Free Diving: A professional and extreme sport!

03 Apr 2020No Comments

We divers  can enjoy the wonders that the  seabed gives us and, without any hurry, we move in the area that we have determined; however, there is another type of diving  where time is vital:   free diving, which since1995 is listed as a professional sport

Free diving is considered an extreme diving sport and it consists of suspending breathing while descending into the water, looking for depth, time or distance to travel. Many people believe that for this professional sport an excellent physical condition is required, but that is not all, additionally there are factors that will help to prepare the body better so it gets used to being with an oxygen deficit and an increase in carbon dioxide.

Conditioning the body to practice Free Diving

The following are some of the factors that the diver must have to be able to practice this professional sport:

• Self-control: It is the capability of master oneself. With this quality the human being enhances his sporting performance.

1. Mental relaxation: It consists of some procedure or method that can help you reduce your physical or mental tension. A recommended exercise for free diving is yoga, because with this practice the person will have a higher level of calm and reduce their stress.
2. Mammal reflex promotion: To be able to perform this extreme diving sport it is necessary for the body to adapt. For this, you must first lower your heart rate in order to absorb less oxygen. Thus, oxygen will be concentrated in vital organs, especially in the heart and brain. In this stage mental self-control and relaxation play an important role.
3. Training in hypoxia environments: Hypoxia is a physiological state where the body is forced to absorb less oxygen. Therefore, el training in hypoxia environments involves forcing the body to work with less oxygen, and thus forcing the body to compensate for this situation with the production of more red blood cells so that oxygen reaches the vital organs. There is an increase in hydrostatic pressure that will cause the lung volume to compress considerably.

Diving equipment required to practice Free Diving:

Another theme to take into account is the diving equipment that is required for this activity, which consists of:  mask, snorkel, fins, wetsuit and a sash with weight. Not all equipment is always used, as this depends on the mode you want to practice.

These are the different freediving modalities:

• Constant weight apnea:

It consists of the person walking a previously declared vertical distance without changing their weight at any time of the activity. This means that you must climb to the surface with the same weight with which you went down. It can be done with or without fins, depending on the type of competition. Considering that the fins will give you an extra boost, doing it without fins constitutes the most natural way for practicing this discipline. The person cannot use any mechanism that increases its effectiveness.

Men’s world record with fins: 129 meters

Women’s world record with fins: 101 meters

Men’s world record without fins: 102 meters

Women’s world record without fins: 72 meters

• Constant weight apnea without fins:

It consists of the person moving in a horizontal position under the water trying to cover as much distance as possible.  This is done with a sash of weight that will keep the person stable on the seabed.

It is not allowed to use any instrument that serves as propulsion; this way only the body itself and the technique are the natural thrusters.

• Dynamic apnea with or without fins:

It consists of the person moving in a horizontally underwater position without using any apparatus to boost it. The person must travel as far as possible.

Men’s world record with fins: 300 meters

Women’s world record with fins: 237 meters

Men’s world record without fins: 226 meters

Women’s world record without fins: 182 meters

• Free Immersion:

It consists of the person having a free immersion. It is done by descending and ascending by means of a rope so that the person does not lose orientation. It can be done upside down or feet down, depending on the diver’s preference. It only propels with the fins.

Men’s world record with constant weight: 124 meters

Women’s world record with weight: 92 meters

Men’s world record with variable weight: 146 meters

Women’s world record with variable weight: 130 meters

• Static Apnea:

It consists on sustaining the person’s head submerged in water and retaining the air as much as possible. Here what is measured is the time that the person can be underwater without breathing.

Men’s world record: 11 minutes – 35 seconds

Women’s World Record: 9 minutes – 2 seconds

• Limitless apnea

It consists of the person descending with the help of a sled and ascends with the help of a balloon or a vest with inflatable compartments.

Men’s record: 214 meters

Women’s record: 160 meters

Dare to dive in an extreme modality!

Would you like to know and practice this extreme diving sport? First of all, we highly recommend training because, although  free diving  is a safe sport, it still requires knowledge and practice with a certified and qualified dive instructor.  The system of companions, repetitive practices on the ground, breathing exercises, the ideal equipment, block out or samba, are terms that are not familiar to you at the moment, but if you want to go down to the depths like a real fish, you will soon know all about them.

We invite you to contact us for more information.