Your Freediver Role Model?

[bam bam]

Ok there are all the big names, who have merit.

Though for me, it has to be the two divers who took me under their wing when i started:

John Moorcroft and Alun George!!!

To name names. Ok their not the best in the world, but they are my 'role models'.

John is always very entheusiastic with everyones dives. Be they shallower or deeper. He also has the competitive edge of the two, which i think helps him with his motivation and that of others. The biggest attribute with john is what's important in life, he seems to have balance family, work and diving.

Alun, persuses it for purely for himself not for competitions. From this experience and knowledge (which is considerable) he then goes on to help others excel.

Most importantly they are both supportive, have helped me keep my feet well grounded and thus has kept me alive and enjoying diving.

For Women, again a personal friend, Emma Farrell who has shown rugged determination, be the obsticales difficulties with equilising or even people. She still dives with a smile.

As for the top,
Carlos, he seems to makes it his business to know how everyone else has done.
Natalia is certainly at the top, but i think there is a space for the first woman to show that they are able to beat the guys, Angela Bandini.

 

[island_sands]

Carlos would definitely be on my list

anyone want to choose a woman?

HI Sam

I would choose Mandy-Rae as a role model, as i have always thought that she dedicated more to the sport as opposed to publicising her own image.

She is low-key, down to earth, and if you read about the PFI team they are not in-your-face, they are just a successful team striving to do their best and promote safety, making freediving an accessible sport for all to try, not the just the elite few.

Put Emma Farrell on the list for her attempts and her contributions, and yourself for all your work in the UK and efforts to teach and promote the sport.

 

[samdive]

Thanks for the input - what we are really looking for though is someone at the very top of the game, an exceptional athlete - so whilst its nice that lots of you have put pleasant things about people who have helped you along the way (including me - thanks!) - please focus on people that are really world class performers. In NLP we look at modelling "excellence" - niceness is great too but that's not really the focus - maybe my headline was a bit misleading.

It would also help if a)they were still alive (whilst I'd love to interview Mayol, that might be a bit tricky!) and b)they spoke reasonably good english or french as we will need to interview them in some depth (excuse the pun). That might be a bit of a problem with Carlos and Natalia.

Thanks again - keep em coming

Sam

 

[Alun]

i understand what this is about Sam. i'm not sure that this type of modelling is necessarily related to NLP. this idea has surely been around since time began. "if it works for him, then it can work for me". you can apply it to almost anything in life. your ideal role model should be someone who has achieved exactly what you're trying to achieve, whether it be diving free immersion to 50m or a variable dive to 100m. i think it helps to choose someone who has similar physical and mental characteristics etc to you too.... so i don't think there is any one-size-fits-all role model. for maximum benefit from this approach i think you would really need to know your 'role model' very well and spend time training with him/her. etc

 

[samdive]

its not about me Alun - I am working on this with an NLP Master Practitioner who is looking to model a top freediver for general freedive coaching (but yeah, personally, I would love to have the time - and for them to have the time - to do this one to one!)

 

[Alun]

i didn't think it was. i just meant that i understand what you're asking. some of the other replies seemed have gone off track a little. i would be interested to know what NLP can add to this type of modelling. how does it make it more effective?

 

[Spaniard]

My female vote would go to Tanya Streeter. As a guest instructor on a course I attended she proved to be a great ambassador for the sport without being too 'full of herself'. She also showed great passion for freediving and the sea in general which I found refreshing. Also gets top points for having the best hair in freediving

 

[island_sands]

Also gets top points for having the best hair in freediving

lol! are you sure you mean the best hair?

 

[Spaniard]

Norty!!!!!!! rofl rofl

 

[Edward H]

Hello Alun,

since I started Sam on this I'll answer your question about NLP. What I think NLP does is it gives a framework for observing and reproducing what people do. To some extent we all have this naturally - otherwise none of us would have learned to walk, speak or swim.

I think NLP adds some distinctions that make it easier to get into someone's skin, distinctions about thinking style, and state. Often when I have modelled people and asked how do you do 'x' they answer 'I just do it'. After a period of questioning we find that ' just do it' has a number of steps to it. The good thing is I can also teach those steps after I've modelled them.

Most freedivers are a little more conscious than that of how they do things. Usually they have learned through lots of practise and questioning, and are still learning how to do things better. Even so there probably many things that slip out of conscious awareness.

Some people learn by all out imitation. For example I remember a martial arts school where most of the students smoked the same brand of tobacco as the teacher. It had nothing to do with their martial arts, and most of them weren't even aware what was going on. It's a frivolous example, but I think it can help distinguish between purely intuitive learning - which is very valuable, and going through a process of conscious testing.

You're probably a good learner Alun, you're certainly an accomplished diver, and it's quite possible all of this just sounds like common sense. In many ways that's all it is.

