Free-diving
Encyclopedia
Underwater diving
Underwater diving is the practice of going underwater, either with breathing apparatus or by breath-holding .Recreational diving is a popular activity...
. Examples include breathhold spear fishing, freedive photography, apnea
Apnea
Apnea, apnoea, or apnœa is a term for suspension of external breathing. During apnea there is no movement of the muscles of respiration and the volume of the lungs initially remains unchanged...
competitions and, to a degree, snorkeling
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...
. The activity that garners the most public attention is competitive apnea, an extreme sport
Extreme sport
An extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger...
, in which competitors attempt to attain great depths, times or distances on a single breath without the assistance of self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba)
Scuba set
A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....
.
Overview
Freediving is a technique used with various aquatic activities. While in general all aquatic activities that include breath-hold diving might be classified as a part of freediving, some sports are more accepted than others. Examples of recognized freediving activities are (non-) competitive freediving, (non-) competitive spearfishingSpearfishing
Spearfishing is an ancient method of fishing that has been used throughout the world for millennia. Early civilizations were familiar with the custom of spearing fish from rivers and streams using sharpened sticks....
, freediving photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and mermaid shows. Less recognized examples of freediving include, but are not limited to, synchronised swimming, underwater rugby
Underwater rugby
Underwater rugby is a sport that has its origin in the physical fitness training of German diving clubs and has little in common with rugby football except for the name....
, underwater hockey
Underwater hockey
Underwater hockey is a global non-contact sport in which two teams compete to maneuver a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into goals.-Play:...
, underwater hunting other than spearfishing, and snorkeling
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...
.
The discussion remains whether freediving is only a synonym for breath-hold diving or whether it describes a specific group of underwater activities. Freediving is often strongly associated with competitive breath-hold diving or Competitive Apnea. The remainder of this article will discuss only competitive freediving as an athletic sport.
Competitive freediving
Competitive freediving is currently governed by two world associations: AIDA InternationalAIDA International
The International Association for Development of Apnea is the world wide rule- and record-keeping body for competitive breath holding events . It aims to set standards for safety, comparability of Official World Record attempts and freedive education...
(International Association for Development of Apnea) and CMAS
Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques
The Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques is the World Underwater Federation. CMAS is the international umbrella organisation for recreational diver training organisations represented in the CMAS Technical Committee and underwater sports governed by the CMAS Sport Committee...
(World Underwater Federation).
Most types of competitive freediving have in common that it is an individual sport based on the best individual achievement. An exception to this rule is the bi-annual World Championship for Teams, held by AIDA, where the combined score of the team members makes up the team's total points.
There are currently nine disciplines used by official governing bodies and a dozen disciplines that are only practiced locally. In this article, the recognized disciplines of AIDA and CMAS will be described. All disciplines can be done by both men and women and, while done outdoors, no differences in the environment between records are recognized any longer. The disciplines of AIDA can be done both in competition and as a record attempt, with the exception of Variable Weight and No limits, which are both done solely as record attempts.
The following official disciplines are recognized by AIDA, CMAS, or both.
Pool disciplines
- Static ApneaStatic ApneaStatic Apnea is an AIDA International discipline in which the freedivers hold their breath for as long as possible with their respiratory tracts immersed, their body either in the water or at the surface...
is timed breath holding and is usually attempted in a pool (AIDA). - Dynamic Apnea With Fins. This is underwater swimming in a pool for distance. For this discipline the athlete can choose whether to use bi-fins or the monofinMonofinA monofin is a type of swimfin typically used in finswimming and free-diving. It consists of a single surface attached to footpockets for both of the free-diver's feet.-History and production:...
(AIDA, CMAS). - Dynamic Apnea Without Fins. This is underwater swimming in a pool for distance without any swimming aids like fins (AIDA).
