Today was the penultimate day of Suunto Vertical Blue. And like the seven other days of competition that came before, it did not disappoint. The official top time for the event’s host William Trubridge came at 11:10 am eastern and just about four short minutes later a new national record for New Zealand appeared as he completed a dive to 121m under constant weight in Dean’s Blue Hole. As a freediving event Suunto Vertical Blue has become historic in its proportions garnering an incredible 53 national titles so far. This is Will’s first national record at the elite competition.
Great anticipation has surrounded the Kiwi freediver as onlookers have watched William and Russian freediver Alexey Molchanov battle for first position in the category of constant weight (CWT). Coming into the comp Alexey held the world record for constant weight, and after a few days at Dean’s Blue Hole he retained it by making a dive to 126m. Trubridge is the current world record holder in both free immersion (FIM) and in the sport’s most arduous discipline constant no-fins (CNF).
After a shortfall and a black-out on his own 126m attempt, today was a welcomed good day for the soft-spoken champion. “I just wanted to get a decent, solid CWT dive out and get a white card. The world record escaped me this competition.” Will said matter-of-factly. Upon his ascent to the surface on this 121m dive Will reached for the comp line (the GloRope) but lunged and missed it because he was wearing fluid goggles that distort his vision.
“I was determined to keep my airway above the surface and not get a DQ – my mind was ticking over the 15 seconds – I was lucid.” And as he counted the seconds he managed to masterfully keep his body upright as you will see in the video below. Once the requisite surface protocol was complete Will was in the clear; “ I felt a little bit of relief!” he mused, “the monofin felt less like an appendage and more like an angry dog gripped to my flailing leg! I think my training peaked just before the event, and I’m on the downhill slope energy-wise…“ As for the last day of the competition, Will is planning a ‘fun” dive so he can relax and enjoy the success that surrounds him.
Thanks to deeper blue for this article
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Showing posts with label breath holding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breath holding. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Avoiding an 'Empty' Ocean Future
Somewhere amid the cerulean waters of the Andaman Sea a man dives for his family's dinner. He inhales, and in an instant disappears beneath the waves, his movements elegant and purposeful. The man holds his breath for what seems like an eternity, moving effortlessly through the water column, gathering from the sea as his ancestors have for thousands of years.
This man is a Moken, one of only a thousand that remain of this ancient culture of "sea gypsies." The last of the Moken live in the Mergui Archipelago, which spans 250 miles of warm waters off the coast of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand. The Moken are called Chao Ley (people of the sea) in Thai, and it is a fitting name; for 8 months of the year they roam the waves in hand carved sail boats called Kabang, living off the bounty of the sea. An entire family lives in a Kabang, a hydrodynamic home fashioned from a single rainforest tree. Sometimes extended families come together forming a floating village to share resources, sing, and tell stories.
The Moken have adapted to their ocean lifestyle over centuries. They can see underwater twice as well as other humans, and in a single dive can reach depths that would have most people grabbing for SCUBA gear. They seem completely at ease in the water, and with good reason -- a Moken diver can hold their breath for up to an astounding 8 minutes, (as a competitive freediver myself I don't even come close to this.) Want to try to challenge the Moken record? There's an app for that.
Their physical adaptations point to a life intrinsically connected to the ocean. The Moken learn to swim before they can even walk, and appear just as comfortable wandering the sea floor as you or I would strolling down the aisle in a supermarket. What little the Moken need, the sea has always provided, the coral reefs of their region are astoundingly biodiverse, with over 600 species of fish and more species of coral than the entire Great Barrier Reef. The Moken culture has evolved against the backdrop of this bountiful ecosystem; it is little wonder that there is no word for 'want' in their language.
To be a Moken means to live a life deeply harmonized with the sea. This harmony means that the Moken are good indicators of our oceans' health. A few years ago, these regions teemed with life, but today 80% of coral reefs in Southeast Asia are endangered and the Moken population has shrunk from 10,000 to just 1,000 over the past 15 years. Many local reefs are struggling to survive, straining under pressure from climate change, shark finning, offshore oil drilling, and destructive dynamite fishing that leaves the oceans barren, for the first time ever, the Moken are starving.
