Records

I will have to try different types of kick, and also count how many strokes I do. My PB is a little over 30m, but I know I could do much better, because my suit is baggy, which slows me down, and my technique could do with some improvement, as it seems to take me about 101 strokes to do 30m. :head

Lucia

if your suit is slowing you, take off your suit

Water Rat here,

I say apnea of any sort is 98% psychological.
On Dynamics, I swim in a pool that is 75 feet long way...approximately 30 feet, short way.
Turning for me takes time, I never learned to do it fast...BUT--once I'm turned around--then I can kick off the side, making up for lost momentum.
Doing it the 30 foot way is easier psychologically--if I run out of air, I usually am at the end of a run anyhow--making it feel more like a "Victory"--Completed xyz widths. The long way---75 feet--is more of a thrill--if I finish my goal. However, if I swim one length, and only halfway back...well, it can feel like a letdown. Still, I take the opportunity to kick Head Trips, frequently. Whenever I start getting scared of something--I go and DO IT. The clock on the wall and Statics is the freakiest for me. I'm up to the 3s there.

I've done 25m with three strokes (stroke = breaststroke, glide, frog kick). I think that the starting kick from the wall matters quite much. You should position your hands properly before kicking from the wall. One can glide probably to 10-12,5m quite easily.

Then again I train in a pool that's ~4m deep. That probably helps in some ways.

hi

have the feeling that dolphin kick is good for speed but not for long distance (dynamic). I found more efficient this kind of kick for UCB than for dynamic.
When I use dolphin kick I can make 25m with 3 breast strokes, but it's quite difficult to go beyond 60meters
_________

I Agree with that Frank-- I do not use dolphin kick for distance
just breastroke- glide -frog and on


now my question is how stig in the video I saw doing 100 and something meters he use dolphin kick all the time -like something normal -

saludos

Daniel.

Hi Daniel,
I never saw that video.
The 166 record dive video is the only I have looked. In that video he don't use the dolphin kick at all.
And I f you look at the David lee's last record he neither use it.

But for depht disciplines I think the dolphin kick helps a lot.

HI Guys,

Finally did a proper "Gerry Dive"--
Empty lung--no weights--no ear pain. Glided easily to bottom of 12 foot--touched the drain--came up slowly and easily...Great fun!
Got a little water in my nose, I think--I hadda look up, just to watch the surface getting closer...AND--it wasn't 'cause I was desperate for air--either!
Water Rat

Hi guys,
yeh I agree for dynamic it's better not to use dolphin kick at all. Still I have done 104m whilst using a dolphin kick. I was doing about 45 seconds a lap so pretty quick. My current style is much slower 55-60 seconds a lap, with a long glide between strokes and no dolphin kick. I have done 114m. That's in a 50m pool, you gain a lot in a 25m from the pushoff.
I can do 25m in 3 strokes without a dolphin kick, but normally it's about 4. Neckweight is definitely the way to go. Although for most women would want to use a weightbelt, they float in different parts.


The dolphin kick is definitlely helpful for depth diving. It helps get extra speed whilst getting off the bottom to overcome the sinking. I used to use it for the whole dive, and have done 50m in around 1.40.
I have since slowed down my dive, use a lot more gliding now between strokes and use better streamlining. So the first couple of strokes from the surface, and the first bit off the bottom I use dolphin kick, for the rest 'normal' style. My deepest UCB dive with this technique is 63m, took 2.35.


Cheers,
Wal

Hey Walrus, 63m UCB is nuts!!! It's 2 meters from 65 UCB David Lee's record. Are you involved in competition or just for the fun of it?

Originally posted by BlueIcarus
Are you involved in competition or just for the fun of it?

Click to expand...

Of course He is, is the famous Walter Steyn, look his perfomances in Cyprus 2004.

Congratulations, Wal, 63 is a really big number in UCB.

I´m working now in improving the dolphin kick, I´m trying to make it more like a body ondulation, than just a kick.
I train it in the pool, but for PB in the pool don´t use it.

In 2 weeks theres going to be a National Championship in the island I grew up, so I hope that can beat my own PB, and will give a try to UCB too, because I love that discipline.

Are you aiming for a WR?

Thanks Frank,
Actually didn't do as well as I hoped in Cyprus. Obviously I didn't expect to BO in CB. :duh
I just really screwed up my competition dive and hope to learn from it. I'm pretty happy with my other competition results and my training PB's of 7.02 static and 80m constant so have quite a few positive things to take away from it all.