Depth disciplines
For all AIDA disciplines, the depth the athlete will attempt is announced before the dive. This is accepted practice for both competitions and record attempts.- Constant Weight Apnea. The athlete has to dive to the depth following a guide line that he or she is not allowed to actively use during the dive. The ‘Constant Weight’ (French: "poids constant") refers to the fact that the athlete is not allowed to drop any diving weights during the dive. Both bi-fins and monofinMonofinA monofin is a type of swimfin typically used in finswimming and free-diving. It consists of a single surface attached to footpockets for both of the free-diver's feet.-History and production:...
can be used during this discipline (AIDA). - Constant Weight Apnea Without Fins follows the identical rules as Constant Weight, except no swimming aids such as fins are allowed. This discipline is the youngest discipline within competitive freediving and is recognised by AIDA InternationalAIDA InternationalThe International Association for Development of Apnea is the world wide rule- and record-keeping body for competitive breath holding events . It aims to set standards for safety, comparability of Official World Record attempts and freedive education...
since 2003 (AIDA). - Free Immersion Apnea is a discipline in which the athlete uses the vertical guiderope to pull him or herself down to depth and back to the surface. It is known for its ease compared with the Constant Weight disciplines, while the athlete is still not allowed to release weights (AIDA).
- Variable Weight Apnea is a record discipline that uses a weighted sled for descent. Athletes return to the surface by pulling themselves up along a line or swimming while using their fins (AIDA).
- No-Limits ApneaNo-Limits ApneaNo-Limits Apnea is a AIDA International freediving discipline in which the freediver descends and ascends with the method of his or her choice. Often, a heavy metal bar or "sled" grasped by the diver descends fixed to a line, reaching great depths. The most common ascension assistance is via...
is a record discipline that allows the athlete to use any means of breath-hold diving to depth and return to the surface as long as a guideline is used to measure the distance. Most divers use a weighted sled to dive down and use an inflatable bag to return to the surface (AIDA). - The Jump Blue also called "The Cube" is a discipline in which an athlete has to descend and swim as far as possible in a cubic form of 15 x 15 meters (CMAS).
Each organization has its own rules on recognizing an attempt. These can be found on the website from the respective organizations.
Recreational
Freediving is also a recreational sport, celebrated as a relaxing, liberating, and unique experience. Many snorkelers may technically be freediving if they perform any sort of breath-hold diving - it is important to stress the importance of training and supervision when making this association.Physiology of freediving
The human body has several adaptations under diving conditions, which stem from the mammalian diving reflexMammalian diving reflex
The mammalian diving reflex is a reflex in mammals which optimizes respiration to allow staying underwater for extended periods of time. It is exhibited strongly in aquatic mammals , but exists in a weaker version in other mammals, including humans. Diving birds, such as penguins, have a similar...
. These adaptations enable the human body to endure depth and lack of oxygen far beyond what would be possible without the reflex.
The adaptations made by the human body while underwater and at high pressure include:
- Reflex bradycardiaReflex bradycardiaReflex bradycardia is a bradycardia in response to the baroreceptor reflex, one of the body's homeostatic mechanisms for preventing abnormal increases blood pressure...
: Drop in heart rate. - VasoconstrictionVasoconstrictionVasoconstriction is the narrowing of the blood vessels resulting from contraction of the muscular wall of the vessels, particularly the large arteries, small arterioles and veins. The process is the opposite of vasodilation, the widening of blood vessels. The process is particularly important in...
: Blood vessels shrink. Blood stream directed away from limbs for the benefit of heart, lungs and brain. - Splenic contraction: Releasing red blood cells carrying oxygen.
- Blood shiftBlood shiftBlood shift has at least two separate meanings:*In medicine, it is synonymous with left shift.*In biology, it may refer to a phenomenon seen when mammals submerge in water. It is part of the mammalian diving reflex. Blood vessels in the extremities contract, leaving a higher percentage of the...
: Blood plasma fills up blood vessels in the lung and reduces residual volume. Without this adaptation, the human lung would shrink and wrap into its walls, causing permanent damage, at depths greater than 30 meters.
Training
Training for free-diving can take many forms and be done on the land.One example is the apnea walk. This consists of a preparation "breathe-up", followed by a short (typically 1 minute) breath hold taken at rest. Without breaking the hold, the participant then initiates a walk for as far as they can, until it becomes necessary to breathe again. Athletes can do close to 400 meters in training this way.
This form of training is good for accustoming muscle
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...
s to work under anaerobic
Hypoxia (environmental)
Hypoxia, or oxygen depletion, is a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments as dissolved oxygen becomes reduced in concentration to a point where it becomes detrimental to aquatic organisms living in the system...
conditions, and for tolerance to CO2
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
build-up in the circulation. It is also easy to gauge progress, as increasing distance can be measured.
