evita]

So I tried to do a competition-like warm up at training tonight.

Usually I just jump straight from the shower into the pool, no stretching, do 200-600m warm up swim and then dive a little randomly - max, technique, intervals.

But today, I began by stretching 10-12 min and then I sat a little by the pool side and ventilated slowly and deeply (about 1-2 min). I got into the water and calmed down and focussed about 1 min before 4*25m dives - slow, gliding and focussing on technique. There was a noticeable improvement between the 2nd and the 3rd dive, so maybe I should just stop after 2 short dives the next time?
Then I spent about 2 min ventilating (incl 30 sec chatting with a team mate, not part of the plan) before doing my max. It was the same as my recent PB, and it went smoothly. I surfaced clean, drew 3-5 breaths and did the surface protocol well within the 15 sec.

So I feel more confident now, am not so nervous about the whole new situation. Except I probably will be again, when I enter an unfamiliar pool, and there are many other distractions to deal with. That time, that sorrow, as we say in Danish.

Tomorrow and Thursday night I have the last training sessions before the competitions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So I can try out some of the routines you suggested.

Firstly, I will try to make more room for rest somewhere between the warm up and the performance.

I don't have a coach, so I will have to manage the time and everything on my own. One of my team mates is also going, but since we will both be competing, I doubt there will be much surplus to help each other at every performance.

Kars, I think you suggest good ways of handling the unfamiliar - checking the pool and making a schedule. A little more scientific than what I would have thought of, but probably very reassuring.

Jome, I see what you are saying about making changes at the last minute/within the last days before the competition. "You go into a competition with the bag of tricks you currently have", I completely agree with that. And as usual, it is well put
But the thing for me is that I don't have a routine yet that I think will work for a competition. So I will experiment a little and pay close attention to how the variations feel. It was already helpful today to get an idea of how long this warm up would take (about 20 min). That will help me plan what to do when in the last half hour before the top time.

Laminar, I am tempted by the no warm up... it is definitely worth a try, and I will do it tomorrow - leave the pool for a long while and then return for a max. However, I am not wearing a suit for dynamic, so being too warm in the pool will not be my problem.

One little thing - it seems that we are doing static AFTER dynamic at the competitions. Is that unusual? Does it make a difference for what you would advise?

My AP's are not very ambitious - they are the time and distances that I usually can do 100% every time. So that is not a stress factor, thank goodness.

I begin to worry about food, though. The competitions run from 10.00 to 17.00... am I supposed to fast for a whole day? Don't think that will work for me. I plan on having my usual breakfast (cornflakes, cod liver oil, grapefruit, orange juice) and a sandwich for lunch. The nights I train, I usually stop eating 3 hours before. But then I have already had breakfast and lunch. For a whole day of competition (and consecutive days), I guess I will need the fuel - and I just don't believe that bananas and energy drinks will be enough... But I am also expecting experience to prove me wrong, so we'll see.

Oh, and I WILL have fun as well! Please don't think that I am only looking at the competition with a dark cloud over my head. It will be exciting and great to meet all the others and absorb the atmosphere. I am merely taking this opportunity to prepare a little better by checking out your advice.

Thank you all, I will keep you posted. And I look forward to hearing about Dannybuoys second comp as well - good luck!

 

[laminar]

Hi Evita,

I forgot to mention that the short dip at the beginning of the 45min prep was an attempt to get the dive response going, not just to cool off. When I do dynamics with no prior immersion in the water, I feel like I'm doing I dry static and it doesn't feel good at all.

Dynamic is first, then static. Unusual. Tell us how it goes for you.

I think it's a good idea to have some food in the early morning if you competition is later in the day, but make it small and easy to digest.

Have a great time!

 

[Kars]

Maybe it sounds funny to you, but I would recomment pasta or rice as breakfast. Juce with 1/2 parts water and a few nifs of seasalt is what I drink. And 1 or two banana's right after the first part.

No milk products for a few days, inluding chocolate Buy an extra big piece for after the comp

In betreen the two parts, move, swing your body to help to get rid of the lactic acid. Having your legs up against the wall, shaking the muscle groups helps also.

