New PB with a nice samba @ the end

[Ender]

aloha folks


I practiced some wet statics with abriapnea yesterday...

I was gonna go for a 4.30 static but the last thing I remember was seeing 4.15 on the stopwatch...after that things got a bit strange (or so Abri told me...i have no recollection)...

Apparently I started convulsing like a madman for about 15 sec...he pulled me out of the water but the only thing I could do was laugh hysterically and just drop back in without breathing. He had to actually hold me out of the water so I could take a few breaths and regain body control

The time when I was freaking out doesn't really count so the new PB is 4min15sec

was fun

I'm gonna go for a new depth PB this afternoon...I have to break that damn 30meter barrier (current PB 28m)

cheers,
Ender

 

[Chefkoch]

Man Ender, that sounds quite strange....wow!
So you had a severe samba, but without blackout...
Take your time and don't push it too hard.
I try to avoid blackouts (never had one), because there is no guarantee that you'll wake up and smile, even when having approprate assistance. It's always a risk.
:naughty
A greek freediver - by that time diving to -60- told me that there might be another problem with blackouts: your brain could get used to blacking out and take the blackout as the less painful alternative to a hard return pushing your will and concentration to the limits. As a consequence, this means you would black out more often.
Well I don't know if this is right...any experts out there???
Benjamin Franz wrote somewhere that he has 3-4 blackouts per year.

 

[DSV]

Samba

Hey Ender,

Seeing you don't remember anything after 4:15 you probably were having a Samba at 4:15. And you didn't just Samba, as soon as you can't remember anything it's called a BO.

BE CAREFUL!

We want to read about free diving here not the obituaries

Keep trying, but maybe change your beathe up and or your prep.

DSV

 

[Erik]

Originally posted by Ender
The time when I was freaking out doesn't really count so the new PB is 4min15sec

Ender

Good effort Ender. That's not generally referred to as PB, though. It's a disqualification in competition.
A PB is what you can do and come out happy, with a smile on your face
Unlike what happened to me yesterday I'll tell that story in a few days, when I get back to Alberta.
Cheers, and keep on trying (safely)
Erik Y.

 

[Ender]

Yah you're all right..

Don't take me wrong here...I'm not laughing it all away. I'm well aware of the risks involved.

It's just that this time I totally didn't feel it coming. I was still waiting for my first convulsion (which I normally get @3.30 or so) when suddenly the lights went out...

Odd

On a lighter note :

I broke the 30meter barrier yesterday!

It was the first time I used a line as reference. I had a scubadiver @15 meter and a guy on the surface. The conditions where absolutely perfect. Crystal water, no current, light swell...

The cool thing was that @ 20 meter there was a school of HUGE yellowtail barracudas...between 1-2 meter in length. I just dove right through them...

awesome dive... came up no prob.

new PB 30.5 meter

cheers.
Ender

 

[Erik]

Great stuff, dude!
Is that "Ender", as in "Ender's Game" (an awesome sci-fi book)
Erik Y.

 

[Ender]

Yup

I kinda identify with a 10yr old brat who wipes out an entire alien race...

 

[Abriapnea]

Back in the fold

Until some days ago I've been viewing this thread as a spectator only , but thanks to the motivation of my new buddy Ender I am now after a "resting period " of two years starting training again .
Our first static session ended with mixed results , but after discussing it we agreed on a more cautious approach building a steady foundation before trying for improvement .
I was pleasantly surprised by making a comfortable 4:00 , now if I can cut back from my 1 and 1/2 packs a day...

 

[Ben Gowland]

Although some might consider that this should go without saying, well done for having a trained buddy watching you!

Chefkoch's comment - I have heard it before, that you can train yourself to BO. No idea if it is true or not - but couls be because - remember that BOs are a REFLEX to hypoxia - and that when out of the water you wake up - so far nobody observing the proper safety rules has NOT woken up when pulled out of the water - within 15 seconds of BO. If anyone knows any fact to the contrary I would like them to reply please.

Ben

 

[Crispin]

Good Morning Ben,


If you're talking about static samba / BO recovery times, then i've seen people take around 30 - 45 seconds to come round.....


However,

if you're talking about CW samba / BO, then i've seen people take up to 5 minutes to begin breathing again....