Before competition attempt, free-divers perform preparation sequence, which usually consists of physical stretching, mental exercise and breath exercise. It may include sequention of variable length static apnea, special purging deep breaths, hyperventilation
Hyperventilation
Hyperventilation or overbreathing is the state of breathing faster or deeper than normal, causing excessive expulsion of circulating carbon dioxide. It can result from a psychological state such as a panic attack, from a physiological condition such as metabolic acidosis, can be brought about by...
. Result of preparation sequence is slower metabolism, lower heart rate and breath rate, lower level of CO2 in bloodstream and, last but not least, overall mental equilibrium. Failing ordinary warning signals or crossing mental barrier by strong will may lead to shallow water blackout
Shallow water blackout
A shallow water blackout is a loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoxia towards the end of a breath-hold dive in water typically shallower than five metres , when the swimmer does not necessarily experience an urgent need to breathe and has no other obvious medical condition that might have...
or deep water blackout
Deep water blackout
A deep water blackout is a loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoxia on ascending from a deep freedive or breath-hold dive, typically of ten metres or more when the swimmer does not necessarily experience an urgent need to breathe and has no other obvious medical condition that might have...
. Trained free-divers are well aware of this and will only dive under strict and first aid competent supervision. However this does not, of itself, eliminate the risk of deep or shallow water blackout. All safe free-divers have a 'buddy' who accompanies them, observing from within the water at the surface. Due to the nature of the sport, any practice of free-diving must include strict adherence to safety measures as an integral part of the activity, and all participants must also be adept in rescue and resuscitation. Without proper training and supervision, free-diving/apnea/breath-hold diving is extremely dangerous.
History
Archaeological evidence suggests that people have been freediving since the 5th century BCE. The first known were the haenyeo in Korea who collected shells and sponges to sell to others. The Ama DiversAma divers
, uminchu or kaito are Japanese divers, famous for collecting pearls. The majority of ama are women.- History :...
from Japan began to collect pearls 2,000 years ago. Both Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
mention the sponge as being used for bathing in ancient Greece and this may represent an early reference to commercial free-diving to obtain them; the island of Kalymnos
Kalymnos
Kalymnos, is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese and is located to the west of the peninsula of Bodrum , between the islands of Kos and Leros : the latter is linked to it through a series of islets...
was a main centre of diving for sponges. By using weights of as much as 15 kilograms (33.1 lb) to speed the descent, breath-holding divers would descend to depths up to 30 metres (98.4 ft) for as long as 5 minutes to collect sponges.
Spearfishing around the Mediterranean Sea was important for the historical background for the movement of the apnea sport.
AIDA recognized world records
the AIDA recognized world records are:| Discipline | Gender | Distance [m] | Time | Name | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constant Weight Apnea (CWT) | Men | 124 | |
| Herbert Nitsch Herbert Nitsch Herbert Nitsch is an Austrian free-diver who has held world records in all of the eight apnea free-diving disciplines recognised by AIDA International. He is the current freediving world record champion and “the deepest man on earth”. This title was given to him, when he set the current world... |
Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole is the world's deepest known blue hole with seawater. It plunges in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas.-History:The full depth of the cave was reached by Jim King in 1992.... , Long Island Bahamas |
||
| Constant Weight Apnea (CWT) | Women | 101 | |
| Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova , born 8 May 1962, Ufa, Russia is a Russian champion Freediver and is the current President of the Russian Freedive Federation.... |
Kalamata Kalamata Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf... , Greece |
||
| Constant Weight Apnea Without Fins (CNF) | Men | 101 | |
| William Trubridge William Trubridge William Trubridge is a world champion and double world record holding free-diver from New Zealand.Trubridge currently holds the world record in the Free Immersion and the Constant Weight without fins disciplines, and is the first human ever to break the 100m barrier unassisted.World Records:•... |
Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole is the world's deepest known blue hole with seawater. It plunges in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas.-History:The full depth of the cave was reached by Jim King in 1992.... , Long Island Bahamas |
