[News] Performance Freediving Sink Faze 2006 Wraps

[DeeperBlue.com]

West Bay, Grand Cayman Island, BWI - The Performance Freediving Sink Faze 2006 world record event has wrapped with no additions to the Team trophy case. Friday, April 7 was a competition day, but despite near-flawless performance by athletes and crew,...



This is an news discussion thread for discussing the following DeeperBlue.net News item:

Click here for original DeeperBlue.net News Item

 

[smellsfishy]

So what happened ? What's the story ?

 

[Stephan Whelan]

This is a discussion thread for the news item posted on DeeperBlue. Head over to the news item for more details.

 

[smellsfishy]

Stephan,

I got that, I was sort of implying that the story itself was a bit light on the info

smellsfishy

 

[Stephan Whelan]

I'll pass the comments onto Paul Kotik who is on-location. I'm sure he has plenty more editorial up his sleeve

 

[efattah]

A small correction to the wrap up article: According to the daily updates, the FI record was 106m, the CW record was 108m, while the article reports both as 108m....

 

[smellsfishy]

Thanks for the updated story Paul/Stephan

 

[DeepThought]

I am usually VERY happy reading anything that Paul writes, but this time I was slightly disappointed from the coverage.
The annual Cayman event is about Martin and Mandy breaking world records and staying at the top of their game.
This year Mandy has turned into a 'national record holder' and barely a word about it? an interview? an "I'll be back!" promise?
Obviously the PFD team has noticed Molochnova, why the silence? Pride? Sponsoers?
Also, I'd be curious to know how Martin & Mandy's warmups look like for the different disciplines/training days etc.
Maybe it is just too early as these have probably been very busy days and this kind of in-depth report is still yet to come.

 

[Fondueset]

I was really looking forward to a lengthy wrap article in Paul's lively and enjoyable style too. Also some more video clips.

Martin and Mandy are both very articulate and engaging and I was hoping for videos of the dives narrated by the divers - though I understand theres probably some production time involved.

Around here freediving is a freakish activity engaged in only by one or two people (my daughter and I). We've recently gotten a little coverage locally on Television and in the paper. As a result probably more people than usual tuned in to the major media coverage of the Cayman dives and the response has been awe and amazement. People are blown away by the difficulty and beauty of the sport.

 

[efattah]

I'd call this year's Cayman event another big success, and I enjoyed it greatly. Having said that, I'd also agree that the coverage was sparse and clearly made with an intent to please sponsors. This is probably due to the unfortunate fact that the DeeperBlue reporter on site is affiliated with the PFD, and is under pressure to produce reports which look the best for the media and sponsors. What the organizers may not realize is that the beauty of sport is not just about always winning, it is not just about success. The public learns to connect with the role-model athletes through both their successes and their failures -- perhaps even more through their failures. In my own short history of record diving, I always produced lengthy accounts of my failures for all to read -- and I often got the *best* response from my candid reports of failure. The result was that in future record attempts & competitions, I had more people supporting me, since they wanted to see me overcome my failures. We the public want to share in the emotions of the athletes, not just numerical results. Whether the athlete is cringing in disappointment, or rejoicing with joy, we need to know that in order to feel connected and get excited. For example, after Martin's flooded mask on the 110m attempt, how did he feel? Was he disappointed? Was he surprised? What was his mental state prior to the dive? I found myself going to martinstepanek.com where there were more in depth reports -- for example on his site we were told that on the 110m day he was lacking motivation, probably due to already breaking the record twice and suffering from exhaustion. It would be great to hear more. The same goes for Mandy & Doc.

 

[Fondueset]

I absolutely agree. The interest in freediving - I think for pretty much all of us - is the whole experience. I think this is as true of spectators as it is of participants. As a competitive sport it is completely unique.

 

[tylerz]

"A hero appears superhuman to those so touched, and in this capacity, to these mere mortals, encourages imagination of a world filled with wonder, fascination, and potential. While still caught in the eyes of followers, a hero has the opportunity to perform the greatest honor to his status and the praises bestowed upon him: to elevate those under his influence to their own level of grandeur.

