Freediving - I'm OK

TRANSLATED BY JYRI MANNINEN

Copyright Š ISBN 978-952-7007-29-7 elinaandjohanna.com Johanna Nordblad johannanordblad.com ! !

Elina Manninen elinamanninen.com

TRANSLATED BY JYRI MANNINEN 2

SARDINIA

2014

FREEDIVING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

COMPETITIONS The 2014 Team World Freediving Championships were held in Cagliari, Sardinia on 16-27.9.2014. The competition was organized by the Blue World Apnea School, which was established in 2010. Since then, the school has also organized several other freediving events. The main persons responsible for the event’s organizational duties were Riccardo Mura, Roberto Mattana and Emanuele Mannu.

Many competitors had already arrived in Cagliari several days prior to the official start of the competition to get in some final training sessions. The pool disciplines were held in Hotel Setar’s 25 meter pool, while the location for the depth diving competition was an approximately 15 minute boat ride away from the hotel’s nearest beach.

A total of 67 competitors from 14 different countries took part in these team world freediving championships.

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AIDA secretary, Carla Hanson.

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CARLA HANSON AIDA is the governing body of international freediving.

AIDA is a French acronym meaning Association Internationale pour le Developpement l‘Apnee.

The sport has evolved constantly with more sophisticated research leading to bigger dives, longer breath-holds and more participants.

The Cagliari competition was very well organized. The organizer, Ricky Murra, was intent on making things right for a good competition. He has a wonderful attitude and excellent staff. He really made the competition a success. He is very easy to work with, which is an asset for AIDA.

Personally, I started competitive freediving in 2009 after taking a course held by Will Trubridge. I was a swimmer and had a lot of injuries from the intensive training, so I decided to try something ‘easier’. Training in freediving is easy compared to swimming in the USA. As I was fairly successful in the course, William suggested that I compete.

So, I entered the world championships in 2009. I competed at a few competitions attempting to get some records, and then I became involved with AIDA. As I have so much to do

at competitions now, I gave up trying to compete, at least for the time being. I am the AIDA secretary and I also post the results at competitions, so it can be very time consuming.

I do not have the best physical or mental qualities to be a good freediver. I am too muscular and I’m not into relaxation.

I also loathe the freefall. For me, it is all about just getting to the plate and then swimming back up, or then swimming to the end of the pool. While I do enjoy freediving, I know I will never be fabulous at it. I like to train and it keeps me motivated to stay in shape. I am older than most divers so I do need to work a bit harder too!

I met Mikko Pöntinen for the first time at Kalamata in 2011.

He is a great guy and a great diver. I know Antero through competitions, and since he is the technical officer for AIDA, we also work together. I am also a friend of his wife Katya, who is an AIDA judge. We judged together last year at Vertical Blue where Antero was a competitor. They were married there at the competition. I just met Mikko Anttonen for the first time at Cagliari. I loved his Mohawk and we definitely had a lot of fun! Our AIDA president Kimmo is also a Finn. I often tease them all, calling them ‘Kimmo and his merry band o’ men’.

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THE FINNISH NATIONAL TEAM

2014

FREEDIVING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

THE FINNISH NATIONAL TEAM A men’s team from Finland competed at the world championships. The team members were Antero Joki, Mikko Pöntinen and Mikko Anttonen, with Johanna Nordblad as the team coach and manager.

Mikko Anttonen

Mikko Pöntinen

Antero Joki

Johanna Nordblad

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The final national team training session before the world championships was held in Kouvola.

All the team members were in attendance and the promising training results were an encouraging sign for a very strong at the championships.

This time, Johanna went to the world championships in the role of national team coach.

The national team’s standard this year was really high.

The team’s approach to the competition was agreed to in advance with the coach.

Each competitor has their own particular way of preparing for the competition.

The coach had no reason to be worried. These boys were the best!

Mikko, Mikko and Antero. Let’s go and do it again!

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COMPETITION FREEDIVING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2014

The boys arrived at the event location already a week before the official start to get in some last minute training.

Especially in relation to the depth diving, it was very important for the team to get the chance to gauge and confirm their diving fitness, as well as to become familiar with the local conditions.

When Johanna, and her sister Elina, the team’s official photographer, arrived a week later, the boys were fully prepared and ready to go!

There was still a few days time for some final adjustments and fine tuning to be done in preparation for some really amazing competition performances.

The team registered for the competition.

The official competition physician gave the boys permission to dive.

Prior to the start of the official competition, there was also time to become familiar with the event local and surrounds.

Luckily, the boys were already familiar with the most important places.

Everyone awaited the opening ceremony and the start of the competition in great anticipation.

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OPENING

2014

FREEDIVING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Team Finland was ready for the opening ceremony.

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The local Sardinian dancers were also ready to show off their skills.

As usual, Grant Graves was one of the competition judges.

Daan Verhoeven was once again in attendance ready to video all the action.

Daan Verhoeven and Per Westin.

The opening ceremony was held in the hotel area.

It was great to see the representatives from all the different countries.

Luckily, Ukraine’s Den GC and all his cameras made it too.

Let the competition begin!

It’s not going to be so calm here tomorrow.