||
| Constant Weight Apnea Without Fins (CNF) | Women | 62 | |
| Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova , born 8 May 1962, Ufa, Russia is a Russian champion Freediver and is the current President of the Russian Freedive Federation.... |
Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole is the world's deepest known blue hole with seawater. It plunges in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas.-History:The full depth of the cave was reached by Jim King in 1992.... , Long Island Bahamas |
||
| Free Immersion Apnea (FIM) | Men | 121 | |
| William Trubridge William Trubridge William Trubridge is a world champion and double world record holding free-diver from New Zealand.Trubridge currently holds the world record in the Free Immersion and the Constant Weight without fins disciplines, and is the first human ever to break the 100m barrier unassisted.World Records:•... |
Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole is the world's deepest known blue hole with seawater. It plunges in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas.-History:The full depth of the cave was reached by Jim King in 1992.... , Long Island Bahamas |
||
| Free Immersion Apnea (FIM) | Women | 85 | |
| Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova , born 8 May 1962, Ufa, Russia is a Russian champion Freediver and is the current President of the Russian Freedive Federation.... |
Crete, Greece | ||
| Variable Weight Apnea (VWT) | Men | 142 | |
| Herbert Nitsch Herbert Nitsch Herbert Nitsch is an Austrian free-diver who has held world records in all of the eight apnea free-diving disciplines recognised by AIDA International. He is the current freediving world record champion and “the deepest man on earth”. This title was given to him, when he set the current world... |
Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole Dean's Blue Hole is the world's deepest known blue hole with seawater. It plunges in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas.-History:The full depth of the cave was reached by Jim King in 1992.... , Long Island Bahamas |
||
| Variable Weight Apnea (VWT) | Women | 126 | |
| Annelie Pompe Annelie Pompe - External links :* * by Annelie Pompe... |
Sharm el Sheikh Egypt | ||
| No-Limits Apnea (NLT) | Men | 214 | |
| Herbert Nitsch Herbert Nitsch Herbert Nitsch is an Austrian free-diver who has held world records in all of the eight apnea free-diving disciplines recognised by AIDA International. He is the current freediving world record champion and “the deepest man on earth”. This title was given to him, when he set the current world... |
Spetses, Greece | ||
| No-Limits Apnea (NLT) | Women | 160 | |
| Tanya Streeter Tanya Streeter Tanya Streeter is a British/Caymanian world champion free-diver, inducted into the Women Diver's Hall of Fame in March 2000... |
Turks and Caicos | ||
| Static Apnea (STA) | Men | ||
| 11 min 35 sec | Stéphane Mifsud Stéphane Mifsud Stéphane Mifsud is a French free diver born 13 August 1971 in Istres . His lung capacity was measured at 10.5 litres... |
Hyères, Var, France | |
| Static Apnea (STA) | Women | ||
| 8 min 23 sec | Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova , born 8 May 1962, Ufa, Russia is a Russian champion Freediver and is the current President of the Russian Freedive Federation.... |
Aarhus Aarhus Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark... , Denmark |
|
| Dynamic Apnea With Fins (DYN) | Men | 273 | |
| Goran Čolak Goran Čolak Goran Čolak is a Croatian free-diver.Čolak is the 2011 Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques world champion in Dynamic Apnea With Fins, with a 250 m swim... |
Lignano, Italy | ||
| Dynamic Apnea With Fins (DYN) | Women | 225 | |
| Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova , born 8 May 1962, Ufa, Russia is a Russian champion Freediver and is the current President of the Russian Freedive Federation.... |
Moscow, Russia | ||
| Dynamic Apnea Without Fins (DNF) | Men | 218 | |
| Dave Mullins Dave Mullins Dave Mullins is a New Zealand free-diver and world record-holder.On 21 September 2007 Dave set a new world record in Dynamic apnea breaking the old record by 1 m, creating a new world record of 226 m in a time of 3:38. The old record of 225 m was held by Stig Severinsen... |
Naenae & Porirua, New Zealand | ||
| Dynamic Apnea Without Fins (DNF) | Women | 160 | |
| Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova , born 8 May 1962, Ufa, Russia is a Russian champion Freediver and is the current President of the Russian Freedive Federation.... |
Aarhus Aarhus Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark... , Denmark |
Some famous competitive apnea divers
|