This most gracious and humble act, is readily achieved by emphasizing his own mortal challenges and relating to the challenges experienced by those around him. Once a hero, it can never be taken away, therefore when he brings himself down to mortal levels, in the eyes of those who can't see him as anything less than a hero, they find support and encouragement to become heroes themselves. Giving the opportunity for himself and others to see him for what he really is, another mortal, is the only price to pay for this offering."

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Points are noted everyone - keep comments coming here or to me at stephan.whelan@deeperblue.net

We strive to provide good quality coverage and realise that sometimes we get it right, other times maybe not.

We do have some more wrap up in-depth articles coming out around the event so keep your eyes peeled.

 

[trux]

... I found myself going to martinstepanek.com where there were more in depth reports -- for example on his site we were told that on the 110m day he was lacking motivation, probably due to already breaking the record twice and suffering from exhaustion. ...

Yes, I was under the same impression, but only until I switched to the Czech original. The original article on Martin's website was written by Petr Vaverka (another Czech freediver and UW photographer). Unfortunately the English translation was slightly twisted. In fact, in the Czech article, Petr wrote that before the last (110m) attempt, Martin was in perfect form and state of mind, the first time during the weeks not complaining about anything at all - normally, during the training and during the other attempts he had troubles with his injured ankle, and before that with ears, not speaking about the first week of the training that he completely lost because of a bad flu. This time he seemed to be perfectly OK, and quiet. At least this is what I see in the Czech version, although in the English translation it comes out differently because of some inappropriately chosen words.

 

[pkotik]

Tsk, tsk. O, ye of little faith.

Of course there will be a lengthy, detailed ( gore included) feature article on the Sink Faze event. Who here thinks a reporter embedded in the very tent of the athletes should publish descriptions of their weaknesses and failures...during the event ? Not me. I want them to succeed. The time for that is l a t e r.

As to Eric's observation that I'm 'affiliated' with PFI - yes, I'm a clinic graduate, and yes, I've assisted Kirk & Martin in running clinics in the past. However, I've been off the circuit for two (2) years. In fact, I hadn't been in the water at all for 2 years until I plopped in down in Cayman to eyeball the Sink Faze happenings. I spent a few hours with Kirk in July 2004, but other than that had not laid eyes on the man since March 2004's Cayman event wrapped.

My favorite idea for a feature article coming out of Sink Faze is an analysis of Doc Lopez's technique, training and general approach. Reason: Doc is 58 years old, and spends only one month each year having anything whatever to do with freediving. He, therefore, is a good approximation of the rank-and-file freediver out there. Doc's stuff is stuff everybody can use - Martin's is stuff a tiny handful of humans on this planet can use. A program that begins " First, start your training at age 7. Train 4-6 hours a day for 22 years...." isn't really all that useful for most of us. Reminds me of the American who asked the groundskeeper at Windsor Castle how to have such a beautiful lawn. Groundskeeper: " First, plant in finely-raked soil. Fertilize, and then water regularly for 700 years."

Journalists need access. You don't get it by beating up your subjects while they're in the middle of their thing. Doc Lopez is now back running his $500 million ( market cap) company with 1,300 employees, but he WILL take the time to talk with me about his approach to freediving-the-average-guy. This will be good stuff, solid gold for the 99% of our readers who don't hit 90 meters constant ballast, but would like to hit 40 or 50 someday. As for Martin and Mandy, they, too have a lot that's of interest on the leading edge of the sport, and that, too will be accesssible to this reporter. And reported to you. But this kind of access is maintained by being inside the tent and pissing out, not by being outside the tent pissing in, or worse, inside the tent and pissing down.

Stay tuned....

 

[Fondueset]

Good God man! You mean there were no bathrooms!?

 

[trux]

In the meantime - before the full article comes, I found some additional information. There is an online interview with Martin from 3/31/06 (before the record) on a Czech website, that might be interesting for freedivers, although it is not a freediving website, but rather one of a mass media newspaper. Unfortunately it is in Czech only:

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/prilohy/online/index_view.php?id=180836

I can translate parts of it - but it is too long, so I just extract some parts, skip known facts and answers, and abbreviate all questions and replies:

Q: What's your diet?
A: I count calories and eat balanced. Counting is important, because when diving, you burn more than you'd think. By balanced eating I mean 65% carbohydrates, 20% proteins, and 15% fat. During the competition season it changes to 70% / 15% / 15%. What important even for leisure freediving is avoiding caffeine, milk products, saturated fat acids [hmm, that's certainly the wrong translation, but I do not know the English expression], and alcohol. It is difficult to dive with.