Like Tom Sietas masterfully introduced: the no-warm-up-max, it can be practiced, but probably is not ideal for the beginner.
I used to do static warmup dives, 2 of them, One full, packed, just relaxing, stretching, getting used to the full feeling, waiting for the vasoconstriction to kick in. The second was an empty lung dive, where I again just wait for the reflex to kick in, surfacing right after that in order to preserve my buffers.

These days I just lay on my back, for about 15min, getting in tune by breathing very slow through my nose, and my coach drags me to the start, and through fingers does the count down because my ears are below the surface. I also leave my mask off as well as gogles and just use a noseclip.
When the bell tolls, I carry my righthand over my left shoulder and roll over into apnea

To Jome, perhaps you stretch a bit too hard?
I just warmup my muscles trought some mild jumping, swinging for about 25min, prefereble outside where the air is much nicer
From then on I do everything in slow-motion way.
Than I lay down, be warm wait to about 30min to Official Top, mindcontrolling my body. Followed with a lst toilet visit, I change with lot's of soap into the rubber, and waggle to the warmupzone.

Anyway Evita, Dannybuoy, there are so many variables and ways we could write a book full of them

This is actually a very usefull tread I think!

Have fun!

Kars

 

[jome]

Maybe it sounds funny to you, but I would recomment pasta or rice as breakfast. Juce with 1/2 parts water and a few nifs of seasalt is what I drink. And 1 or two banana's right after the first part.

No milk products for a few days, inluding chocolate Buy an extra big piece for after the comp

To Jome, perhaps you stretch a bit too hard?

Souns like a breakfast I could recommend. Except if the competition is in the morning and static is first - I really don't eat anything. Try it once, a morning dry static with no breakfast.

It's sounds very plauseable that I stretched too hard when I was trying that. I'm only getting into stretching now anyway - maybe I'll give it another go when I start training statics again...(sheesh can't wait...)

 

[dannybuoy]

Wow Evita!

If you are this Eva Johnsen from

http://www.danskfridykkerforbund.dk/...e_results.html

then you did awesome! Two national records on your first competition! You'll probably have a smile like a banana on your face for the next week. Congratulations, please tell us all about your experience (and warm-up preparations, of course, you record-holder you),

Daan

 

[Evita]

Hmm, well yes, I was only going to tell you that I had reached the goals I had hoped for and then some

It was a surreal experience.

I was really nervous and completely beside myself, especially on Friday night - wandering around aimlessly, tripping over lines, constantly forgetting where I was going and what things I was getting to do what? Checking my top time and warm up time, forgetting them, checking them again, feeling really clueless and asking my team mate [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/member.php?u=4355"]View Profile: Ricky Eiken@@AMEPARAM@@View Profile: Ricky Eiken</title>@@AMEPARAM@@Ricky Eiken[/ame] to help me get organised. I barely spoke to anyone else, could not really handle too many new impressions at once. He was gold, though, such a solid, excellent mate!

My AP's were low enough to make me sure that I could reach them no matter what, but of course I had my eyes on the records in the horizon. I knew that they were not far away, even though I have never pushed myself to match them or beat them in training (stupid principle-thing).

The competition was on Friday night, and we drove across Denmark in the late afternoon but got held up by road accidents (not because of the actual accidents but because of everyone slowing down to get a good look at the damage :yack ) so we arrived a little later than planned. The first top times began soon after, so we rushed through changing and hurriedly tried to figure out what was going on where.

I helped Ricky with his warm-up static, not a big deal, but when it dawned on me that I was going to be his safety diver for the static, I nearly panicked because I didn't really know what was required, or more importantly, how I accidentally could screw up his performance! Tried to remain calm, but my eyes must look so big and scared on the videotape! He did really well, though, in spite of the nervous wreck beside him.

Afterwards I did the ~15 min stretching for my own DNF and tried to get familiar with the pool. That same day I had thought "what a help it would be for me, if I was allowed to drop the neckweight during the last part of the dive", because I begin to blow out air quite early, while I am still submerged, and then the neck weight becomes too heavy. But I hadn't tried dropping it before, and I didn't know if it would be allowed? Surprisingly, the judge said yes. So I did my 2 warm up lanes, diving slowly and relaxed, getting a nice feel of the water and the pool, and on the last warm up dive I practiced releasing the neck weight.