Loïc Leferme Loïc Leferme was a French diver who was the world free diving record holder until 2 October 2005, when he was surpassed by Herbert Nitsch. Loic was also a founder of AIDA in 1990 with Roland Specker and Claude Chapuis in Nice. In 2002 he set the world free diving record without any breathing... Enzo Maiorca Enzo Maiorca is an Italian multiple record holder in the extreme sport of free-diving.A native of Syracuse, Italy, he was a pioneer developer of free-diving in the 1960s and 1970s... Michal Risian Michal Rišian, born 23 June 1977, Martin, Slovakia is a Czech and Slovak freediving champion and is the current continental record holder in one of the freediving depth disciplines – Constant Weight without fins.... Jacques Mayol Jacques Mayol was the holder of many world records in free diving.Jacques Mayol was a French national born in Shanghai, China. He was the first free diver to descend to 100 meters , and he managed to descend to 105 meters when he was 56 years old... Audrey Mestre Audrey Mestre was a French world record-setting freediver.- Early life :Born in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, to a family of snorkeling and scuba diving enthusiasts, at age two she was already swimming and by age thirteen was a seasoned scuba diver... Karol Meyer Karoline Mariechen "Karol" Meyer is a Brazilian free-diver.Karol Meyer She excels in sports history of Brazil for being the athlete with the highest number of world records already won for the country Diving since her childhood, became a competitive... Stéphane Mifsud Stéphane Mifsud is a French free diver born 13 August 1971 in Istres . His lung capacity was measured at 10.5 litres... Natalia Molchanova Natalia Molchanova , born 8 May 1962, Ufa, Russia is a Russian champion Freediver and is the current President of the Russian Freedive Federation.... Dave Mullins Dave Mullins is a New Zealand free-diver and world record-holder.On 21 September 2007 Dave set a new world record in Dynamic apnea breaking the old record by 1 m, creating a new world record of 226 m in a time of 3:38. The old record of 225 m was held by Stig Severinsen... Patrick Musimu Patrick Musimu was a Belgian free-diver, Sport Business Mgr, Mkg & Event Mgr, former physiotherapist. On June 30, 2005, he cracked the previous "No Limit" world record in freediving by almost 40 meters, by diving to 209 meters of depth without the use of a breathing apparatus... Guillaume Néry Guillaume Néry is a French free-diver specialised in Constant Weight free-diving.He broke the world record in 2002 at -87 meters in the Villefranche-sur-Mer harbour, in Alpes-Maritimes, France. Then, in 2004, he pushed the record to -96 meters in Saint-Leu, la Réunion... Herbert Nitsch Herbert Nitsch is an Austrian free-diver who has held world records in all of the eight apnea free-diving disciplines recognised by AIDA International. He is the current freediving world record champion and “the deepest man on earth”. This title was given to him, when he set the current world... |
Umberto Pelizzari Umberto Pelizzari is an Italian freediver, widely considered among the best of all times. Of his era, he is the sole to have established world records in all the then existing disciplines of freediving.- Early life :... Tom Sietas Tom Sietas is a free diver. He specializes in the "static apnea" event, holding his breath under water, and the "dynamic apnea" event, swimming the greatest possible distance underwater without breathing. Sietas started free diving in the year 2000... Aharon Solomons Aharon Solomons was born on the 27th September 1939 is a free-diver and national record holder.The son of Mary Huntemuller Kirk. and Ernest Aldrich Simpson that was a partner with the shipbrokerage firm Simpson, Spence & Young... Walter Steyn Walter Steyn is an Australian competitive free-diver, free-diving judge and freediving instructor. He has set 33 Australian national free-diving records and currently holds six.-Records:Steyn's current national records are:... Tanya Streeter Tanya Streeter is a British/Caymanian world champion free-diver, inducted into the Women Diver's Hall of Fame in March 2000... Bill Strömberg Bill Strömberg born April 8, 1967 in Malmö Sweden.Former Swedish champion freediver:* 25 Swedish records this far, Swedish champion 2000-2005* Competing athlete and team captain for the Swedish National Team at the World Championship 2006... William Trubridge William Trubridge is a world champion and double world record holding free-diver from New Zealand.Trubridge currently holds the world record in the Free Immersion and the Constant Weight without fins disciplines, and is the first human ever to break the 100m barrier unassisted.World Records:•... Danai Varveri Danai Varveri is a Greek free diver, mostly known for her world record dive in 1999 to 40 meters without a mask, fins or suit, in the discipline of constant weight without fins, in 71 seconds... Annelie Pompe - External links :* * by Annelie Pompe... |
Freediving in fiction
- The Big BlueThe Big BlueThe Big Blue is a 1988 English-language film made by French director Luc Besson. The film stars Jean-Marc Barr, Rosanna Arquette, Jean Reno and depicts a fictionalized account of the sporting rivalry between two famed free divers.-Background:...
is a romance film about two world-class freedivers, a heavily fictionalized depiction of the rivalry of freedivers Jacques Mayol and Enzo Maïorca. - In the 2005 film Into the Blue, a group of divers find themselves in deep trouble with a drug lord after they come upon the illicit cargo of a sunken airplane.