TRAINING

2014

FREEDIVING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Due to the strong winds, the depth diving wasn’t held first as had been planned. Instead, the competition began with training sessions for the static apnea discipline.

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To be sure, Johanna went over the start signals with the team again and again.

If the signals were given even slightly incorrectly, it was quite likely that a competition performance would not be successful.

Upon surfacing from a dive, it’s important to consider the depth of the pool. Here it was possible to position stands at the bottom of the pool.

The equipment was checked and the pool appeared suitable for the competition.

The Team Finland was quite satisfied with the organizer’s competition preparations.

The Russian team, with its members’ gold colored suits, was certainly one of the favorites for the entire competition.

Everyone waited with excitement for the start of the competition.

Cornelius Frisendorf from Germany.

Pedro Santana from Portugal helping out.

John Wright from New Zealand was in attendance as one of the judges.

Grant Graves.

Robert King acting as a judge.

The safety divers are ready.

On the training days, they also go over the most important safety related procedures prior to the start of the actual competition.

Team Finland’s static competition strategy is ready.

All the specific points are now firmly engrained in memory.

It is very difficult for one person to time three divers at the same time.

It all looks good.

In the pool disciplines, the Finns are definitely one of the top 3 teams.

Oxygenation level measurements are a part of Team Finland’s preparations.

It is interesting to monitor changes in heart rate during a breath-hold.

TEAM FINLAND MIKKO PÖNTINEN

2014

MIKKO PĂ–NTINEN To me, freediving is an exciting and educational journey, which has allowed me to see places that few people have ever been too, I have also had the privilege of experiencing things and emotions that few people would ever have a chance to experience in normal everyday life.

I’m OK.

MIKKO PÖNTINEN One of the most special freediving experiences that I’ve ever had was diving without a rope in the waters of the Dominica, along the vertical wall of the crater of an old undersea volcano. The wall extended down for several hundred meters. It was an absolutely amazing feeling to freefall along it while watching its surface pass me by as I glided into the depths.

I’m 26 years of age and I study in Helsinki, but I’ve lived in a place called Kouvola for most of my life. That is also where I still often go for pool training on the weekends with my local diving club, the ‘Vesikot’. Even though I’ve participated in diving and snorkeling from a young age, the first time I actually heard about freediving wasn’t until 2006 when I saw the world famous magician David Blaine’s documentary ‘Drowned Alive’. It showed him trying to break the world static breath-hold record, which at the time was 8 minutes and 58 seconds. I was sold! I immediately began training in dry static apnea, as well as searching on the internet for information about freediving. I soon found the website of the Freediving Team of Finland, via which I gained my first experiences in the sport. I participated in the team’s training camp, which included an introductory course for beginners.

There were some divers from my own town at the camp, so I began training with them at their club’s weekly pool training sessions. The decision to start my competitive freediving career began was made easier as the Finnish Championships were to be held in Kouvola the following spring. I guess I really had no other choice than to take part!

I’ve had no other experience in competitive sports, but in water related disciplines, I’ve participated in snorkeling activities via a diving club with a friend of mine when I was younger, as well as attended one competitive swimming course. In addition, I’ve also participated in judo, as well as some other martial arts disciplines. Even some skateboarding and parkour! My father has done a lot of snorkeling and so it’s possible that my interest in freediving could’ve gained its original spark from the snorkeling trips I did as a child.

In Finland, due to the rather harsh outside weather conditions for most of the year, it’s almost necessary to focus mainly on the pool disciplines, as the conditions for depth diving are quite limited. Even when it’s possible to go depth diving, the window of opportunity is quite short, in fact, only a few months each year. I’ve spent the last few years training mainly in the length swimming or dynamic apnea disciplines.

However, last summer I focused more on depth diving and static apnea training. My training varies from just one, but even up to 10 training sessions per week. It has all 74

depended on the phase of training, not to mention the demands of everyday life.

Each of the freediving disciplines has its own special characteristics and so it’s difficult to choose just one favorite.

My strongest discipline has been dynamic apnea with fins, but perhaps because of that, I’ve now wanted to start focusing more on the other disciplines, in which I have much more room for improvement. Last summer, I found a good way to practice static apnea, and even my depth diving abilities began to improve more than ever as a consequence.

My first freediving competition was the Finnish National Championships in 2007, the ones that were held in my hometown of Kouvola. The competition went quite well, especially considering that I’d only been training in the sport for just half a year or so. I achieved a silver medal in the dynamic apnea without fins discipline and even momentarily held the Finnish record at 117 meters. Perhaps even nicer than the result was getting the opportunity to meet other freedivers. Getting to know the more experienced freedivers was especially exciting, as I’d already followed their writings and results via the internet. Many of the freedivers that I met at that first competition have been my friends since. Over the years, we’ve had the chance to share our experiences from organizing and attending many local and overseas training camps and competitions together.

As a consequence of my good performances at those Finnish Championships, I made the national training squad.