 

[Ben Gowland]

Oops - that was a bit unclear - I meant that I have not heard of a case where someone following proper safety procedures, that has been removed from the water within 15 seconds of BO, whether in depth or pool, has not revived.

5 minutes and still recovered? That is into brain damage territory - I'm amazed - where was that?

 

[Crispin]

Hubert Maier took a while to come round after 'climbing the ladder' after blacking out at around ~15m in Ibiza....

Fred Buyle was out like a baby when they pulled him out too (Ibiza), I believe he took a good few seconds before he was compus mentus again.....

The guy from New Caledonia in Sardinia (98) (or was it Red Sea) took about 2-3 minutes to come round (needed cpr)....

I cant discuss the 5 minute incident in detail unfortunately.


but...

"Oops - that was a bit unclear - I meant that I have not heard of a case where someone following proper safety procedures, that has been removed from the water within 15 seconds of BO, whether in depth or pool, has not revived. "


If the above are followed then I would concur, with the exception of extending 15 seconds to 1 minute.....

 

[thin_air]

humm, sambas

i had one this morning, first time in the pool i have a samba, scared me s***less, lucky for me, i was on the edge of the pool, i felt weak as i came up, so i got my whole chest over the edge, so i didnt slip back into the pool

the lifeguard didnt even notice and he was only about 6 feet away, anyway, i just got out and took a shower,

judging by my watch i was sambaing (you know what i mean ) for about 12 seconds, after which i was fine,

it was the weirdest sensation, hope not to have one again.

ps. my knee hurts alot from the "uncontrollable body movements" during the samba, :hmm

 

[laminar]

Dude!

Get yourself a buddy! I'd like to freedive with you someday, but you need to survive until then. People die in pools. It's a fact.

This weekend at Nationals I helped four people during sambas and rescue two people from blackouts. They happen and without a friend, your luck WILL run out.

A bad samba can easily turn fatal if you happen to "slip down" or not come up at all.

Please,


Pete

 

[Erik]

I second that. Vince, we are friends, and I've had 2 friends die this year. Freediver 48 died of natural causes, and another friend of mine took his own life last week. They are ok now, but for me, and the other people who loved them, the sense of loss and grief is very strong. Choose your path, and challenge yourself, but do it wisely, mon ami. Someday you will be diving to 50 metres in the clear blue water of the Carribean or emerald green water of the west coast, enshallah (god willing)...and Vince-willing too.
So be careful, so we can actually get an opportunity to dive together, oui?
Take care,
tu amigo,
Erik

 

[thin_air]

as i write this i am talking to someone who i got interested in freediving (having made a greater effort to find someone after monday..)

i will now refrain from anything that would require any breathups without a buddy,


erik, sad to hear about your friend who took his own life

i know i have not been very good diving without a buddy, another dumb choice i made, another lesson learned

 

[Ender]

If I had had that samba while I was alone I would've been dead.
Simple.

But samba's and BO are things that WILL happen when u freedive and if ur not ready for them then ur not ready to freedive. Simple again.

imo

cheers,
Ender

 

[efattah]

You can die from blackouts...

Replying to Ben's question about whether anyone has had a blackout, been pulled out within 15 seconds and died, YES, it has happened. It was about 2 years ago, I believe it was in Sweden. It was during a dynamic apnea training session, doing sets of 60m dynamics repetitively. The diver, near the end of the 60m dynamic, blacked out under the water. The safety person on deck spotted it immediately, and he was pulled out. All attempts at resuscitation failed, and he died. I think Bill Stromberg knows more about that incident. It is pretty scary to think of it.


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[DSV]

Solo Samba

You read these threads all the time and see the mis-haps of people all the time. You seem like a VERY intelligent kid. You are in your teens and without someone qualified in free dive safety with you, you may not see your twenties.

I have spoken with the lifeguards at my local pool and they have no idea what to do or even what it looks like if someone training for free diving sambas or blacks out.

I know of a guy last year that died only feet away from a lifeguard at his local pool.

Ok enough scoldings.

If you have to train by yourself don't do things that would put yourself at risk. There are days when I have to train solo and I'm sure alomst everyone on this list has trained solo once or twice. Just do it smart.

DSV