Free-diving

Free-diving refers to various aquatic activities that share the practice of breath-hold diving. Examples include breathhold spearfishing, freedive photography, Apnea competitions and, to a degree, snorkeling. The activity that garners the public's attention is Competitive Apnea, considered an extreme sport, where divers attempt to reach great depths on a single breath and without direct assistance of breathing apparatus.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Competitive free diving, often referred to as "Apnea", is generally broken down into three categories; static, dynamic and depth with male and female records recognized in each category:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Static Apnea is timed breath holding and is usually attempted in a pool.
• Dynamic Apnea is underwater swimming for distance and has sub-categories for swimming with and without fins. This competition is usually held in a pool.

The depth category has four sub-sections:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Constant Weight competition is for self-propelled maximum depth, no weights or lines are allowed. This category is also divided into sections for fins or without fins.
• Free Immersion competition is for self-propelled ascent and descent along a line and is for maximum depth.
• Variable Weight competition uses a weighted sled for descent and the diver ascends by pulling themselves up along a line.
• No Limits competition allows the diver to descend with a weighted sled and ascend with a buoyancy control device, usually an air filled bag with a tether. The world record for the "No Limits" category of competitive free diving is held by Belgian diver Patrick Musimu. On 30 June 2005 he dove to a depth of 209 m (685.69 feet), in Egypt, in Red Sea; surpassing the previous record set by Loic Leferme by 38 meters and breaking the psychological barrier of -200 m. The current women's record is held by Tanya Streeter, who dove to 160 m (524.9 feet) on 17 August 2002. The unofficial record is held by the late Audrey Mestre (166 m) wife of legend Francisco “Pipin” Ferrera; she drowned whilst trying to set a world record of 171 m (561 feet).

Competitive free-diving featured heavily in the 1988 Luc Besson film Le Grand bleu (The Big Blue).

Free-diving: Description ►



 

Extreme sport: An extreme sport (also known as an action sport) is a general, somewhat hazily-defined term for any of several newer sports involving adrenaline-inducing action. They often feature a combination of speed, height, danger and spectacular stunts. Levels of danger vary widely, but there is always an ele...

Diver: A diver is an person who practices scuba diving or surface supplied diving.A diver is the European name for a group of aquatic birds of the order Gaviiformes, in North America called loons.A diver is an athlete who practices diving in the sense of jumping or falling deliberately into water.The word ...

Breathing apparatus: REDIRECT breathing set...




Free-diving related Images and Photos (experimental)

Diving Whale	Free Ride	Free Ride	Free Fall
Free Tibet	Free Willy	Free Willy (DVD)	Free Spirit
Free Fallin	Free Spirit	Free Spirit	Free Spirit