Freediving in the Olympics? Yes/no, how?

[Kars]

Question is: what is it we truly want?

Secondly: what do we need?

 

[osusim]

Just a few hundreds millions dollars can help Olympic committee to find space for new sport disciplines inside the busy Olympic agenda (like a baseball or speedeating of hotdogs). :t

 

[sulaco]

Anyway, they will say apnea is too dangerous and not a good example for children, people will try and die, whatever...

This. And I think there's actually some merit to that argument.

 

[pingshui]

I want to come back to what Erki posted before.

What about starting small and getting freediving into the X-games, where skydiving, skateboarding and so an already are. BMX, snowboarding and ski-cross are olympic now and I think they also started in the X-games. In Rio kite-surfing will be olympic, but I don't know where that decision came from...

 

[MartinTee]

Here are some pictures taken after the finish of women marathon. Not nasty at all...?
LONDONI FOTOBLOGI: Naiste maratoni fini

http://i.imgur.com/Rl4k5.jpg

Walking is dangerous! hehe

 

[MartinTee]

Question is: what is it we truly want?

Secondly: what do we need?

That's exactly what my mother would say

 

[Will]

My 2 cents: William Trubridge News

Cheers, Will.

 

[osusim]

http://i.imgur.com/Rl4k5.jpg
Walking is dangerous! hehe

Nether walk alone

 

[maui400]

@Wil
Below your interesting article (in my eyes) Honza Horák gave a great answer to the question whether freediving should be olympic or not.

And ask yourself "why"? Why should be freediving olympic?

 

[Mullins]

Who gets to say whether freediving should be "about internal feelings"? People are free to have as many internal feelings as they want, but I'd rather they didn't interfere with other athletes' attempts to get their efforts recognised.

 

[esom]

Who gets to say whether freediving should be "about internal feelings"? People are free to have as many internal feelings as they want, but I'd rather they didn't interfere with other athletes' attempts to get their efforts recognised.

what are you referring/answering to?
i feel there is more a problem in the opposite direction. out of my experience most people i talked to, which had heard of freediving, knew it was a sport "in which you try to reach as far and deep as possible". this is in accordance to my impression that there is a general media communication which is putting apnea divers in the light of being extreme and competitive athletes.

can we say competitive apnea is a niche of freediving? - i can not think of it differently.
is agreeing with this interfering with the needs of some athletes?

...maybe the naming "freediving" is also a problem for the recognition of the performance divers: measuring performance is only possible by restricting the variety of an action big time. consequently "free diving" can´t be a serious competition sport for someone who hears the naming.

i think to be a little more careful about generalising freediving by the talk about it would help all freedivers

 

[Mullins]

Was responding to the post above mine Esom

 

[maui400]

@Mullins
My words were probably misleading. I don't interfere with anyone ... I don't blame anyone if he/she wants to have a wider publicity or whatever.
My last sentence wasn't referring to a specific person but to all of us. I also thought it might be cool if freediving was olympic, but Honzas comment is quite true in my eyes.

 

[Mullins]

You reckon freediving ought to be done for certain reasons and in a certain way? Thanks but I think I'll keep treating it as a sport.

 

[maui400]

You know, I do as well. But I prefer to have it clean. It's no secret, that most olympic disciplines are spoiled by forbidden substances.

 

[esom]

You reckon freediving ought to be done for certain reasons and in a certain way? Thanks but I think I'll keep treating it as a sport.

reasons and ways are best defined in oplympic sports, aren´t they? or what do you mean by "sport"? i don´t get it


Edit: also, maui´s point were reasons for competitive apnea to be olympic, not for diving free in general

 

[Simos]

You know, I do as well. But I prefer to have it clean. It's no secret, that most olympic disciplines are spoiled by forbidden substances.

I went for a nice, relaxing swim this morning. The sun was shining, the sea was calm, perfect vis and temperature. I cleared my mind and felt completely relaxed.

Oddly none of the swimming doping scandals affected my experience

In the same way I really doubt that someone taking part in the olympics in freediving will affect someone else's inner feelings - and if they do, I guess those feelings were not very 'inner' in the first place

By the way, I am much more on the enjoyment/relaxation side of things myself but I don't see any reason, as Dave said, that I should impose this on others. I am not that concerned whether freediving becomes an Olympic sport but I am sure that if it does, it'll be a great thing for all of us.

 

[maui400]

I went for a nice, relaxing swim this morning. The sun was shining, the sea was calm, perfect vis and temperature. I cleared my mind and felt completely relaxed.

Oddly none of the swimming doping scandals affected my experience

Good for you! But I don't get the relation.

 

[efattah]

Though it is unlikely to get any apnea into the olympics, by far the best bet would be to invoke the clause of returning a prior olympic sport. Since apnea swimming was an olympic sport around 1908 (?), I would invoke the clause to return a previous sport back into the olympics. Much easier than bringing in a new sport.

 

[Simos]

Good for you! But I don't get the relation.

I guess freediving should be about internal feelings, should be done for enjoyment and for "return to our origin." I´m afraid that this beautiful activity could be ruined by doping and money in the name of chasing for olympic gold medals..
by Honza Horák on 2012-08-14 13:23:24

The point is that the fears in the comment above that you are referring too are unfounded in my opinion. Don't see how the activity of freediving would be ruined even if doping was introduced because of the Olympics - for all I know there could be doping in freediving today and there is certainly competition for first places in competitions but none of that affects me enjoyment whatsoever. (same holds for swimming, cycling etc)

There is in general a (small?) part of the freediving community that feels like if freediving goes 'mainstream' it will be ruined - personally I think it'll be the opposite, now what 'ruins' my enjoyment is that half the time I don't have a buddy to train with or the facilities that will accept freedivers (or just the facilities period eg deep tanks etc).

The 'only' thing that I think would spoil things for me is if freediving went mainstream in an uncontrolled way and respecting the environment was not part of Freediving anymore.

I'd really hate to see freedivers leaving litter behind, destroying marine life (willingly or unwillingly eg kicking coral with fins) and it will be indeed a sad day if the popular Freediving spots were ruined by freedivers instead of conserved.