MIAMI, Florida (9 Nov 2002) -- Death, like pressure and speed, is a constant companion for the few who engage in the little known but brazen sport of "no limits" free diving. Participants take a single deep breath, then submerge with the use of weighted sleds mounted on taut cables, plummeting hundreds of feet in about a minute without any oxygen tanks. At the end of the trip, the weight is dropped, a tank fills with air and the diver races to surface like a bullet, with no need to decompress to avoid "the bends" because no air has entered the body. "Free diving is getting in touch with yourself. It's very quiet and peaceful feeling, and you get to understand your body," said Carlos Serra, president of the Miami-based International Association of Free Divers or IAFD. "You need to know what your body is telling you and when you need to go to the surface and breathe." But the sport today is at an apparent crossroads, divers say. The recent death of a popular world record holder in the Dominican Republic has sparked intense debate within the sport about safety and who's in charge. Free diving, or breath-hold diving, existed before the days of fishing trawlers and scuba gear. Swimmers used the technique to search for the fish and shellfish that sustained civilizations in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and other parts of the world. Competitions emerged, and groups were organized to oversee events. Besides the depth diving or "no limits" branch of the sport, there are also "dynamic" free diving competitions where they see who can swim the farthest underwater on one breath. There are also competitions for staying underwater the longest. The sport's popularity is greater outside the United States. Divers from around the world participate in Internet forums and keep in contact in cyberspace, relating tales of broken records. Annabel Briseno, a 51-year-old grandmother, owns world records in dynamic free diving. Using a weighted belt and fins, she swam more than 440 feet on one breath at a Tuesday competition in Hawaii overseen by the International Association for the Development of Apnea, a Swiss-based free diving body independent of Serra's group. Briseno says much of a free diver's training takes place on land, with running and breathing exercises serving as preludes to a foray into the sea or a swimming pool. Once in the water, divers should never train alone. Free divers can hold their breath for up to three minutes, but blackouts caused by a lack of oxygen do occur. Serra says the body can preserve oxygen by redirecting blood flow from the extremities to the main organs, such as the heart, brain and liver. No limits divers can regulate their heart to 20 beats per minute or less -- the normal adult resting heart rate is between 60 and 80 beats per minute. They also flush their sinuses and ears with water to combat the fierce effects of pressure as the diver drops. "They put their bodies in a mode of trying to ... learn to control the urge to breathe," Serra said. Despite these adaptations, the "shallow water blackout" phenomena, which occurs when the brain uses up its oxygen, can cause the diver to pass out and possibly drown. It normally happens near the end of the dive, Briseno says. "When you do black out, it really undermines your confidence and creates a physiological fear response," said Briseno, who has blacked out several times. "You do not want to have that panic attack when you're free diving. It takes me about a month to get my mental status back in shape." The main draw for Briseno is the peace she feels while underwater. "Once you go under the pressure, you are in a feeling of weightlessness and euphoria where you are one with the ocean," she said. "It's so meditative because nothing else is going on in the world at that moment. It's like a transcendental experience." Serra, whose organization is among a handful that oversee free diving, is partners with one of the world's most famous free divers, Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras. Ferreras' 28-year-old wife, Audrey Mestre, drowned Oct. 12 while trying to break her husband's IAFD record of 531.5 feet achieved off Cozumel, Mexico, in January 2000. A dive to 561 feet that should have taken just three minutes lasted more than 8 1/2 minutes. Mestre's body was already limp when her husband brought her to the surface. | | Mestre, of St. Denis, France, reached her target depth of 561 feet, but experienced problems on her way up, Serra said. Her last dive wasn't a record because she didn't complete it, but the IAFD has posthumously recognized a dive to 558 feet completed by Mestre Oct. 9 in a practice dive as a world record. The death has ignited a dispute among divers and fans. Serra and Ferreras immediately were inundated with criticism on Internet forums and from fellow free divers. They are being blamed for failing to adequately staff the dive with enough safety divers and medical staff, and covering up any mistakes that were made. Serra vehemently denies such criticism. Ricardo Hernandez, who began his own free diving and spearfishing school after being fired from the IAFD two years ago, says Serra and Ferreras are hiding information. They have not released a video made during the dive using a camera attached to the sled, and failed to disclose information from computerized depth gauges secured to Mestre's body during the dive, Hernandez said. He also questions why Ferreras had to dive in to save his wife when there were supposedly plenty of safety personnel in the water. "There is a general outcry and an uproar in the diving community," Hernandez said. "The video has always been shown to public after each successful record. The video will be proof of how many divers were there. "Audrey's death became a tragedy and it's becoming a tragicomedy perhaps because there are so many facts people don't know a month after she died," he said. "Carlos and Pipin have a complete conflict of interest and their lack of disclosure is a total mockery." Ferreras has declined interview requests since his wife's death, only speaking to the press during a memorial service last month. But Serra insists there were enough safety divers and emergency medical personnel present. He says Hernandez is a disgruntled former employee who is seeking notoriety through "sickening" personal attacks. He says that little information has been released out of respect to Mestre's parents and Ferreras, who need time to grieve. "The investigation continues. There is no cover up. We have to understand the painful process of healing," Serra said. Serra said he expects to release some information surrounding Mestre's death later this month. However, he acknowledged Thursday that the sled malfunctioned and stopped while Mestre was at about 530 feet. A safety diver stationed near the bottom of the line saw that Mestre had fainted and began to take her to the surface. Ferreras eventually dove in with an air tank to bring his wife to the surface. While Mestre's death has been felt throughout the diving community, participants say such danger is ever-present and must be accepted. "The ocean is more powerful than you. You have to make a major peace with the ocean and realize every time you go out you can die," said Briseno, whose husband Matthew was working as a safety diver during Mestre's fatal dive. "Yes, death is always possible. But that is the way I would choose to die. It is acceptable to me that I would die free diving." Mestre's parents said the same in one of only a few interviews given since their daughter's death. "No one is at fault. The sea wanted her forever," Anne-Marie Mestre said. "If I had to lose my daughter, I preferred it be the sea that takes her than some traffic accident. She lived and breathed the ocean." Ferreras said at his wife's funeral that he plans to reach her record depth of 558 feet. "I can't retire right now. If I stop doing what I've been doing, everything she worked for would be worthless," Ferreras said. Briseno and many others in cyber-forums say the main challenge for the sport after Mestre's death is establishing one centralized governing body that can standardize safety practices and records. "The different bodies that organize the sport need to get together on safety procedures," Briseno said. "The training, the safety and the records: They need to agree on the basics. "We want some healing in this beautiful sport," she said. SOURCE - Record SearchlightSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
