SAFETY SERVICES
FREEDIVING SAFETY B Y
C H R I S
B U S TA D
PUSHING YOURSELF MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY to overcome the challenges of a breath-hold dive can be a rewarding experience, but failing to make the appropriate safety considerations can have unfortunate consequences. If you prioritize personal safety, know your abilities, get proper training and dive only under direct supervision of other certified freedivers or safety divers, the odds are high that you’ll come out of the water ready to dive back in again. PERSONAL SAFETY
JOAKIM HJELM
Unlike scuba diving, freediving doesn’t have a gatekeeper: Scuba divers can’t get an air fill or rent equipment without a certification card. Freediving, on the other hand, is open to anyone with access to a body of water. Humans have been freediving since someone looked into the water, saw something there that they wanted and went in after it. A significant number of freediving fatalities result from people diving without any formal training, so the challenge for freediving enthusiasts is how to encourage people to get training and reduce the number of injuries resulting from the sport. People outside of the freediving community consider it to be a dangerous, extreme sport, but following proper safety protocols makes it quite safe. It is up to every member of the freediving community to recognize that diving alone or with an untrained buddy is unacceptable and to strongly encourage others to get proper training and dive safely. I have been teaching freediving courses with Performance Freediving International (PFI) for more than five years, and one of the most common comments I hear from students is that they didn’t realize how dangerous freediving could be without a trained buddy or that having a lookout on the boat is not enough. Freedivers need to have eyes on each other on every dive and be close enough to intervene if needed. Proper training is key to recognizing a problem, being close enough to respond and knowing how to react and protect the airway of a freediver coming up from a dive. A good buddy can retrieve you if you encounter a problem while freediving, but being overweighted could put you in a situation that even the most vigilant and highly trained buddy might be unable to manage. Students and untrained individuals “Humans have been often wear too much lead so that on the surface with a peak inhalation (their lungs completely full) they have to swim to keep their heads above the surface. If they freediving since someone were to lose consciousness after a prolonged breath hold, they would sink below looked into the water, saw the surface, possibly at an alarming rate. something there that they Many students try to justify being overweighted because they want to get to the wanted and went in after it.” bottom more easily. While we all want to get down easily and have a relaxing dive, 70 |
2021 SPECIAL EDITION
