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Day 4: June 2nd, 2004

Written by: Rudi Castineyra

Another good day today, we got all the work we wanted done, and dare I say this out loud, we had fun! Lots of fun actually, the kind of fun that pushed us to pretty much dedicate the majority of our lives to freediving. The kind of fun that lasts for the 2:00 minutes of the deep dives, but that leaves a sweet taste in your mouth all day long, an everlasting peace of mind, a great feeling of having accomplished something so precious…anyway, let me stop my poetic muse here and get to the point.

Yas dove to 35 meters, still a shallow dive but nevertheless only 6 meters away from the current world record held by Mandy and Anabel. Her weight worked perfectly today and she was freefalling after 15 meters, allowing her to relax, rest her muscles and conserve energy for the next 20 meters till the bottom. What is amazing to me though, is the fact that she reached the break point at 15 meters in only 4 strokes! Our little girl really has worked hard on perfecting her technique, she looks so smooth and efficient underwater, not one gram of energy lost on anything but propulsion. Take a look at the video and check out her technique. Thanks to the comprehensive gym training we have done, she is very strong and able to add a dolphin kick to each of her strokes, which for those not experienced in unassisted, is a very tiring and consuming feat. I guess we owe a big thanks to our friend “The Topinator” (Topi Lintukangas) as Yas has actually incorporated the dolphin kicks in the same point where Topi does his, which is not where most everybody else would do a dolphin kick, but exactly at the only point during the whole motion where the unassisted diver hits a dead stop. Yas’ speed was slower than yesterday today, but that is because she had a much longer freefall period, where some seconds are lost but they are, of course, more than compensated for with a nice rest. Also, on the ascent, she was taking it easy, “riding” each stroke to the max by gliding with the pulls right to the point where she is about to stop but still moving. This “conservation” technique allowed her to ascend with only 9 strokes from 35 meters, giving her an Efficiency Rate of 3.88 meters/stroke, truly outstanding for somebody 1.61 meters tall.

Click on the photos to see the video of each diver

As for David, he also did very well, his natural strength and arm span giving him what I call an “unfair advantage”. Dave dove to 45 meters, also testing his heavier ballast, and we were also right on the spot with him, his dive felt easy and efficient. He reached his usual break point of 20 meters in his customary 6 strokes, and although he is quite capable of reducing the number of strokes, he has really gotten used to this 6 strokes/20 meters ratio to the point where he can do it with his eyes closed, so I don’t want to change a routine that works so well for what is definitely the hardest and most delicate part of an unassisted dive. After that, he free fell easily for another 25 meters (can you imagine what a ride that must be?!) and I gotta say I was also impressed by his technique here too. If you think that free falling does not require any technique at all and it is just dropping towards the bottom, you’d be dead wrong, specially in this category. Just bending your head out a bit will loose you several seconds, and the same goes for the hands and arms, we’ve found that that by tucking them right on the side of the legs will increase speed substantially, and not following these steps will result not only in a slower dive but also in a body that will tend to fall out of vertical alignment very easily. David used to have somewhat erratic free falls, but if you take a look at his video you’ll see what a smooth and relaxed ride he is having. He worked hard on it being easy ? David’s times were 46 and 48 seconds for descent and ascent respectively, giving him a speed of 0.98 meters/sec and 0.94 meters/sec, slower than his speeds from yesterday, but like Yas, he had an easier time. Dave ascended in 12 strokes, giving him an ER (efficiency rate) of 3.75 meters/stroke, which is less than Yas, but then you need to realize that David’s body mass is considerably bigger than her’s, and his shoulder circumference is really a concern when it comes to drag, so we’ve found that with him, this slightly slower speed works much better. It’s all in the details, and we pay attention to each and all…anyway, the dives went well and see how the divers themselves felt in their own words. Other than that, take a detailed look also at the Suunto D-3 dive graphs and you will see the strokes that both divers took to get down and up very clearly, a most unexpected benefit of this category, where as the arms move and down with each stroke, the gauge registers this arch as stroke. Thanks to Suunto for such fine instrument…and see you all the day after tomorrow, because tomorrow is a REST day, yehaw!!!!!!!

David’s Comment:
The negative pressure dives today were a little less difficult than usual. However, I had an extremely difficult time equalizing on the second negative pressure. With no air in the lungs, of course it’s difficult! But more difficult than usual. I had to stop a few times on the way to 18m to massage my ear, stretch my head from side to side just for it clear. This is not the kind of thing you want to be experiencing just before a dive. When I arrived at the surface I was even having some minor reverse blocking. I decided there was nothing I could do about it other than just go for it and hope it cleared. I prepared for the dive and then took the last breath and headed off into the freezing cold, crystal blue water. I could hear my ear squeeking till about 15m and then it cleared up. Although this is a really shallow dive it can be very difficult if your equalization doesn't work well. I made sure to keep my head straight as to not interrupt the equalization in any way. It was a really nice freefall to the bottom. When I got to the bottom plate I grabbed the rubber ring of the tag and pulled only to notice the string holding the tag wouldn’t break. I pulled a few times but it only did this yo-yo effect stretching the rubber. I was thinking “I know Arthur, our deep diver and judge said he would grab my leg at the bottom but this is a really sick joke.” After about 3 tugs and nothing happening I grabbed the tag by the thread and broke it free with a firm tug and started the ascent. Overall dive difficulty was about a 5 out of 10. No contractions with plenty of air left and muscles feeling fresh. Hope everyone is enjoying the diary.

Yasemin’s Comment:

I’m very happy with the dive today. I had gotten a bit tired on the dive yesterday, but with the adjustment on the weights I used the problem was completely solved as I hoped. Muscle-wise I was in much better shape today despite the 5 meter increase, right on track for the record. I was surprised that I could freefall from 15 meters, because what we planned was to freefall after 20. So that made me a bit worried thinking that the ascent would be difficult. And having set my mind for that on the way down, I felt like I was moving too little on the ascent. But after watching the videos, seeing myself glide even from the bottom, and seeing that I completed the ascent with 9 strokes, I see that the weight is correct actually. I had put people on our team on a mission to get me a 500 gram weight after the dive but we’ll stick to this amount and keep diving like this. Another problem again was the cold. Today I was trembling even more. I also found out that there is a serious cold front all over the country, but if the outside temperature turns more to season’s normal, I think the cold won’t be much of a problem. But today I did my final breathing sitting on top of the platform with no contact with the sea. Got down on the seat and took of my extra 3mm velcro top only right before the last breath. I had no equalization problems (I never do anyway until 60 meters), airwise I was very comfortable, and the freefall and the relaxation there definitely helped me a lot. The plan for the next dive was for 40 meters, but I feel very confident about a 42 meter dive instead and getting the record and continuing with more fun from there on.