- The Freediver is a 2004 film about a talented free-diver woman who is discovered and brought to an island, where she is trained by an ambitious scientist to break a free-diving world record currently held by an American woman.
- The Greater Meaning of Water (2010) is an independent film about competitive constant weight free-diving, focusing on the "zen of freediving".
- In the computer game The Secret of Monkey IslandThe Secret of Monkey IslandThe Secret of Monkey Island is a graphic adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by the same company after its name was changed to LucasArts. The game spawned a number of sequels, collectively known as the Monkey Island series...
, the main character, Guybrush Threepwood, boasts being able to hold his breath for ten minutes. Although not exactly freediving, Guybrush ends up underwater in a certain point of the game, and he dies if the player doesn't solve the puzzle in ten minutes. - In Greg IlesGreg IlesGreg Iles is an American bestselling novelist who lives in Natchez, Mississippi.Iles was born in Stuttgart, Germany, where his father ran the U.S. Embassy Medical Clinic. He was raised in Natchez, Mississippi, where he attended Trinity Episcopal Day School and graduated from the University of...
' novel Blood Memory, the main character Cat Ferry is an odontologist and a free-diver. - In the video game Splinter CellSplinter CellTom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a series of stealth video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels. The protagonist, Sam Fisher, is presented as a highly-trained agent of a fictional black-ops sub-division within the NSA, dubbed "Third Echelon"...
, the opening cut scene shows Sam Fisher, the main character, free-diving in the ocean. - The children's novel The Dolphins of LaurentumThe Dolphins of LaurentumThe Dolphins of Laurentum is a historical novel by Caroline Lawrence published on February 6, 2003 by Orion Books. It is the fifth novel in the The Roman Mysteries series.-Plot:...
by Caroline Lawrence, which takes place in ancient Rome, describes the applications of free-diving (sponge and pearl diving), and its hazards, as one of the principal characters, as well as the main antagonist, try to beat each other to a sunken treasure. - In the TV show Lilo and Stitch, Lilo swam to the bottom of the ocean to save her friends (before she went, she said that she was a freediver).
- In the CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
television series Corner GasCorner GasCorner Gas is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Re-runs still air on CTV and The Comedy Network in Canada; it formerly aired on WGN America in the United States....
, the character Karen Pelly (Tara Spencer-NairnTara Spencer-NairnTara Spencer-Nairn is a Canadian actress best known for her work on the television series Corner Gas, in which she plays police officer Karen Pelly....
) competed in static apnea, ranking fifth in Canada with a personal best of over six minutes. - In Ian Fleming'sIan FlemingIan Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
1964 James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novel You Only Live Twice, the character Kissy SuzukiKissy SuzukiKissy Suzuki is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's 1964 James Bond novel, You Only Live Twice. Despite Bond's womanizing, Kissy Suzuki remains the only character known to the reader who bears a child by him...
is an ama diverAma divers, uminchu or kaito are Japanese divers, famous for collecting pearls. The majority of ama are women.- History :...
. This connection was not mentioned in the film versionYou Only Live Twice (film)You Only Live Twice is the fifth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name...
. - Man from Atlantis is a TV series which features a man with the ability to breathe underwater and free dive in his own special style.
- The PearlThe Pearl (novel)The Pearl is a novella by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1947.- Analysis :A story based on a Mexican folk tale, The Pearl explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the disastrous effects of stepping out of an established system...
by John Steinbeck. While diving, a poor man, Kino, finds the pearl of heaven—valuable. His life is changed forever.
External links
- Worldwide Freediving Education + Training Agency
- Freediving club UK based
- DeeperBlue.com - the online community for Freediving
- AIDA Association Internationale pour le Développement de l'Apnée
- Freediving in numbers
- FREEDIVERS.net
- Apnea Iphone APP
- Free-Diving.com The Online Community for Free Diving & Spearfishing enthusiasts
- Freediving & Snorkeling
- meditative approach to non-competitive free-diving