Some answers
Hi all, after yesterday's events in the US, I'm sure it's hard for us all to focus on our day to day things. I was elated about the weekend of competition, but this attack has made it all seem so trivial, which it is, compared to the suffering that people are going through now.
However, this is a forum about freediving, and I will do my best.
First, to juhaimmonen's question about my breathe-ups....for constant ballast, after I have done my warm up dives, I like to have 10 minutes. The first 8 minutes are a 3-3-8 pattern....inhale, hold, exhale. I exhale with a constriction in my throat to control the speed while keeping a relaxed diaphragm. This had something to do with me not hearing my countdown. At 2 minutes, I turn gently onto my back, and ditch my snorkel. At that point, I know I have lots of O2, so I change to a 4 inhale, 5 or 6 exhale, no hold at the top. At T-45 seconds, I change to a faster purge breath- 2.5 in, 2.5 out, approx. At T-30 , I would take my final breath, then pack 50 or 60 times, whatever it takes to get full. At the comp I got 30 shallow packs, not enough.
In static, after all my warm up, I take 8 minutes of 4-4-6, then change to the 4 in, 5 or 6 out, then purge breaths atT-30, followed by a final breath at T-10, plus 15 packs. That's it. Then relax as deeply as possible. I use different visualisations and mantras, depending on how I'm feeling.
Patrik, I missed you at the comp, I was really looking forward to seeing you again. Next time, ok?
Jero, I can't imagine anything that would turn me off freediving. I am glad you aked about the BO and the fear....I just knew that I was not going to make it. I can't describe it; I think it's just part of the awareness that we get as freedivers. I'm sure it's not quantifiable by science. I humbly state that I had no fear at all; I knew that I would be taken care of by Kirk and Steph, and I'm not scared of the blackout itself. I actually find the "coming to" part pleasant. Have you ever woken up in the morning and not known where you were until you opened your eyes? It's similar, but MUCH more intense. I'm not recommending that you seek it out, though! I remember looking around and wondering where the safety divers were, at 20 metres though! When I came to, I knew exactly what happened, and was just grateful that I was at the surface, if dissapointed by my performance. Later that night, more detail came back to me, as Eric F. said it would.....I remember seeing ghostly images around me....Kirk and Steph I assume, or maybe....? haha!
Fjohnson, your questions are not slamming at all; they are valid and important. In competition (AIDA), the diver must dive within 0 to +30 seconds during the countdown.The diver must retrieve the tag, and bring it to the surface with out a samba or black out. If you blackout, you get no points. If you grab the line more than once on the dive, you get no points. If you make the depth and do not bring up the tag, without a samba or BO, you lose 1 point. If you get the tag, but descend more than 2 metres deeper than your tag, you are DQ'd. If you do not make it to the tag, but turn early, you lose some points for the dive, presuming you do not samba or BO. If I had not blacked out, I still would have got some points towards the whole competition.
That's it for now, I hope everyone is well and good.
Warmly,
Erik Y.