This led to my participation at my first world championship level competition in Maribor, Slovenia, which was actually held later that same year. So, I was headed to the world championships with less than a year of training in freediving behind me! I think my results in Maribor were 112 meters in the dynamic apnea with fins (DNF) and 5 minutes and 37 seconds in the static apnea or breath-hold (STA), which certainly didn’t get me near the results of the top competitors. However, it was again a great and enjoyable experience to now get the chance to meet even more experienced freedivers from many different countries, and to observe their performances. I learned a lot from that competition, with the greatest lesson perhaps being to freedive according to how I felt. Through continued practice, I’ve learned to monitor the sensations and signs that occur at various stages during performances, and to then make more accurate decisions on when to surface and end my dives before risking a possible loss of consciousness. I now know that how I feel prior to a performance isn’t an accurate indicator of what will happen during a dive. Thus, the setting of definite, high-level goals can be quite detrimental to the performances themselves, as doing that tends to cause undue anxiety and stress. Also, should such a goal be reached, it may be too easy to end the performance early,

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rather than to continue on should sufficient oxygen still remain to push a bit further.

Best results:

On the other hand, if I happened to not being feeling so great on a particular competition day, or if I’d overestimated my fitness level, it could possibly push me to try harder than I should, which then could easily lead to a loss of consciousness. After the world championships in Maribor, I’ve always tried to perform my maximal performance according to how I feel, regardless of the distance or time.

My best competition results are as follows:

Since 2007, I’ve participated in 8 Finnish Championships and 9 World Championships. In addition to being a competitor, I also became a freediving instructor and competition judge, although I haven’t done much judging as I’ve usually been in the pool competing. However, I’ve had the chance to conduct freediving training courses much more. I now also act as the Finnish Diving Federation’s freediving committee’s national team representative. I’ve learned a lot and hopefully I have also been able to give something back to the sport.

Constant weight: 85 meters with fins and 50 meters without fins

Dynamic apnea with fins: 254 meters (and 261 meters with a few penalty points).

Dynamic apnea without fins: 181 meters Static apnea: 7 minutes 34 seconds

During training, I’ve actually achieved even better results. In dynamic apnea without fins I’ve achieved 184 meters, 8 minutes 1 second in static apnea (but 8 minutes 44 seconds while lying in bed!), as well as 87 meters in constant weight.

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DEVELOPMENT OF FREEDIVING Training in freediving in Finland, as well as elsewhere around the world, has become much more organized over the years. As a consequence, the standard of the results in freediving has also increased radically, and it will continue to improve significantly, at least in the near future. When I started freediving in the Finnish championships, a 150 meter dynamic apnea with fins was a really good result. Even the world record at the time was only a little more than 200 meters. Now, results greater than 200 meters are achieved quite often even at the Finnish championships, with the world record now already approaching 300 meters.

Perhaps the greatest change in training methods has been the preparation routines prior to long dynamic apnea dives.

Previously, almost every freediver performed multiple short and middle distance warm-up dives prior to maximal dive attempts. The idea has been to gradually prepare the body for the dive, as well as to activate the diving reflex. This approach seemed to be supported by the fact that dives felt

much more comfortable and easier after the performance of several warm-up dives. Now, however, the understanding is that warm-up dives only dull the diving reflex and the feeling that dives are easier is probably a result of changes in the blood’s buffer components. The diving reflex is a survival reflex, which gets activated more strongly when the face is suddenly submerged underwater. In competition situations, the reflex is at its strongest when long dives are performed without warm-up dives. The strength of the reflex can be maximized by diving without goggles, as well as by entering the water only shortly prior to the start of the dive. By using this approach, the body is confronted with a much greater ‘shock’ leading the diving reflex to be activated much more strongly. Almost all of the world’s top freedivers now perform their competition dynamic apnea dives without any warm-ups dives.

In static apnea, the performance of warm-ups is still quite common, as the strength of the diving reflex is not as significant a factor as the amount of muscle work is almost non existent during the performance. Due to this, a strong diving reflex isn’t able to reduce the amount of oxygen used by the muscles, as it appears to do in dynamic apnea.

Warm-up dives are also still commonly performed in the depth diving disciplines, so that the lungs are stretched somewhat and become used to the changes in pressure prior to attempting deeper competition dives. However, the 77

performance of deep dives without warm-ups dives doesn’t need to be ruled at as a valid and effective approach. It can be speculated whether warm-ups dives actually do help with stretching of the lungs, or whether the maximization of the diving reflex, as for the dynamic apnea, is also a safe approach in relation to the lungs. It’s possible that during the first dive, the blood shift, which protects the lungs, may be at its strongest.

When I started freediving, I didn’t train very systematically at all. I mainly trained my swimming technique for the performance of dynamic apnea without fins, occasionally attempting some longer dives. I didn’t really perform any other training and I just focused on performing comfortable dives, as well as some apnea walking. In the beginning, my results improved without much effort, and I was able to achieve over 100 meter dives after just a few months of training. The sport really began for me with the start of dry static apnea training, in which I improved, now that I look back on it, very quickly. I was able to go over 5 minutes, and then even over 6 minutes, within just a few weeks. My goal was to just learn something new. I didn’t at all intend to start a competitive career in freediving, at least not prior to my first Finnish Championships.

