Date: July 14-15, 2012
Location: Dutch Springs, PA
My latest adventure, and my newest obsession, is freediving. The best way to describe freediving is "SCUBA diving without air." Or maybe "skin diving with technique." For a great artistic interpretation, check out the video below.
Anyway, I just completed a two-day intensive course at a diver-friendly quarry called "Dutch Springs" in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The course was taught by Dana Beck of Freedive NYC. Dana was an excellent instructor. How excellent? By the end of the first day, I was (easily) able to hold my breath for four minutes and seven seconds. That's floating perfectly still on the surface. By the end of the second day, I was freediving for fun to depths of 65 feet, and enjoying quite a bit of bottom time.
Freediving is all technique. Breathing correctly is more than half of it. I was amazed to discover how little air I actually inhale during normal breathing, how much extra capacity for air I have, and how easy it is to push the point of discomfort from holding my breath forward in time. By the end of the first day, I wasn't feeling any discomfort at all until well past the two-minute mark. Before my training, my lungs would have been bursting at that point!
The other key parts of freediving are the equipment and the way you move your body when trying to get to depth. On the former: The fins are twice as long as normal fins to maximize thrust per kick, and thicker wetsuits are a must (especially in the cold waters of Dutch Springs!) to keep the body from burning oxygen trying to stay warm. On the latter, we learned how to "jackknife" into the water and then streamline our bodies to descend as rapidly as possible while expending the least amount of effort.
Two days of training was enough to put all of this together and earn my basic certification. I can't wait to do it again!
An artistic interpretation of the freediving experience:
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