Following Maribor AIDA WC 2007 competition, I gave quite a bit of thoughts on how the perfect-for-freediving pool would look like, be it for regular training or competitions. The H2O Team did a fantastic job organising the WC with the resources available and the do have one cool swimming pool with a view!
Now, imagine Bill Gates is calling you on the mobile day and night... "Please take my cash and build the perfect freediving pool, no matter how much it would cost, please, please, please"!
How would it look like and what would be best equipment to have in place? This is purely a brainstorming exercise until we find a mysterious tycoon to chip in the cash!
So, i give it the first shot:
The perfect freediving-pool would be...3 pools!
1 - Dynamic Pool
- Olympic size, 50m by 25m
- 3.8 m to 1.8m depth from lane 1 (deepest) to lane 10 (shallowest). Or 4-5 lanes in gradual depths between 3 and 1.5m while the remaining lanes all at 1.8m (for competition or tandem swimming)
- glass walls at least on the deepest side of the pool, with seating area for the public UNDER and ABOVE the water level - wouldn’t that be sweet?
- built-in video photo/video system along the walls that can move from one end of the pool to the other along with the athlete.
- intelligent BO detection system deploying moving sensors that would start an alarm if a moving body is, well, not moving for more than 1 minute. Of course, no statics allowed in the Dynamic Pool!!!
- instead of the usual plastic round lines dividing lanes to have strong (when landing on them) yet rubber/neoprene coated material, in elliptic/flat shape, for easy grip on exit.
2 Static pool
- Size 10 by 20m
- Depth 0.7m to 1.4m
- Water level up to the edge of the pool
- 8 squares marked by underwater lanes that can also be separated by lines when needed, each with a floor based underwater camera!
3 Deep pool
- 35-40m depth (to exceed most of divers' RV even when diving on full lungs)
- tubular shape with big clear depth marks all around and possibly some underwater viewing point/glass, not necessarily for spectators but mostly for training purposes.
- a safety system in place all the way to the bottom to which a diver can be clipped and pulled up fast, if needed
- intelligent BO detection system, alarm to sound if a body is not moving for more than 1-2m (okay, here we have to work it out if you want to do a hang at 35m!)
- of course cameras all over the place to record technique, style and the odd samba/BO!
Well, bring it on, add to the...pools!
Serge
Now, imagine Bill Gates is calling you on the mobile day and night... "Please take my cash and build the perfect freediving pool, no matter how much it would cost, please, please, please"!
How would it look like and what would be best equipment to have in place? This is purely a brainstorming exercise until we find a mysterious tycoon to chip in the cash!
So, i give it the first shot:
The perfect freediving-pool would be...3 pools!
1 - Dynamic Pool
- Olympic size, 50m by 25m
- 3.8 m to 1.8m depth from lane 1 (deepest) to lane 10 (shallowest). Or 4-5 lanes in gradual depths between 3 and 1.5m while the remaining lanes all at 1.8m (for competition or tandem swimming)
- glass walls at least on the deepest side of the pool, with seating area for the public UNDER and ABOVE the water level - wouldn’t that be sweet?
- built-in video photo/video system along the walls that can move from one end of the pool to the other along with the athlete.
- intelligent BO detection system deploying moving sensors that would start an alarm if a moving body is, well, not moving for more than 1 minute. Of course, no statics allowed in the Dynamic Pool!!!
- instead of the usual plastic round lines dividing lanes to have strong (when landing on them) yet rubber/neoprene coated material, in elliptic/flat shape, for easy grip on exit.
2 Static pool
- Size 10 by 20m
- Depth 0.7m to 1.4m
- Water level up to the edge of the pool
- 8 squares marked by underwater lanes that can also be separated by lines when needed, each with a floor based underwater camera!
3 Deep pool
- 35-40m depth (to exceed most of divers' RV even when diving on full lungs)
- tubular shape with big clear depth marks all around and possibly some underwater viewing point/glass, not necessarily for spectators but mostly for training purposes.
- a safety system in place all the way to the bottom to which a diver can be clipped and pulled up fast, if needed
- intelligent BO detection system, alarm to sound if a body is not moving for more than 1-2m (okay, here we have to work it out if you want to do a hang at 35m!)
- of course cameras all over the place to record technique, style and the odd samba/BO!
Well, bring it on, add to the...pools!
Serge