My training volume has varied quite greatly, from just a few times per week up to even 10 training sessions. During my first year in freediving, my training volume was quite

moderate, since I didn’t train systematically. In 2008, I began to plan my training a bit more, as well as to include a base training phase, which included a lot of running. This more planned approach to training lead to me winning several Finnish championships, as well as achieving good performances at the team world championships held in Egypt. At that competition, I broke 200 meters in the dynamic apnea with fins for the first time. I broke the 7 minute barrier in static apnea for the first time also.

Due to a number of different factors, my training volumes during the following years have varied quite markedly within the different training phases. However, there hasn’t really been too much difference in my total yearly training volumes.

For example, during the spring and summer of 2014, my training volume was quite high in preparation for both the Finnish and World Championships. However, during the autumn following the world championships, my training volume was relatively low as there were no major upcoming competitions, and my university studies also took up much more of my time than normal. My main motivation to go out and train is the desire to learn and improve. In addition to competitive freediving, improving my general health and wellbeing also motivates me to do basic cardiovascular and muscular endurance training.

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TRAINING At the moment, my training approach incorporates a number of different forms of conditioning, which include aerobic, anaerobic, apnea, and muscle conditioning exercises. In my opinion, all of them support and complement each other. I like to think that each of them is a building block and all of them are needed to build a high tower. If too much focus is placed on just one block, with little training in the others, the resulting tower, that is, the competition results, won’t be very high. It is much easier to build a higher tower by working on several building blocks, and in so doing, allow it to keep upright much better.

The first building block is aerobic conditioning. It isn’t directly beneficial for freediving, in fact too much of it can be detrimental as the body learns to use as much oxygen as possible in the production of energy. In freediving, the use of the least amount of oxygen is desired and so, as a consequence, allow the available oxygen to last for as long as possible. However, aerobic conditioning is important as it creates a base for the entire tower, and when the base is strong, more can be built on it using larger building blocks.

Aerobic training creates a greater capacity to perform more intensive anaerobic and sports specific training, as well as to improve the ability to recover faster and more effectively from training sessions. Aerobic training includes all long lasting, lower intensity disciplines such as running, swimming, and swimming with fins.

The second building block is anaerobic conditioning. In aerobic conditioning, energy is produced with the aid of oxygen, but in anaerobic conditioning, energy is produced without oxygen. During freediving, the majority of muscle work is performed anaerobically, during which oxygen is consumed more slowly and conserved for use by the brain.

Anaerobic training is directly beneficial to freediving and it can be classified in two categories, the creatine-phosphate and the lactate energy production pathways. The creatine-phosphate pathway is the muscles rapid energy production mechanism, which doesn’t use any oxygen at all.

The maximization of this mechanism is desirable for better freediving performances. This energy mechanism can be trained with, for example, short sprints, which are performed at 100% intensity, as well as maximal weight training, such as 5 sets of 5 repetitions using heavy weights. I perform compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts and bench presses for this purpose. In my opinion, the performance of shorts series, such as the 5x5, is good for freediving as it mainly develops strength, while the performance of series of 8-12 repetitions tends to mainly build muscle size. Shorts 79

sets lead more to improved strength while longer sets lead to greater muscle size.

The other anaerobic energy pathway is the lactate system.

When the creatine-phosphate source is exhausted, and when sufficient oxygen isn’t available, the muscle shifts to utilizing the process of anaerobic glycolysis for the production of energy, which results in the production of lactic acid. Lactic acid accumulates in the body until it can be broken down with the aid of oxygen. When it accumulates to higher levels, it is experienced as the burning sensation felt in the muscles. The efficient production of lactic acid, and the ability to withstand high levels of it, are essential factors in the performance of long dives. At the end of long dynamic apnea dives, my thigh muscles have been so affected by lactic acid that kicking with my fins has barely been possible and certainly very painful. At this point, the ability to withstand high levels of lactic acid is crucial. Some good conditioning methods include performing longer sprints and sprint-intervals, as well as longer sets of muscle conditioning exercises, for example, up to 20 repetitions per set.

The third building block is technique training. If you want to get as far as possible with your car on one tank of fuel, it’s a good idea to have a really large fuel tank. However, regardless of the size of the tank, the main thing to focus on is using the least amount of fuel to go any given distance, that is, it is important to focus on efficiency. In freediving,

oxygen consumption can be minimized with a more efficient diving technique. The aim is to move forward using the least amount of muscular effort possible. This can be achieved by moving forward with an optimal balance between propulsive effort and general body relaxation, as water resistance increases as a square of the diver’s speed or velocity, as well as by not performing any wasteful, unnecessary movements. In technique training, it’s beneficial to analyze the techniques of good freedivers, such as with the aid of videos where you compare your own technique to theirs.

Various kinds of drills can be used effectively for the improvement of diving technique. However, above all, the performance of lots of short dives, where there is absolute focus on proper technique, is required for improvement.

Stretching and general flexibility training can also be considered a part of technique training, as it results in the improvement of the ranges of motion of joints, as well as the efficiency of movements in general.

The fourth building block is specific apnea conditioning.

This can be divided into several sub-categories, which are carbon dioxide tolerance, oxygen deficit tolerance, dive reflex maximization and depth adaptation.

