time to depth

[Davey Jones]

Is there a general rule of thumb for how deep freedivers go for every minute they hold their breath? Say for example every minute someone holds their breath on a freedive they should average 25' so 3 minutes would be 75'?

I understand there are a lot of factors that would come into play such as form while diving, quality/type of equipment, experience in the water, comfort in the water, etc....


I'm looking for a goal to work to, not some number to jump in and try right of the bat, but I don't know what is realistic.

 

[cdavis]

1 meter per second on a 100 ft dive is sort of a classic round number. However, it varies hugely with what you are doing and how you are doing it. Shallow is often slower, deeper is usually faster, frc is slower, fresh water is faster, etc, etc, etc.

Connor

 

[Bill]

"I'm looking for a goal to work to, not some number to jump in and try right of the bat, but I don't know what is realistic."

Connor has a good answer but let me put it in another way. 75 feet should take less than a minute when you do it right. When you start the instructors will usually have you follow a pattern, based on your next depth. One pattern is five hard kick cycles, five wider kick cycles and stop kicking. This will get you to 75 feet in about 30 seconds if you are weighted for neutral at 30 feet. Have an experienced teacher give you a lesson as soon as possible.

 

[efattah]

I think the question relates to static apnea vs. depth. There is no perfect correlation. The old rule was 10m for every minute of static, i.e. 6'00" static = 60m dive. However that correlation doesn't work for everyone.

 

[Simos]

I think the question relates to static apnea vs. depth. There is no perfect correlation. The old rule was 10m for every minute of static, i.e. 6'00" static = 60m dive. However that correlation doesn't work for everyone.

That's how I understood the question too but certainly the 10m for every minute doesn't work for everyone - I think it's particularly 'untrue' for the two extremes of the spectrum ie beginners and top freedivers. Somewhere in the middle (30-50m) I'd guess that it'll seem to work better...

I would just treat the two as different, you don't want to create mental barriers about what you can and cannot do and also, not create expectations about what you should be able to do...

 

[trux]

I did some statistics for discipline correlations based on the PB's of around 5000 competitors. I did not do any graph for the direct correlation between STA/CWT, but I did STA/DYN and DYN/CWT, hence you can deduce it from that. Anyway, Eric is right - the differences are huge. On the other hand you can see on which side of the extreme you are, or whether you are just around the average.

You can see the graphs in these two articles with some additional info:
APNEA.cz - Blog
APNEA.cz - Blog

 

[deanspahic]

Hey guys,
I was taking a read through this. I would have to say that there are only general correlations between static times, dynamics and depth. The thing is that these are very different things and for most people there are different psychological factors that play in. It is one thing when you only have 10 Cm of water between you and the surface, it's another when its 60m. That being said, pool training does tend to assist divers to some extent when switching to depth.