One Moken diver, a man named "Hook" is a brave catalyst to save what remains of his people's culture and wisdom. He works with The Moken Project, a non-profit dedicated to recording what they can of this amazing culture before it disappears.
Hook, like most of his people, see the signs of an ocean in peril, "For the Moken, the ocean is our entire universe, but today, the big boats come and take every fish. I wonder what they will do when the ocean is empty?"
In Moken culture, there is no concept for time but if there were, I think that they would say that the time for action must be now.
The Moken community has passed wisdom down for generations about the creatures and rhythms of the ocean. One of their legends tells of the Laboon ("the wave that eats people") that is brought on by angry spirits of the ancestors. Just before the Indian Ocean tsunami hit in 2004, Moken elders noticed strange wave patterns. Their warning to head to higher ground saved hundreds from one of the worst natural disasters in human history.
Many have wondered how the Moken were able to predict this disaster. I believe it is because they were paying close attention to the sea, a habit learned from their pure oceanic existence.
The suffering of the Moken sadly provides unequivocal evidence that our oceans are in crisis. If we are to learn anything from these incredible people it is to pay closer attention to what our oceans are telling us. If we are to avoid an 'empty' ocean future we must act now and plan accordingly.
Huffington Post
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
This man is a Moken, one of only a thousand that remain of this ancient culture of "sea gypsies." The last of the Moken live in the Mergui Archipelago, which spans 250 miles of warm waters off the coast of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand. The Moken are called Chao Ley (people of the sea) in Thai, and it is a fitting name; for 8 months of the year they roam the waves in hand carved sail boats called Kabang, living off the bounty of the sea. An entire family lives in a Kabang, a hydrodynamic home fashioned from a single rainforest tree. Sometimes extended families come together forming a floating village to share resources, sing, and tell stories.
The Moken have adapted to their ocean lifestyle over centuries. They can see underwater twice as well as other humans, and in a single dive can reach depths that would have most people grabbing for SCUBA gear. They seem completely at ease in the water, and with good reason -- a Moken diver can hold their breath for up to an astounding 8 minutes, (as a competitive freediver myself I don't even come close to this.) Want to try to challenge the Moken record? There's an app for that.
To be a Moken means to live a life deeply harmonized with the sea. This harmony means that the Moken are good indicators of our oceans' health. A few years ago, these regions teemed with life, but today 80% of coral reefs in Southeast Asia are endangered and the Moken population has shrunk from 10,000 to just 1,000 over the past 15 years. Many local reefs are struggling to survive, straining under pressure from climate change, shark finning, offshore oil drilling, and destructive dynamite fishing that leaves the oceans barren, for the first time ever, the Moken are starving.
One Moken diver, a man named "Hook" is a brave catalyst to save what remains of his people's culture and wisdom. He works with The Moken Project, a non-profit dedicated to recording what they can of this amazing culture before it disappears.
Hook, like most of his people, see the signs of an ocean in peril, "For the Moken, the ocean is our entire universe, but today, the big boats come and take every fish. I wonder what they will do when the ocean is empty?"
In Moken culture, there is no concept for time but if there were, I think that they would say that the time for action must be now.
The Moken community has passed wisdom down for generations about the creatures and rhythms of the ocean. One of their legends tells of the Laboon ("the wave that eats people") that is brought on by angry spirits of the ancestors. Just before the Indian Ocean tsunami hit in 2004, Moken elders noticed strange wave patterns. Their warning to head to higher ground saved hundreds from one of the worst natural disasters in human history.
Many have wondered how the Moken were able to predict this disaster. I believe it is because they were paying close attention to the sea, a habit learned from their pure oceanic existence.
The suffering of the Moken sadly provides unequivocal evidence that our oceans are in crisis. If we are to learn anything from these incredible people it is to pay closer attention to what our oceans are telling us. If we are to avoid an 'empty' ocean future we must act now and plan accordingly.
Huffington Post
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
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