Carbon dioxide tolerance is an important factor, especially when first starting out in freediving, as it is often the main thing limiting the ability to dive further. Carbon dioxide is responsible for triggering the feeling that you need to return 80

to the surface and breathe. This is not a feeling that can ever be completely eliminated, but it is possible to get used to it.

Freedivers learn to let it become just another part of what is experienced during a dive, and so is no longer experienced as such an uncomfortable sensation, as it was when beginning in the sport. Carbon dioxide tolerance can be trained using different kinds of so called ‘apnea tables’, as well as interval training. I personally recommend doing series of 25 meter dives, in between which a certain, limited number of breaths are taken. I perform lots of long series with a monofin where I only breathe once or twice between repetitions. In the beginning, you can start with even 8 breaths and just a few hundred meters of diving in total. As you improve, you can lengthen the total distance and reduce the number of breaths you take between repetitions. My own personal best when taking just one breath between the 25 meter dive repetitions, in other words one exhale and inhale at the end of the pool, is 500 meters. When taking two breaths, my best result is 1250 meters. Without a fin, a few more breaths are required. I personally take three or four.

Carbon dioxide tolerance can also be trained with apnea walking and static apnea training.

Oxygen deficit tolerance can be trained to a certain degree. In other words, it is possible to teach the brain to remain alert and conscious with a smaller amount of oxygen.

This aspect improves mainly with the performance of maximal dives and it’s quite difficult to train separately. High

altitude training camps are certainly an option, but they mainly train only low to moderate oxygen deficit tolerance, resulting in only a temporary increase in haemoglobin levels.

The so-called ‘oxygen tables’ can also be performed, which, in practice, involves the performance of several almost maximal dives. However, they are very demanding both psychologically as well as physically.

Training of the (mammalian) diving reflex is a very sports specific skill, and is probably the most important one of all. A strong diving reflex is clearly the most important factor that affects the length of a maximal freedive. According to my own tests, a weak or absent diving reflex can, at its worst, even reduce the length of a dive by half compared to when a very strong dive reflex is able to be activated. This is due to a strong dive reflex greatly limiting the amount of blood flow to the extremities during a dive, which, as a consequence, limits the amount of oxygen consumed by the working muscles. Thus, the muscles are better able to work anaerobically, and so saving the available oxygen for the brain. As a result, a longer dive is achieved. Other effects include a marked slowing of the heart rate and a rise in blood pressure. If the reflex is not working properly, the blood is able to flow freely to the working muscles, resulting in the muscles being able to produce energy aerobically by using the oxygen carried in the blood. This results in the oxygen being consumed more rapidly, and a much shorter than desired dive. The strength of the diving reflex can be 81

estimated by the concentration of lactic acid in the muscles at the end of a dive. The higher the concentration, the stronger the reflex. If there is little or no increase in lactic acid concentration, it’s a clear indication that there is lots of room for improvement. Some good methods for strengthening the diving reflex include doing longer dives without warm-ups, as well as diving without using goggles.

Another very effective method is to perform no warm-up dives with half empty lungs (FRC). This is achieved by allowing a passive exhale just prior to the start of a dive. This really teaches the body to conserve oxygen, as there simply is less oxygen available for the dive. An even more challenging method is to enter the water at FRC and perform 45-60 second long static apneas before then immediately performing a long dive without taking a breath in between.

My own personal best using this method is a 154 meter dynamic apnea with fins after a 1 minute long static apnea.

Depth adaptation is an important aspect when training depth diving, and involves getting the lungs used to significant changes in pressure. Improvement in the pool disciplines is typically much more rapid that in the depth diving disciplines as getting the lungs used to pressure changes is a long and difficult process for many people.

Problems occur when a competitive freediver who is already performing at a high level in the pool disciplines wants to quickly improve their depth diving performances. This often leads to a situation where the diver’s lungs are not able to

adapt quickly enough, resulting in injuries leading to bleeding into the lungs. This is, of course, a major health risk factor, and it’s possible to even die from such injuries. However, with a gradual increase in the depths achieved, this situation can be avoided. An easy way to understand this is to compare it with doing the splits. Being able to do the splits takes a long time and is achieved with regular stretching sessions done with gradually more difficult exercises. Trying to dive too deep too fast is like trying to perform the splits too forcefully, with the end result being severe muscle tears. In depth diving, the risk is increased further as the lungs do not have pain receptors to provide any feedback about impending injury. In muscles, on the other hand, pain receptors exist to provide feedback that the muscle is being stretched too far. Thus, it is much easier to damage the lungs with depth diving than it is to damage the muscles by performing the splits because of this inbuilt safety mechanism. Depth adaptation is trained by the performance of a sufficient number of shallow dives where you gradually add a little more depth on each successive dive. Relaxation is also important in all the freediving disciplines, but it’s especially important in depth diving. In Finnish conditions, which are often very cold and dark, and therefore also potentially more anxiety, even fear, eliciting, being able to relax is crucial. An increased level of anxiety leads to a general increase in muscle tension and, as a consequence, an increase in the risk of pressure related injuries and ear 82

equalization problems. When depth and relaxation have already been achieved, FRC (passive exhale) and RV (active full exhale) exercises are especially effective in relation to the stretching of the lungs. However, it is important to progress very carefully and gently with this kind of training to avoid potential injury. My own personal bests are a 40 meter depth dive at FRC and a 25 meter dive at RV. The flexibility of the lungs can also be improved with different kinds of (dry land) stretching exercises. When going to depth, the ability to perform the equalization techniques properly also becomes important. This includes understanding and mastering the frenzel and mouth fill techniques.