I did the 63m UCB in early April, when the official record was still 61m. I was training seriously for the UCB world record since the start of the year. I was offered a chance to share costs in a record attempt that someone else was already doing but it didn't end up going ahead. Was a bit disappointing but rather then dwell on it, I went back to Hawaii to see what I could do. At the time I had only done 56m but knew I could do more. I didn't want to waste my training and really wanted to crack the 60m mark, just to see if I could do it. I trained with my good friends Annabel & Matt, Bill, Jessica and Leo..... and 2 Japanese divers by the name of Ryuzo and Tomoko that seemed to have stayed on the Island so long they were almost locals.
To improve I really had to work on all the little details of the whole dive. I counted strokes, worked on my streamlining, buoyancy, strength and flexibility. I did a bunch of dives in the high 50's with one 58m dive that was just perfect. When I came up I had no need to hook breathe, it just seemed too easy. Then the next dive I was keen to crack the 60m mark and overshot a little and ended up doing 63m. It was a good dive but not easy. On the surface I felt a bit out of it the first 5 seconds, I was worried I may samba but then came good quite quickly. So was clean but only just, it was close to my limits on that dive.


Frank all the best with the comp, have fun. Remember you are mostly competing with yourself, not the guy next to you.
Hope you do well in the UCB, I love it, it's really a great feeling. Truly diving free.

Cheers,
Wal

Oops, sorry some training advice.

Frank my dolphin kick is pretty big, it is really a full body undulation like you said rather then just a leg kick. It is similar to what I would do with a monofin, perhaps slightly exaggerated. It does cost more energy but definitely helps out when extra speed or power is necessary. Ie leaving the surface or getting off the bottom on a UCB.

Tips for beginners:-
Totally separate the arm stroke and kick. Most beginners kick & pull at the same time and it is totally inefficient. You don’t want to start your armstroke until your legs are straight and together, otherwise you are fighting drag. Same goes for leg kick. I start bringing my arms up, as my legs go apart which slows you down anyway. Then finish the kick when your arms are out front in a streamline. I actually use a full swimmers streamline with arms tight together and behind the head. You have to work on flexibility for this. I find it makes up for in distance what little it costs you in energy. I actually pause and glide at least 2-3 seconds between, arm stroke and kick. I also tell people to try and pause 1-2 seconds between just to get used to separating the strokes. If you want to look at a good arm stroke and leg pull then ask a competitive swimmer, or perhaps a swim coach. I still think swimmers and fin-swimmers make a lot of us freedivers look like uncoordinated geeks in the water.
Or check out the videos of da man David Lee, and Topi, they have style.

Weigh yourself so you are perhaps just a little floaty with packing
and at the depth you swim. You want to be close to neutral but don't be too heavy as it's easy to get down but difficult to stop from falling into the bottom. Get a friend to watch you in the pool and really try and get your buoyancy right so you are as horizontal as you can get. You will go up&down a little from the arm stroke but that’s ok. Make use of the push off ! For no-fins dynamics the push off is the most efficient part of the propulsion. So push off big, arms out front and streamline and you should get a good 10-12m



Cheers,
Wal

Hi Wal,
Wanted to give you some karma, but I should "spread" it before give to you again.
Thanks for the tips, I noticed that, when I started practicing I did all at the same time, now I worked apart, and that was the only way to make 25 with just 3 strokes, but I know is a lot of room to improve, I'll work more on my streamlining.
what i've found difficult is the sinking phase in UCB, I get more focus when swimming that when I should relax.
I'll let you know how the competition was, and take your advice on UCB (hope i made a PB).
About the competition you are 100% right, I use to think that I should win overall (well, maybe except my brother), now I'm different this time I'll go to the competition not to beat them all, I'll go to find my self.

HI Gang,

Personal Records, National Records, World Records.
I've never even been in Official Competition--!! I have much to learn!
Thanks for tips, all. I've seen Annabel's name in the record books, I might've seen Jessica on TV, there were two blonde ladies competing on Ripley's Believe it or Not, a Jessica, and a Mandy. Think Mandy won--with a 4:14. Think Jessica made 3:45. If it's the same Mandy I think it is-she's in the record books, too--with a 6:16. I know David Lee--he used to be on Christianfreedivers, with me. The others are not familiar to me. Unless Matt is one of Aaron's buddies. Aaron is on Christianfreedivers, too.
ME??? Ha, Ha, Ha! My static PB wet is around 3 or so, dry static, PB, 6 or so--AGAIN...Dynamic PB is 180 FEET--not Meters! Depth? All I have is 12 feet in a 12 foot pool--with an Empty Lung, I'm told that's around 60 Meters--or 196 Feet--YOW! Didn't know I was capable of THAT! And didn't know what I'd done until later, when my buddies on Christianfreedivers told me! Again--YOW!
Water Rat--who now competes strictly with Water Rat!