Sadly another scaremongering article on Freediving...

[Stephan Whelan]

Unfortunately more scaremongering about Freediving and its dangers. Sadly no one who understanding Freediving was quoted in the article...

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-...ign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150529

 

[HydroApprentice]

Yeah, and, it's, like, totally dangerous! I mean, did you know that water is essentially di-hydrogen monoxide?! And we let our children SWIM and DIVE in this stuff?!

Oh boy... [emoji20]

 

[jtkessler]

I don't think it is a bad article. Doesn't mention the sport as far as I understand. I am just starting to freedive and such warnings are welcome. I grew up snorkeling on vacations and have started doing more dives and didn't know the dangers till this year. I still thought deep quick breathes before diving were a good idea and put more oxygen in the blood. Now thanks to the Internet I know how dangerous and incorrect that was.

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[freediverdude]

These articles just need to emphasize having someone around to watch you while doing these activities, instead of scaring all the pools into banning everything, and scaring people into not wanting to even try it. There's a whole world out there people! And yes it's not baby-proofed, but just use some common sense!

 

[HydroApprentice]

Well, actually, the pool training is the perfect platform to instill common sense in people who want to start with freediving... There's a reason why we have certified instructors, and it would be great if Insurances and pool operators would acknowledge our consistent efforts to make the sport more safe, rather than only focussing on what's wrong with it [emoji20]

 

[psimian]

Having worked as a lifeguard, I can say that pools in general are unequipped to deal with freedivers. The difficulty is that accidents like the one in the article happen quickly and quietly, and are easily missed by a lifeguard whose job it is to watch an entire pool full of people. Given the litigiousness of today's society I can't blame pools for not wanting to deal with it. I would put it in the same class of activity as doing complicated dives and flips off a diving board. Basically, you shouldn't do it unless you have people around who can prevent you from making serious mistakes, and quickly recognize when something is going wrong.

The headline is scaremongering, but the message is good. The only problem I see with the awareness organization is the bit about "no long breath holding", and that is only because it is too subjective.

 

[J Campbell]

Lifeguards should be trained and informed that freediving is a legitimate sport THAT MUST BE DONE WITH A BUDDY. Pools and lifeguards should allow freedive practice if 2 or more buddies are present.

 

[Sorandril]

Sadly SWBP.org is, in fact, mostly scare mongering. They and that Tom Griffiths guy are why we’ve lost our rights and children are now being discouraged from swimming underwater which will kill this sport in a generation.