The body’s oxygen stores can also be thought of as a sports specific characteristic. The greater the stores, the more available ‘fuel’ there is and, as a consequence, the longer the dive that can be achieved. The body’s oxygen stores are mainly the lungs and the blood. The volume of the lungs can, to some degree, be increased with stretching, as well as by a technique called ‘packing’, but their potential health effects are not yet fully understood. Thus, it is best to practice them very carefully. The same key principle that applies to depth diving also applies to the stretching of the lungs and packing.

That is, regular and gradual progression is required to improve safely. The blood’s oxygen stores, which are basically the blood’s haemoglobin, can be affected with certain methods. Apnea training can be used to increase the body’s erythropoietin (EPO) levels, which leads to a

stimulation of haemoglobin production. This can also be achieved by, for example, staying at high altitude camps.

Sufficient levels of iron, as well as other minerals and vitamins, are important when training for freediving. A certain amount of oxygen is stored in the muscle’s myoglobin. For example, the myoglobin of marine mammals and penguins is a large store of oxygen. In humans, it is still unclear whether the amount of myoglobin can be increased with training and how it might possible cause any effect.

The fifth building block is mental training and conditioning.

Regardless of how good the physical condition of an athlete might be, if they cannot handle the pressure of competition situations, it won’t be possible to achieve optimal results. The mental aspect is emphasized in freediving even more, especially in the depth and static apnea disciplines. Mental training methods include, for example, visualization exercises, self-hypnosis and self-suggestion, as well as meditation. Visualization exercises are always useful, but especially effective in freediving. I have personally tried self-suggestion and meditation. Suggestion and the associated techniques are a broad category, which covers many aspects of human experience, such as the placebo effect, which is seen, for example, with medicines. The active ingredients in medicines certainly result in chemical effects, but the additional benefit of a person thinking or believing that a medicine will help can result in greater benefits than can be explained by the chemical effects alone. It has been 83

shown that just giving a pill containing no active ingredients can still result in a benefit, if the person taking it simply believes it will help. The degree of benefit all depends on what the person believes the pill will do. This explains to a degree the efficacy of many alternative treatment methods.

For this reason, there always needs to be a placebo group, in addition to the actual test group, in all medical or clinical trials. An effective medicine is defined as one which works significantly better than the placebo alone. The strength of the placebo effect depends on the individual. Some people are very sensitive and can experience very strong physical effects from pills and treatments, which don’t actually contain anything, if they just believe them to be real. Like the placebo, sensitivity to suggestion techniques depends on the person, with some people being more sensitive than others, while some people cannot be influenced at all. An extreme example of suggestion is that a sufficiently sensitive people can me made to believe that they don’t feel any pain at all, and so can even be operated on without the use of any anaesthetic agents. Those sensitive to suggestion and hypnosis can find benefit from those methods in freediving. If it’s possible to make yourself believe that a pill containing only sugar can act as a very strong pain-relieving agent, then surely it is also easy to make yourself believe that you feel relaxed, calm and confident before a competitive performance, even though you might normally be very nervous. With successful self-suggestion, it is possible to

make yourself achieve a more comfortable, enjoyable and relaxed trance-like state of mind, or to experience the discomfort or pain from high levels of carbon dioxide and the associated strong diaphragmatic contractions, as being pleasant for the duration of an important freediving performance.

Another effective method to achieving an optimal state of mind for freediving is meditation, especially the mindfulness technique. Nothing mystic needs to be associated with meditation and it can just be considered as a simple exercise for learning how to more deeply monitor the mind’s activities.

There are many good meditation exercises, but one that is especially suited to freediving is the non-judgemental awareness exercise. It involves the monitoring of any thoughts and signals from the body that come to the mind and then simply being aware of, and acknowledging, them as just thoughts and sensations, but without making any judgements about them or associating any emotions with them. This technique works well in static apnea, in which there is lots of time to experience many thoughts and bodily sensations. When the diaphragmatic contractions begin, and things start to get uncomfortable, it is easy to see the associated sensations as being bad, which leads to the performance as being experienced as a fight against pain or discomfort. This is mentally very stressful and performing in that state of mind demands very high levels of motivation. It is easy to change your thoughts to considerations of the 84

future, such as “I still need to go another three minutes and it already feels really bad.� Thoughts such as this only serve to further increase the levels of stress and tension associated with the performance. With meditation, the freediver can learn to just monitor the contractions and associated sensations as neutral signals given off by the body and to not allow them to become associated with discomfort or pain. In this way, it is much easier to stay in the moment and avoid thinking about the future and how bad the sensations will become.

When creating a training plan, it is important to consider all the various building blocks that make up a complete and effective approach to training. It is also important to think about the important aspects to focus on during the different training phases, including what the most effective training methods for achieving optimal results might be. They need to be timed correctly without forgetting to allow sufficient time for recovery. Easier said than done!

