FREEDIVE-A-PALOOZA 2005

[Freedive WI]

The USAA is moving to get away form just a single national competition, to compepte for the world's, and moving in the direction of regional comps. They just had one in California with divers hitting depths of 170'. Support divers were on OC and rebreathers with air being the gas of choice for the bottom divers. I like the idea of mix due to our colder waters and more limited vis- plus I'll be one of the guys whose but is on the line.

The major sticking point is that you do need insurance to run a competition like this- whereas just hooking up and diving together doesn't require that. There are suppossed to be some final talks at DEMA to figure this out- costs to be paid by the athletes. Judges are required if the points will be counted for nationals. Points are given for every meter of depth and for specific periods of time- I think it's a point every 5-10 seconds of static. Penalties are assessed by not making you depth, blacking out :'(, not meeting your stated time for static, missing your "top" time.

Freedivers need to meet a specific "top" time to start their dive so that the safety divers don't spend all day on the bottom. One diver warms up while another one goes for a comp dive. THen, the next diver in line gets called into the warm-up ine. This keeps everything moving along pretty rapidly. Divers also are required to submit their depths in advance. There is no going deeper once you subscribe to your depth just because you feel good on the bottom. Deeper divers go first so that the safety divers can work their way up as the competition goes on. Safety divers are given the depths in advance to plan their dives accrodingly. IF someone fails to start then the surface sends down a carabener with a note on it so that the bottom guy/gal knows what's going on.

A diver counter-balance recovery system would be part of the set-up, but I need a longer rope for the comp as my longest line is only 105'. I think that Fred has a longer one that we could use. Safety divers are equipped with lift bags and carabeners to clip ontot the line below the diver if there is a problem- the freedivers are clipped onto the line by lanyard and the rising liftbag will take them up to the surface once inflated. This keeps the support divers at depth, to decompress safely, but sends the freediver up as quickly as possible in event of a problem.

Grant's main point was that a support diver could effectivly handle an emergancy and not be someone fresh out of deco class who has only been to depth once or twice before. THey need to be counted on. We all know people who have cards that they shouldn't and we just need to make sure they are placed in spots where they are comfortable- which doesn'talways match what depth they are "certified" to dive to.

Safety freedivers in a comp would be good down to around 40'- maybe less is the vis is crap. In clear water they can go deeper, but we all know what the thermocline looks like at Wazze. Support divers every 33' along the line would be nice.

Hope that answers some of the questions. Keeping things on a non-competitive level is certainly much eaiser, but if the interest is there, for a competiton, I don't mind going with the flow. I would still need to find a pool for the second half of the competiton- any ideas whats around there???

Jon