Swimming&Diving with Lunocet Monofin

[finSailor]

Suits tend to loosen up a BIT with wear (stretching).
You will be flying! You will end up at the wall before you know it. Don't break a finger!

Thanks! I've had a bad habit to cut 'em with sharp objects or with powertools like a tablesaw, but haven't tried breaking 'em yet! Good to have a hobby that'll push you to your limits

I must say I'm pretty sure my insurance company didn't follow the KYC principle (Know Your Customer) that well when they granted me a diving insurance with full accident coverage..

 

[Raffy]

Shortly, since this is a bit off-topic. Finally managed to fetch my AquaSphere from postal office and tested it. . Holy crap, it is tight! I used @Apneaddict 's lube recipe, and managed to put it on after great struggle. When it was on, it felt great. Can't wait to test it, hopefully next friday.

Your wetsuit will feel a lot better when you get it in the water. An excellent choice, by the way. I train with several other freedivers who use this suit and they are very happy with it.

 

[finSailor]

It surely did, Raffy! The glide was awesome! After a kick I waited movement to halt, but it just continued. Now I have to adjust my technique to take full advantage of that. Better body glide made you also notice a small drag from Luno/shoes.

I can see that competing products have hydrodynamic 'cover' over shoes.. how to make one for Luno too?

 

[finSailor]

Have anyone measured the negative buoyancy of Lunocet Pro? I guess it is not equal its weight on dry due to larger volume, right?

I was diving on last friday and trying few neck-weights with my new wetsuit. In DNF 3,2kg was perfect, but with Luno I plunged to the bottom in 15 meters. Sadly there was no-one had smaller weights available to try in practice..,So next question is - how much I need to reduce from that 3,2kg to have optimal neck weight with Luno?

I was planning to make one lighter nech-weight to work in DYN with Luno, and then add weight gloves and/or waist weight to meet DNF buoyancy.

 

[Chipswim]

Interesting few days in the pool....
Wanted to experience large flukes out front in my hands:

As it turned out I strongly prefer the smaller classic flukes for that purpose so I put them back on the fore fin. Enjoy swimming with the Classic Luno in front a lot. The big ones were too cumbersome for my hands.

That freed up the extra 2014 Pro flukes to set up an extra rig for experiments or guests.

Knowing that those earlier springs were prone to softening due partially to oblonging the hinge and pin holes. I tried pressing bushings into the rubber to spread the load over more area. Also repeated a couple of previous spring protective ideas. Feels great testing the spring over my knee! We'll see about swimming in the morning.

 

[Apneaddict]

Here's a video of the diver previously featured... But with a serious technique improvement. There's a nice undulation going on now:





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[Raffy]

Here's a video of the diver previously featured... But with a serious technique improvement. There's a nice undulation going on now:

Great video! Thanks for sharing, AA. Compliments to the diver for showing some excellent technique that we can learn from. If you don't mind, I'd like to offer a little breakdown on what she is doing right for the readers. Before I do, I should add that the technique demonstrated by the diver in this video is superior to my own. Having taken a few monofinning workshops to improve my practice I know the elements of good technique when I see it, and I can identify some them in the video posted by AA:

• She has the appropriate amount of weight on her, so she can get more out of her glide.
• The motion starts with the abdominal and lumbar muscles and moves down through the pelvis, legs and feet to the fin evenly.
• The slight bend in the knees follows this motion, which is good because it is a kick from the abdomen, not from the legs.
• She articulates her feet, optimizing force from the upstroke and from the downstroke.
• Everything above the ribcage is immobilized. Excellent, though there is some room for improvement here:
  • Training at the surface with a frontal snorkel, using the waterline as a guide for the fingertips and the forehead will help to reduce the up and down movement of the fingers underwater.
• Head is locked between the biceps, at the level of the backs of the ears for better hydrodynamicity.
• Head is at a hydrodynamic angle, also favourable for less oxygen consumption.
• Shoulderblades are relaxed (as far as I can tell), which is good for conserving O2.
  • This is better than actively reaching forward, which engages the shoulder muscles, in turn consuming oxygen and producing CO2. You'll know if you're doing this if you sense fatigue or lactic burning in the back, neck and/or shoulders.

This video demonstrates the 2015 Lunocet's potential for competitive freediving. AA's demonstration of a 100 metre swim with the 2014 Lunocet, posted quite a while ago, also did this. However, the potential advantage of this fin still needs more testing from more freedivers.

It would be good to see is a side-to-side comparison between the 2015 Lunocet Pro and a competition-quality hyperfin. When (or if) I get my Luno Pro I may try to do this at my freediving club. If I do post a video, then by all means, feel free to pick apart my technique. Honest, constructive criticism is always welcome.

 

[cdavis]

Anybody know if that video was shot in a 25 meter or 25 yard pool?

 

[Apneaddict]

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[alphazo]

Please allow me to give you some feedback as well on my Pro 2015. I have previously promoted the low amplitude kick but it doesn't drive me that far since it takes forever to cross the pool. Today we had a performance session at the pool. My PB is (only) 105m in a 25m pool with bi-fins (Immersion Freediving Spirit) and today I did 100m with the Pro 2015 which I never reached with my old plastic mono-fin (lack of practice I guess). It was an incredible moment and I used a continuous undulation but with a contained amplitude. First 50m were nice with a good first turn and a not so good second turn. I then kind of slowed down from 50m to 75m and did another ok turn and then entered this grey area where your mindset completely changes as you are pushing your limits a bit further. Wall came up pretty fast and exit protocol was ok although people said I was on the edge. This is really promising for the next performance sessions.