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COMPETITIONS The flipside to the rise in Finland’s freediving level in competitions has been a decrease in the number of participants. Even though the top Finnish freedivers continue to improve and excel, I would still like to see more beginners participating in local competitions, including the Finnish National Championships. Many of the highlights of my diving career have been the competitions, but not because of the medals or records.

Instead, I have enjoyed them mostly because of the time and experiences that I’ve been able to share with other freedivers. Especially as a beginner, I learned so much more from the competitions than from any diving course, online discussion forum or book. Experienced freedivers are willing to freely share their ideas and to provide hints and suggestions on how to improve. They really are great pearls of wisdom for beginners and less experienced divers.

Even though an individual has decided to only take part in freediving for the fun and enjoyment of it, as opposed to pursuing a competitive career, it is still a good idea to take part in competitions occasionally, even just one time,

because there is so much to be gained. Missing out on the competition experience would be a real shame. In freediving competitions, the focus is actually more on competing against yourself rather than against others. One’s own competition performance teaches you a lot about yourself and your approach to the demands of the competitive situation, including your approach to preparing for your dives. Knowing that a competition is coming up also helps to motivate you to train more diligently and smarter. It motivates you to continue to learn and develop, and when you do put the effort in, you will earn the right to enjoy and gain great satisfaction from your improved performances, which includes achieving results that previously you believed to be impossible.

When my own depth diving record was 40 meters and my best static breath-hold time was 5 minutes, I was able to perform much more enjoyable and fun recreational freedives as compared to when my depth dive level was at 15 meters and my static breath-hold was at 2 minutes. My main personal goal is to just keep learning and developing. It’s my greatest source of motivation to participate in the sport. At the point you stop learning, you stop improving. As a result, it will become increasing difficult to maintain your motivation to train, or even be involved in the entire sport anymore. No one knows yet exactly what the best way to train is in freediving. The scientific community is still rather ignorant about the physiology of freediving by humans. There are 86

certainly still many discoveries to be made. I personally still have lots of room for improvement in all the disciplines, but especially in depth diving. If I had to set some specific goals, then I would say the following. For static apnea (STA) my goal is 8 minutes 30 seconds, 200 meters for dynamic apnea without fins (DNF), 275 meters for dynamic apnea with fins (DYN), 100 meters in depth diving with fins (CWT), and 80 meters depth dive without fins (CNF). I’m sure those goals will keep me busy for many years to come!

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CHALLENGE I challenge all freedivers to compete with me in the pool this year. The goal is to do a 50 meter dynamic apnea without fins as fast as possible. The fastest time wins.

Video your performance and post it on the elinaandjohanna.com Facebook page at http://facebook.com/elinaandjohanna.

A really great prize awaits the winner 88

STATIC

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Static competition day. First in line is Mikko PÜnttinen in the morning’s first group.

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The first competitors are preparing, as is the team of safety divers.

The judges go through some last minute points before the start of the competition.

Johanna drives Mikko to the competition area, while Mikko performs his final warm-up dive.

Andrea Zuccari is also in the house!

Mikko Pรถntinen. Soon the countdown will begin.

The first dives of the competition are underway. It’s just so exciting!

Mikko’s performance is going really well.

We wait to see what color card the judge will hold up.

7 minutes 10 seconds is a really great result!

It’s all good, a white card.

The other divers and Team Finland wait for the next performances.

Next in line is Antero Joki.

Johanna assists Antero in his warm-up.

Antero’s wife Katya coaches Antero during his performance.

Everything looks good.

Grant and John judge Antero’s performance.

6 minutes 16 seconds. A great result for Antero!

Mandy Sumner and Kurt Chambers, Team USA.

Hirose Hanako concentrating on her performance.

Goran Colak preparing.

Soon it will be Mikko Anttonen’s time to dive.

Tsuneo Uchida warming up.

The judges have been doing a very precise job all day.

Daan Verhoeven and Den GC are ready to video and photograph the performances underwater.

It’s a hot day. The coach makes sure that everything is ok with Team Finland.

Team Sweden getting ready. Linda Stenman and Sofia Tapani.

Natalia Molchanova. The best in the world.

It’s Mikko Anttonen’s turn to head to the warm-up area.

Johanna gives the signal at the agreed moments.

Mikko concentrates by listening to music.

Still a few seconds to go to the start.

Pedro Santana has completed his performance.

Natalia Molchanova getting prepared. This dive will be exciting to watch!

The competition day has been really exciting.

Mikko Anttonen arrives at the competition area.

Johanna gives the last signals before the start.

Everything goes well.

Mikko’s time is 6 minutes 9 seconds.

Even the judge wants to listen to a little music. A successful performance earns a white card!

The entire Finnish team has performed very, very well!

The static competition is over for Team Finland with everyone getting a white card. After the first day of competition, Team Finland is in fifth position.

TEAM FINLAND MIKKO ANTTONEN

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MIKKO ANTTONEN Freediving incorporates many of the things that I enjoy in life. Competing gives me the opportunity for meeting new challenges and developing myself. At the same time, the element of water offers a tranquil and relaxing environment, in which I can experience some unbelievable things.

I'm OK.

