Documentary of extreme sport

[trux]

Patrick and Adel did not have proper safety because of their own failure - no supervision in case of Patrick, and released lanyard at depth in case of Adel. It is hard to tell it, but they violated the very basic rules of safety and that cost their life.

Passing out on the way back during a competition or a record attempt is nothing unusual, and is not unsafe, as long as you have a trained buddy who knows what to do.

 

[azapa]

The adrenaline rush:

I think you have zeroed in on the difference between extreme sports and freedivng. All the extreme sports I'm aware of and the one I participate in (body surfing waves much bigger than me) all have an aspect of adrenaline rush. I love it, but you don't find it in freediving. That has a very different kind of attraction, not sure I can describe it.

Connor

I hate to disagree with Connor, because he nearly always right. But I do get an adrenaline rush freediving/spearing.

Classic moments:
- just before a PB (personal best) pushing effort. Last saturday for example, new PB in DNF. My heart must be doing about 120Bpm at the start.

- a big days spearing with buddies.

- (Connor, cough cough) arriving at an unknown drop off miles from anywhere with a sonar blip that goes from 30 to 300m in a few horizontal meters, and being "sent down" to check it out... pure adrenaline, tempered by the need for pure relaxation.

I would say, the contrast is the buzz.

 

[pingshui]

I totally agree with Trux. If you have a good buddy even an bo should not be a problem. Bos are the exception, not the rule!

The accidents this year were really tragic, but things like this happen in any sport (cycling, swimming, horse-riding, whatever), if the basic rules are not respected.

 

[cdavis]

Well, SOMEBODY had to check it out, I'd never been there before. Besides, you could see land in the distance and there were people somewhere within about 40 miles, whats to worry? It can get even more interesting. There is a pinnacle out in the middle of nowhere, out of sight of land, thousands of feet deep all around, 40 ft on top, tuna, dolphin, wahoo, marlin, very big sharks. That might be worth a rush.

Back to the original, adrenaline rush. Without a doubt, spearfishing can rank right up there in adrenaline, part of why I love it, but the rush is about shooting fish (or arguing with the gray suit guys), not freediving per se.

I'll take your word for it on PBs, Don't do much of that, but, even so it seems like a very small part of freedivng.

Connor