New World Record - Wellington Wintder Champs - NZ

[KatFish]

Thanks Kars.

At about the start of this year I got sick of losing strokes thoughout my long dives and since have really focussed on my dives beyond 100m, which has meant a lot of max attempt swims in training (about 2-3 a week). I was adding approx half a stroke (ie arms or legs) per length which meant that I would be up to 5 strokes by the end. I've managed to overcome it and the dives are much more controlled and enjoyable. Still have to work on this and some other issues such as knee and elbow bend and leg strength while wearing a monofin (mine only arrived the week before the competition and I've been borrowing various ones prior to this).

To be honest, the 151m dive was the most horrible feeling dive I've done in a long time (due to pretty intense nerves that this time made themselves felt through my thighs, which shook incessantly throughout the dive), which made it hard to celebrate at the time as I'm essentially a freediver because I love the feeling of being under water - now the memory of the dive itself is fading and it's quite exciting to have made it to the top, even if it's only for a short time...

I guess from here I'll just try to keep adding to it, work on my other pool events and see if I can get some time to work on depth events this summer (remembering it's winter here at the moment). I might try to create more stressful situations at training to deal with nerves, but that always varies depending on the competition and what's at stake.

My dynamic is now up:

 

[azapa]

Kat, I do seem to remember that you suffer on these max dives, but you are getting amazing results so don't complain now.. How much weight vs lung volume (7l i think) did you have on the DNF dive? I see 3 ocean hunter leads, 4.5Kg, and probably about 2K on your neck. 2mm orca suit?

 

[KatFish]

Hi Simon

I'm wearing 4kg on my waist (one of those Ocean Hunter weights I cut down to have a 1kg & .5kg) and 4kg on my neck which is a inner tube doubled over and taped together to be close in around my neck (more streamlined). I'm starting to get a bit buoyant again and need to add a little (which I'll be experimenting with again over the next month or so), but it really needs to be evenly split between my neck and waist or I don't glide level and lose speed. The Orca Apex 2 suit counts for about 2kg of lead and is super fast and flexible. The suit halves the number of strokes I have to take per length. I'm a horrendously buoyant person (can't sit in spa pools without my feet floating up). Last lung test (Jan 08) TLC with packing was 8.4L. I've added about .5kg of lead since then and am about to add more so think it's probably about 9L by now. I can wear the same weights with my new Triton hyperfin as it's not too buoyant - I needed an extra 2kg with a standard hyperfin to stop my legs from flying towards the surface and it all mucked up my streamlining.

 

[Kars]

Wel, what big lungs you got laidy, If I would dare to ask for some photo's of where you would keep those 9! Litres, yeess, that's much!

I while ago I was happy to hold 7,5L with packing...

Boyancy is nothing to be said about, rejoyce for you can add extra weight, mass that will help you to glide further and maintain speed after each turn!

BTW I noticed with both dives that you seem to do the first lanes faster than the ones following, I quess it's by than the diveresponce and the lactose buildup kicks in?

Have fun further exploring your limit's!

BTW, winter deep diving is not too bad, just a 5mm suit and a bit of extra weight will do the trick. Diving partial full lungs also is beneficial retaining the flexability in shallow water for the next depth season.
Tonight I'll leave for the wonderfull all-discipline Nordic Deep event in Sweden, where the temp at the surface will be ~20c, and at depth ~6. Opposed to tropical places, this invokes much more diving responce, and to me it feels much more like real diving.

Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[island_sands]

Wel, what big lungs you got laidy, If I would dare to ask for some photo's of where you would keep those 9! Litres, yeess, that's much!

What? I hope I am misreading something here!!! :rcard

 

[azapa]

Hi Simon

I'm wearing 4kg on my waist (one of those Ocean Hunter weights I cut do.....

thanks Kathryn
amazing the suit cut down your strokes to HALF? I am doing about 6 or 7 strokes per 25m without suit, could I really expect 3 or 4 with??? oh dear i here my credit card groaning..

 

[Kars]

Azapa, indeed suits and weights do make a lot of difference. Adding boyancy allows to have more mass, more mass gives you a longer glide. Also being perfectly weighted helps tremendously in terms of frontal surface area and streamlining also adding to the gliding distance. A friend of mine did compair his 3mm Elios tailormade suit to a Sailfish triathlon swim suit, and indeed improved his glide to have one stroke less on the 50m. I regretfully don't exactly recal how many strokes he used for a 50m dive in a 50m pool, but from the top of my head it was 6,5 for Elios, meaning with the Sailfish suit it was 5,5.

The only downer is that the Sailfish suit cost new over 550,- Euro's. And the Elios tailor made 2 piece suit just about E 250,-

So as usual try before you buy

Kars

 

[rxcnc2]

Adding boyancy allows to have more mass, more mass gives you a longer glide.
Kars

I don't get it completely. You would also need more strength to push more mass to the same distance. Reducing the number of strokes may not be as good as it seems, if each stroke requires more energy. One would have to see how the two things balance each other.

I suspect that smoothskin neoprene suits meant for diving with a fin are too smooth for DNF. For this latter, the engine is given by the traction of arms and legs, and perhaps it would be best to be smooth on the advancing side and have some friction on the receding side. For me at least, I feel that my DNF works better when I am not wearing a suit, but then of course it is usually too cold. I wonder how these ORCA suits are made?

 

[KatFish]

You get the initial momentum from the push off. It really doesn't take any more energy to push through when you're wearing more lead and are neutrally buoyant. You just move faster and go further with each stroke.

You do need to find a westuit that's really flexible through the shoulders and smooth. The Orca suits are really flexible, thicker around the chest and thighs (where we can control our weighting), thin through the arms, have grippy bits on the lower forearms and are mostly smooth. They have a good seal around the neck to stop it catching water and generally feel very fast. Orca - Leaders in Triathlon, Running and Wetsuit Technology

This is the dive from under water. I was a bit too buoyant to begin with as I'd been doing a bit of lung stretching and hadn't altered my weighting, but I'm about neutral by the end of the dive. You tend to lose a bit of momentum and add strokes as the dive goes on, but I reckon it's all related to fatigue and you can teach yourself not to.

 

[azapa]

completely OT Kathryn, but those Ocean diver weights, as well as shifting around and rolling you (they do me) must cause drag. I was looking at some lead sheeting the other day I bought to melt into normal weights. What about a sheet of lead, with a thin rubber sheet each side, stuffed up your wetsuit back? No drag or shift.
(work is too dull to face today..)

 

[mondebleu]

hi !!!

i can't say anything at all, just wonderful!
for sure she 'll throw competitors into a panic for the next aida individual world championship

freedivers, you can take a look on my blog mondebleu's blog - Bruno Beauverger présente Mondebleu! - Skyrock.com
Kathryn McPhee appears on a self made interview ;-)

i look forward to seeing you soon on mondebleu!!!

bye everybody,
bruno

 

[KatFish]

completely OT Kathryn, but those Ocean diver weights, as well as shifting around and rolling you (they do me) must cause drag. I was looking at some lead sheeting the other day I bought to melt into normal weights. What about a sheet of lead, with a thin rubber sheet each side, stuffed up your wetsuit back? No drag or shift.
(work is too dull to face today..)

If the weight is even and correctly placed then just give it time - the rolling will stop once you get used to it.

I think there's a AIDA rule that you have to have quick release weights. Might be a bit uncomfortable to strap lead on under your suit.