I agree that to do a good job of modelling someone I'd need to see them in action.

I also agree that there is not likely to be a 'one size fits all' model. There are going to be physiological constraints - based on available training time for example that mean some people will probably have a better method than others. I'd like to model a variety of people and see the differences. I'd like to model top performers who train hard, and also 'naturals' who seem to get more good results with less effort.

I'm doing this because I'm curious, and because it seems fun. I don't know what kind of results I'll get but I suspect I'll enjoy the process and meet some interesting people along the way.

best wishes

Ed

 

[SThompson]

A couple to add;

Eric Fattah - Always willing to share his discoveries, always willing to help others. He is on the forefront of equipment development as well as training and theories on how to train effeciently and safely. Brilliant guy, and a great asset to the sport.

Both of the Streeters - Thats right, not just one. The Streeters have worked as a team to really bring the spotlight of the media to Freediving in a positive way. Tanya is an amazing ambassador for the sport in the US, and unlike other Celeb level freedivers I am not afraid of what she is going to come out of her mouth when she is on TV. Her husband has a the distasteful job of wrestling the media sharks and making sure that her publicity is positive for both her and the sport - an endless, thankless job akin to belly crawling naked through broken glass. Tanya must be an incredible woman to have someone so devoted. I am thankful for thier positive portrayal of Freediving and efforts with the media. Positive notoriety, which is something that we have had a marked lack of at times.

Kirk & Brett - Stretching their own limits, and constantly helping others as well. Willing to fly all over to train a group of folks who want to learn, even if they know nothing at all. I really appreciate thier efforts, and as they have trained some of the best freedivers around (Martin, Mandy-Rae) they gotta be doing something right.

 

[hardhat]

My vote goes to PFI (Performance Freediving), I'm just finishing up a freediving course with Mandy-Rae and I really have learned a lot, from both her and Kirk as well as the other people that help them out with classes. They have been very helpful and taken time where and when time has been needed for any of us that are in the class. I find it amazing that people that are at the top of their game, as Kirk and Mandy are, have the time and paitance to spend helping new people become comfortable with a sport that does take some time to get the hang of. Also the importance that is placed on safety is a welcomed peice of mind.

 

[Alun]

i think we're going off track again... maybe the term "role model" is what confused things. i think Sam/Edward are (correct me if i'm wrong) talking about are people to model - in a technical, physical and mental way rather than people to 'look up to' on the grounds of character, ethics or other such abstract qualities. i would imagine it's better to be more specific by asking 'who is the best role model for joe bloggs, who is trying to achieve xyz'.

 

[samdive]

yup Alun has it!!

technical, physical, mental - don't have to be nice! but its still good to see some positive stuff on here)

 

[jome]

Oh ok, I had no idea what "NLP" is.

Then I'd add Patrick Musimu there

 

[sinkweight]

I can't decide between Aquaman or Submariner.

 

[subaquaticus]

i understand what this is about Sam. i'm not sure that this type of modelling is necessarily related to NLP. this idea has surely been around since time began. "if it works for him, then it can work for me". you can apply it to almost anything in life. your ideal role model should be someone who has achieved exactly what you're trying to achieve, whether it be diving free immersion to 50m or a variable dive to 100m. i think it helps to choose someone who has similar physical and mental characteristics etc to you too.... so i don't think there is any one-size-fits-all role model. for maximum benefit from this approach i think you would really need to know your 'role model' very well and spend time training with him/her. etc

I agree with you...

I confess I do not quite understand what NLP has to do with freediving...

You do not need NLP to know that it may be useful to take some advice from the best... But you should never forget that this advice or these imitations should be adapted to you...

As I read in a tennis magazine some years ago, there is not ONE person to imitate... At that time, Bjorn BORG was THE super top champion, winning every tournament everywhere, etc.. and all young tennis players tried to imitate his style...

In fact he was called "the robot" because he very much looked like a machine when he played... He disposed of exceptional physical and neurological capacities which gave him an astounding regularity... Other players not so successful had a more "human" style and then gave examples more interesring to follow for those young players not disposing of exceptional capacities...

There may be different approaches and different styles and everybody should choose to imitate not THE best one, but THE one best suited to his / or her personality and style...

Everybody should be his own cook and make his own recipes collecting advice and data according to his own taste...

In my humble opinion, a good trainer is somebody who can observe his trainees and pick in a vast data base made of different tips given by "masters", different videos to offer them a good mixture...

I doubt that NLP is of great help for that...

 

[island_sands]

I agree with you...

I confess I do not quite understand what NLP has to do with freediving...

Sam explains all....

http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/305
http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/388
http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/390
http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/392

 

[subaquaticus]

anyone want to choose a woman?

this one :

 

[Dick Splash]

The late Lionel Blandford!!
Inspiration to many many young people in the UK myself included.