The AIDA International rules and regulations for competitions rule that an athlete is disqualified if they are touched after surfacing and before the judges have shown their card.
In a competition, we want to see that the athlete performs the dive on their own, we want to see that they are physically capable of ending a dive safely without intervention. Theoretically,
Richard Marsh took part in a recent instructor course with We Freedive in Phuket, where the topic for his final presentation was his experience of spending some time and freediving with the Koh Surin Moken, a tribe of freediving nomads who have spent their lives on and in the water for generations.
Read more: Richard Marsh - The History and Future of Freediving for the Koh Surin Moken
We all think of streamlining when swimming under water, and we know it makes a big difference to train for a good streamline. Now we have been wondering how much of a difference it actually makes - can we put numbers to this?
Enter Simon Elvmarker on his AIDA instructor course with us. Simon happens to have a background which allowed him to run the numbers on this and deliver a qualitative analysis of fluid dynamics in freediving.
As a bonus, he also looked at the fluid dynamics of shark skin and the (in-)famous swimming suits that carry that name.
We were surprised by the results. - Read his paper attached below.
Oli Christen, AIDA Instructor, is the founder of the freediving school Freedive Flow in Bali, Indonesia and has been a valuable member of the AIDA Education work group.
During his AIDA Instructor Course with We Freedive Thailand, Oli applied his background in psychology to his new career and gave a brilliant presentation on Action vs. State Orientation in Freediving, a topic that very likely all freedivers have experienced who have gone to a new depth.
Read his paper attached below!
To finish off his successful AIDA Freediving Instructor course with us, Azam gave a presentation on how the aerobic and anaerobic parts of his (extensive) Marathon training helped him become a better freediver.
A lot of good ideas and insights in this paper. Thank you Azam, for yet another very good read.
Read more: Azam Hamid - How Marathon Training can Improve Freediving Performance
Our friend Gary McGrath went through his AIDA Instructor training with us and his final presentation was about
Shallow Water Conditioning for Depth and Diaphragm Conditioning for Freedivers
It's a lovely read looking at preparation for the pressure and general big-hug-from-the-sea feeling we are exposed to at depth - and that preparation without having access to said depth. This preparation will make a big difference towards staying far away from sqeezes (ear, sinus, trachea or lung barotrauma) and enjoying your limited time at depth just that much more.
This one is for all of you pool freedivers in cold-water and landlocked exile with some excellent suggestions.