Then I got out of the water and the last minutes before the dive I sat by the pool side, ventilating deeply and slowly, trying to relax my stomach and get my beating heart to slow down a bit. Ricky gave his last words of advice - dive safely, dive your own way and give them hell! So I did :t

It was a great start to the competition, boosted my confidence that I could perform in water even though I was nervous on the poolside.

For the rest of the weekend, I did warm ups the same way - beginning about half an hour before with 15 min stretching, 2 warm ups in the pool and then a few, quiet minutes on the pool side before the top, moving into position about 1:30 before top. Except for stupidity on Saturday morning, when I timed my warm up for static wrongly. For some reason I had gotten the idea that the top times were a bit delayed, so I was still in my second static warm up (the third is usually my best) at the other side of the pool, when they called 1 minute to top and waved us over. Pulled up and out of the relaxed state, I had to swim across 10 lanes with separating ropes in a buoyant wetsuit, reaching my spot 15 sec before top and a little out of breath. I knew that it would be hopeless to reach my max, but I at least wanted to do my AP and ventilated hard until about 8 sec after top when I dived. Of course my heart was racing, the contractions came fast and I thought I was going to die (well, almost), but I managed to push a little past my AP. So I was okay and laughing at my stupidity after the surface protocol. Now THAT's what I call learning things the hard way...

The other static went much better, I did a new PB, even though I am not too comfortable lying still in "cold" water with a thick wetsuit on. Training static is usually in a 34 degrees warm baby pool, and the 8 degrees lower temperature in the competition pool made a bigger difference than I thought it would. Next time I will switch to the big pool in training in better time for the competition to get used to the different temperature and thicker wetsuit.

The sequence of the disciplines was different between Saturday and Sunday - on Saturday we did static, then dynamic and vice versa on Sunday. It was good to try both, but I don't think I noticed the difference because there was ample time between the disciplines.

I had my usual breakfast both days about 3 hours before my top - cornflakes with milk, a tablespoon of cod liver oil, half a grape fruit and a glass of orange juice. Kars, I did read your advice about dairy products on Friday, but I am a milkaholic and I thought "oh well, it's too late anyway", so I persevered with my folly.
But I had pasta and steamed vegetables for lunch on Friday, about 6 hours before my top. Not because I wanted it to be 6 hours before, but because I timed it for 3-4 hours before the beginning of the competition, and didn't really know at what time I would be competing. In between performances on Saturday and Sunday I ate "knäckbröd" with sesame (dry, flat bread from Sweden, similar to cardboard in appearance and, some say, taste), a carrot, orange juice and a banana. At night I was not too hungry, only had a pirougue (onion - cottage cheese - grated cheese - spinach - salmon) on Friday and a sausage and bread on Saturday.

Didn't sleep too well on Friday night - too excited and there was a late night party at the inn. So I was tired on Saturday, but it didn't seem to really kick in until late afternoon. We went to the beach and after a few minutes in the sun, I was ready to call it a day.

I didn't really use a resting period, lying down with closed eyes, as part of the preparations. Mostly because I tried it at the last training session on Thursday and found that it just cooled me down again, inspite of towels, wetsuit etc. So I think I prefer going straight from stretching to warm up dives to the competition zone. Not least because it is a good way to keep the thoughts occupied, with the movements and the ventilation. Guess I am more into dynamic than static...

As you can probably tell from the "me-me-me" account above, I didn't have too much surplus to interact with other people at the competition. I was sorry to find out that I am one of those primadonnas who need quiet and not too many people around them during a competition. Maybe it was just beginner nerves, and I hope to be better company next time and chat more, because there seemed to be some good people at the event and they were having fun. There were a number of PBs and national records - a lot of people did really, really well! There are a lot of exciting stories to relate from the Aarhus Triple Challenge - an excellent and long Murat-style dive by a young Norwegian girl, and Henning Larsen's clean 207m - so hopefully the others are posting their experiences on other threads...

Oh yes, here is a thread on Henning Larsen's 207m [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?p=599068#post599068"]207m by Henning[/ame]