I also went to the sea two weeks ago and it was even more fun. Well the Mediterranean sea was only at 13°C but very calm. I used my 7mm suit and a ton of weight which doesn't really help for a smooth and natural movement but still it was nice to dive in salt water and equalize. Anyway, it was my first session of the year at the sea and I went several times to 25m with great descending and ascending speed and found to equalize much less than with my bi-fins. I found the bottom kick to provide enough traction but will probably test the fin with the second pin added to see what it looks like when going deeper.

 

[Chipswim]

Beautiful to see! Thanks for bringing her back AA! Looks like a pro already on her fifth Lunocet swim! Maybe she is? She surely has much more monofinning on her résumé to move like that.

I think CDavis is striving to learn the most possible from her video adding to his data base..... So her stroke style is 4 reps of kick kick glide plus she uses a push off the wall and a push at the turn to traverse each of the two 25 meter legs in 30 seconds....60 seconds total. (My crude observation.)

It appears a very functional combo of swimmer and equipment.... Right? Raffy's post observing her from stem to stern is quite nicely written.

To improve further from there what would her coach or equipment want to improve? Are you coaching her AA?

P.S. AA is your knee totally useful yet?

 

[Apneaddict]

I am coaching her and the next day we used some very minor changes to her swimming and easily shaved 5 seconds per 25m!!!

Something to do with a more active up-kick and a tad more ankle flick.

And hard to believe., but she does not have much mono finning experience, but is awesome at yoga and has a very flexible spine.

Watch her previous video to see the massive improvement.

Her no-fins kick is also now one of the best I've seen... But I can't take any credit for that... And whip-kick not in the spirit of this thread anyhow...

My knee was "better" 5 weeks ago and I over-did it coming back and took the last 3 wks off.

I was back in the pool this weekend and I'll post up some of my video too. My technique isn't as fluid or graceful as the one above... And my flexibility seized up a bit after not training much recently... But is efficient and works quite well for me.

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[cdavis]

Right you are Chip. Its a very interesting video. I'd sure like to have such spine flexibility. Give her a few more months and I'd love to see another vid. Isn't her kick more like kick, kick, small kick and glide?

You mention 25 meters. Is that a guess or do you know?

 

[Chipswim]

My universal # stroke estimator may have been clouded by the overall effect of her swimming..... But I'm sure AA said meters.

 

[Apneaddict]

While my spine will invariable loosen up in the next month, here's some footage of my somewhat "unorthodox" technique.

The second little "flick" really sends me into warp speed.





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[Chipswim]

Looks great to me....Nice to see you in motion with both knees working!

Sooooo...... Tolerating a lifetime of testosterone and an extra thousand trips to the pool gets you there 8 seconds per 25 meters quicker with 3 of those kick kick kickety movements instead of four. The extra speed would require less patience waiting for the end to arrive but it cost you the submerged super model allure.... Both of you appear natural and effective turning and coming off the wall with extended glide.

Thrilled to see the Luno maintaining it's setting in spite of pushing off those walls! Makes Ted's spring / peduncle redo look like a winner!

You two are sharing the same 2015 Lunocet Pro with the same setting? Which is...? I'm remembering you prefer softer settings. That one looks responsive and lively. Extra impressive if it's acting like that on a softer setting. Are you tempted to test it more or less stiff or have you found the center of the sweetest spot already?

Is she managing that level of performance wearing your shoes? Can she get your shoes tight on her feet or does she switch to her own shoes? If she made her video with minimal experience AND wearing loose shoes.... Watch out world!

 

[Apneaddict]

All those trips to the pool and testosterone are really worth only a few seconds (per 25m), as we got her to 25 sec the following day. - and that wasn't with her "slickest" suit.

I am significantly stronger than her and turns with a hyperfin glue her to the pool wall. Turns with the Lunocet look great for her and you don't get that wall-plastering effect.

My pushes were gentle compared to normal, to take it easy on the knee. I would be a bit quicker otherwise.

We are both using the Lunocet with 2-pins (medium strength setting). I have yet to try 3-pins... (2 feels really good!) But maybe next week I'll give it a go and grab some video.

We wear the same shoes and with her being 6' tall... (And me... Less than that) I actually need to wear 2mm socks inside and she goes commando!


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[Chipswim]

A mermaid for sure!

 

[alphazo]

Now that I have experienced the Pro 2015 both at the pool and at the sea I'm tempted to try it with the second pin added.
I can see some rubber through the second hole so does the pin just need to be pushed really hard against that rubber? What is the best way to get it in (and optionally out) without breaking anything ?

Thanks

 

[Apneaddict]

I broke the rubber membrane with a screwdriver (a pencil or chopstick will work too) and then used a hammer and a punch to get the pin in.

It doesn't take a lot of force, but the fit is tight and the pin won't slip out afterwards.

You could even use a flathead screwdriver as a punch if you are careful.


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