my first static attempt

[monterey jak]

wow! im very impressed with myself! im 13, and im just getting started with freediving. ive always loved swimming, i got my scuba licence at 12, but ive never knew there really was anything special you had to do to hold your breath for a long time, haha! i started reading up on this site, getting a bunch of info. and my first static was 3 minutes and 30 seconds :king
before, without relaxing, and just getting a breath and sitting there with a timer, i could only get a minute and 15 if i was lucky. the day after i got 3:30, i went out to our boat, and dove down 45 feet, thinking that it was alot more shallow, because i felt like i was going down about 20. so anyway, this is one of the most helpful websites ive ever found

sorry, you probly couldnt understand half of what i said, but anyway, this is just really cool, because i know now that my limits are far greater than i could have ever imagined a few days ago.



but anyway, if anybody has any suggestions for stuff i probly dont know, i would love it

 

[AB Diver]

Glad you enjoyed it!

I know the feeling of the first long static and the first deep dive what a thrill! I am only 18 and just started this whole freediving thing 2 months ago or so. I can relate to how ya feel!

 

[monterey jak]

yeah, when i got down 45 feet, i just sat on the bottom for a little bit, played with the crayfish for a sec, then it hit me... this is exactly the depth that i always looked up to my dad on. because when my dad was in the millitary, he went to... i dont know how to spell it, but ill sound it out, mike-row-nee-shuh and he didnt have his scuba license yet. his friends were going down to a shipwreck wehn he got bored so he swam down 45 feet to them and scared the crap out of em. i always thought that was very cool. because it always seemed so deep. and through all this im on the bottom just enjoying it. untill i realised that my parents would soon get worried because by then id been down there for at least 2 minutes

so i dont think i will be scuba diving as often, its too much of a hassel, i think ill stick mostly with freediving!

 

[AB Diver]

Yep sure is a lot easier to swim without all that junk on your back isn't it? Wow 2 min that is a pretty long time under water. My personal Best static is 4 min 1 second. Although once I get in the water and start diving it seems like 1min 30 sec is about as long as I can stay down for. I dunno why maybe cuz the visibility is always around 4 feet, the waves and surges are always pushing me back and forth so it's always a battle to stay in one spot. Pretty hard to relax under those conditions. But you have me on depth that's for sure. my max is about 25- 30 feet. But diving in the ocean around here it gets so dark once you get to 30 feet that it jusn't isn't any fun cuz ya can't see anything. There's all sorts of stuff to look at but when your straining to see it it makes a fell just want to stick to 20 feet.

 

[monterey jak]

haha im in lake michigan. there are alot of zebra muscles in the very shallows, and when its kind of deep. they keep the water VERY clean and make the visibility very good on most occasions. it was suprisingly bright on the bottom. it was very calm, and it was a sunny day so i was lucky. but swimming across the zebra muscles, watching their short little tubes jet in when you go over them... something about that is just relaxing, and its just such a different environment, you never want to leave, you just want to sit there forever.

and yes, comming near what seems to be a heat stroke, with so much stuff, only to have to carry it in the water too, its too much. i like being free, sometimes with no mask either. so you feel as though you fit in with the rest of the underwater world. no strange equipment, just a breath of air. you feel free.

so, does anybody have any suggestions on how to train at this point? i know that its out there, but it would be alot easier to have it in one place


EDIT: and dont get me wrong, i like scuba diving alot! i just would rather to free dive on most things, but you cant hold your breath forever, thats when scuba comes in

ANOTHER EDIT: haha i just realised, i forgot to pack when i did 3:30

 

[OceanMan]

Paching at 13 and for 3'30" static or so .....
I guess we did something wrong older guys...

 

[monterey jak]

Paching at 13 and for 3'30" static or so .....
I guess we did something wrong older guys...

huh? lol i didnt understand much more than a few words from you..

so, in OTHER words, what did you just say?

 

[OceanMan]

I mean that packing is a technique which is quiet dangerous (I know someone who got a pneumothorax and we don't know the long term effects of packing) and which is absolutely useless to do 3' static. Packing is interesting when you can hold your breath for more than someting like 6' I think. Below 6' , there's many other more efficient ways to progress than packing.
For a 3' or 4' minutes static packing is a disadvantage, you can do more without packing. Try it.

 

[OceanMan]

Anyway 3'30" is great. Good job.

 

[monterey jak]

umm.. i usualy do it only 2 times. i used to pack a little bit even before i knew what it was. i wouldnt ever do it even wehn it gets a little un-comfortable.

haha, and thanks. i never knew i could do such a thing im having alot of progression very fast, first, it was hard to get past 20 feet down, now i can get 45! so im gonna do 45 untill i can be totaly comfortable down there, then mabe ill progress to mabe 50

wow, thats alot of mabe's

 

[DeepThought]

You must be thrilled discovering freediving.

Another thing you should catch up with quick is safety procedures. Try using the 'search' function. People try to dive with buddies who know rescue procedures. Freediving is a potentially dangerous passion.
You are just starting and you can't really know what your limits are or how stable they are (one day you're fine at 45ft, the other you BO returning from 35fit), or which techniques put you more in the risk of blacking out and which aren't.
At your age you're probably limited in resources but maybe you can convice your parents to arrange for you to participate in a freediving course. You'll get years worth of expirience and knowledge, you'll dive better and MUCH safer after one of those.

*It's Micronesia.

 

[monterey jak]

lol, ok, thanks for the spelling, and i wont go any deeper than like, 20 feet without somebody with me. if i go down more than that, my dad is with me. he doesnt like to freedive as much, so he scuba dives with me sometimes, and just in case i dont think im gonna make it, i have a scuba license so i know what to do, and he knows that if i swim twards him, to put his other regulator out for me to get we worked out stuff like that, but im too afraid to do much stuff alone

 

[DeepThought]

A scuba diver is not a safety.
Do a search on SWB - Shallow wather blackout. If you blackout you are most likely to blackout on the last phase of the ascent, you might reach the surface with your face down. Your dad might think you are breathing through the snorkel while you're actually dying. It is also possible to blackout even after reaching the surface and taking a breath.
Another thing: assuming your father does notice you are in trouble on the surface but he is 45ft down, now he needs to do an emergency ascent and risk himself.
Safety should be done by another person who knows how to do proper safety specifically for freediving. People have died in public pools under the eyes of pool guards.

 

[tylerz]

Second Deep Thoughts posts... Montery, your posts scare me to tell you the truth! Not that I don't think you have much more potential and the ability even at this moment to do more than you have, but there is way more to it than that. Such as: the progress of exhaustion throughout your body, your breath-up expelling too much CO2, never having a sign of your "actual limit" to enact a safety limit, body overheating (too much time in the sun), blood pressure, effects of digestion, and much more... Most of these can change day to day. The SCUBA safety is not at all a form of safety in recreational freediving unless you get stuck at the bottom and they witness it. The danger is on surfacing after a seemingly good dive.

Not wanting to put out your fun, but please learn LOTS more about safety and the issues at hand. Congratulations on your discoveries so far, and I am very glad you have found a pleasure and wonderous experience. Hopefully you will have many more.

Cheers,

Tyler

 

[monterey jak]

... you dont know the whole story. please just ask before you assume

 

[tylerz]

What assumption? Ask what?

Weren't these your words:
"but anyway, if anybody has any suggestions for stuff i probly dont know, i would love it"

I would emphasize "probly dont know" and "anybody has any suggestions" and "i would love it".