Q: What's you preparation for a dive?
A: Because of the disease, I changed my usual training, so it is now a follows: 5 minute breath-up (immersed with a snorchel), dive to 15m for 3:30, dive to 30m for 4:00, exhaled dive to 15m for 1:15, exhaled dive to 19m for 1:30, and then I do my planned dive.

Q: Do you plan to partiipate in pool disciplines again?
A: am not so sure. It does not attract me as much as the depth, but I am afraid I'll have to work on it this year, because they are part of the world cup in Egypt.

Q: With the flu you had, you did 106m in training yesterday; is it stimulating you? Do you think Costas is getting nervous?
A: Yeah, it a a great stimulation. Costas does not seem to be nervous - I spoke to him before the departure, so he counts with the new record anyway

Q: What's the feeling with all the mass of water over your head? Do you feel fear?
A: The feeling is marvelous, for the fear there is no room.

Q: Can you describe your health problems at the beginning of March? Isn't it a miracle you can dive to a record depth just after it?
A: At the begining of the Cayman trip, I stayed in the bed with an infection of bronchi and then the larynx too, that then spread to the sinuses. If I consider it a miracle? Yes, I indeed do!! I still cannot believe it [NOTE: yes, he was quite pessimistic in his initial reports from Caymans]

Q: Did you experienced a blackout?
A: I did not have any BO yet, but that's rather unusual for a freediver of this performance level. It simply happens sometimes that one does not estimate the dive well. It is nothing life-threatening as long as you respect security rules, and always have a trained buddy. If you do not have any, or if he is not properly trained, then it easily ends tragically.

Q: What do you think about when freediving? Eight minutes is long enough time to think about nothing.
A: And that's exactly the trick - to think about nothing Just let your mind flow as if you were in a meditation. It is similar to falling asleep.

Q: What type aerobic training is the best for freediving, what do you like the most, and what intensity would you recommend (time, frequency)?
A: Stairmaster, minimally three times a week. In the last time I favor training on inline skates.

Q: When do your contractios start?
A: I am told they start at 4 min, but I do not feel them yet. They begin to bother me around 6min, and I have to really fight the last 45s.

Q: What's you opinion about the performance of Tom Sietas?
A: Tom is a very nice person and I appreciate his enthusiasm.

Q: Will you come to the 4th Czech AIDA Open 2006 in Brno?
A: For now it looks that not :-(

Q: Is freediving financially demanding? Certainly not as much as scuba, or am I wrong?
A: You are right; it is not as demanding as scuba. The traveling is the most expensive. You only need to buy a mask, fins, a suit and you are ready. Though, performance freediving is entirely something different.

Q: Stupid question: were you ever drowning?
A: No question is stupid I do not remember

Q: What's the difference between winter diving under ice and summer diving in the sea?
A: The teperature In winter I went under the ice only for the pure pleasure - and even that makes a big difference.

Q: What's the most dangerous in your sport?
A: Human stupidity and recklessness!!! When people dive alone, or are trying in a bathtub or a pool without surveillance.

Q: Do you dive with tanks too?
A: Yes, I do, but unfortunately not as often as I'd like.

Q: What's the difference in saltwater and freshwater diving?
A: Especially the visibility, temperature, but then also the water density that influences the buoyancy and hence also the technique of diving

 

[tylerz]

A: Human stupidity and recklessness!!! When people dive alone, ...

Wow, such a strong, unreserved statement!

Well, good lasting impression for the masses, discouraging them from confidently trying to freedive alone, without solid experience. Not many would like to enter a sport already having to eat their pride at being labelled stupid by one of the top dogs.

But doesn't bode so well for many of us in shaking the labels and disapproval of so many we encounter, which can impede our interactions.

The mass benefit I would say far outweighs the minor obstacles of losing a receptive audience.

 

[trux]

Wow, such a strong, unreserved statement!

Actually, I think he meant it as two different statements - that both of it represents serious danger in freediving. There was no equation between the two phrases in the original answer - the interpretation is up to the reader

 

[fpernett]

Here is the link to the 108 meters dive. Nice!
http://www.unikron.com/play/play_display.cgi?speed=hi&id=freediving74