MIKKO ANTTONEN While I have always been drawn to the element of water, I only discovered freediving just a few years ago through taking part in scuba diving. At our diving club, the Kuopio Sports Divers, we were thinking about what new activities could be included in our pool training sessions, and so I decided to start doing some freediving activities, something which was totally unknown to us. The sport really captured my imagination and interest and virtually replaced my scuba diving activities completely, as I didn’t have time for both.

I enjoy almost everything associated with freediving. I swim, dive, fish, compete and relax. The most important aspect for me is the element of water itself, which I can’t really explain any better that to just say that it is. Anyone who shares this feeling knows what I’m talking about. Another attractive aspect in freediving certainly must be the fact that it challenges you both mentally and physically. That’s something that motivates me to always try harder.

Performances in freediving are, perhaps surprisingly, associated with being able to be more relaxed rather than trying harder. Good performances are not possible without

being mentally and physically relaxed. Being in that state also leads to some really enjoyable and great experiences.

These experiences can be achieved in not only recreational freediving, but also in competitions. Even though competition situations can be stressful, and it can be hard not to get at least a little nervous prior to a performance, my competition dives have been my best ones. An enjoyable dive combined with the feeling of success is an absolutely amazing feeling.

I was born in 1977 and I’m still very much a Kuopio homeboy. I moved to Kuopio when I was 16 to study biotechnology, which is something that I’ve now been involved in to the present day. I started my career as a researcher at Kuopio University even before I officially graduated. I certainly spent a lot of time and energy in the depths of the laboratory while preparing my doctoral thesis.

After earning my PhD, my approach to work changed rather significantly. Doing my doctoral thesis was certainly very interesting. It was a real personal and creative effort, which to me is the best thing about research. However, the projects since then have not elicited the same level of interest or satisfaction due mainly to the many general changes that have occurred in the research world. As I ended up having more time for other things, I decided to participate in a beginner’s course organized by the Kuopio Sports Divers Club in 2007. Diving and water have always fascinated and interested me since I was small and scuba diving immediately captured my imagination and interest. Diving 137

itself is really fascinating and exciting, as well as relaxing. In addition, I also found the club’s general activities to be really enjoyable. I quickly ended up on the club’s committee and being responsible for various club duties. When I started diving with the Kuopio Sports Divers, the club’s only main activity was scuba diving, which done mostly during the summer open water season. The winter months seemed to be spent waiting for the ice to melt, although there was the occasional overseas diving trip. During the winter season, I really missed not doing any diving related activities and so when the club’s committee received a few enquiries about freediving, I decided to organize some freediving related activities in the spring of 2009.

Freediving activities in our club began as an additional activity to scuba diving and, to be honest, we perhaps didn’t really have 100% drive to organize regular activities in it. I think we maybe reinvented the wheel a bit too much when we tried to create and develop our own freediving activities, even though there was already assistance on offer from the outside. The greatest help at the time came from the Freediving Team of Finland. They were more than willing to support our activities. The FDTF was originally established to develop and advance freediving activities in Finland. As a result of the efforts of the FDTF, the sport of freediving has continued to grow in Finland from the early 2000s to the present day. Last year, our activities received a real shot in the arm. During our own activities in the early years, a

generational change in the FDTF was occurring. This led to a period of uncertainty, but now the level of activity has once again been strong as we continue to develop the organization activities. Via the FDTF, we offer information about freediving on the organization’s website, as well as the organization of training camps, which also allow participants to get to know other freedivers from all around Finland. In addition, the FDTF organize beginner courses all around the country.

Alongside the FDTF, the Finnish Diving Federation has been a very supportive factor in relation to the increased growth in the organization’s activities in recent years. The federation is responsible for organizing freediving activities in Finland, including competition and national team activities, as well as the organization of freediving courses. For the last 2 years, I have worked in the federation’s freediving committee’s leadership. Our main aim has been to actively promote freediving to everyone via various channels, as well as to offer freediving activities around the country, including the development of freediving education and courses, and working towards increasing the number of qualified instructors in Finland. The committee is there to support member clubs of the Finnish Diving Federation. We strive to do our best to guide them in getting freediving activities started in their hometowns.

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Our own club’s freediving activities commenced with the help of the FDTF, which organized a freediving introductory course for us. In addition, we researched the sport via the internet to get more information about training methods. In the beginning, we managed to form a fairly large and excited group of divers with me being responsible for sharing information about training with them. We also organized some small competitions, as well as playing some underwater sports rugby. Interest in the freediving activities was maintained for quite a while and we even organized our own introductory events for new participants.

include activities for juniors, which will be integrated as a part of the general freediving activities. Junior participants will, in this way, be able to learn and improve their freediving skills under the guidance of experienced and qualified instructors.

As I increased the intensity of my own participation in the sport, I had less time for leading the activities, which ended up being a bad thing for my club. Participants interested in community based social activities are after exactly that, a social and recreational community to take part in a fun sport.

An intensive, goal driven approach to training didn’t seem to suit that very well. After a few years, things have lead to a situation where only those wanting to focus mainly on their own performances were to be found at the pool. However, freediving can still be a community based social activity where a group coach can conduct the activities or training sessions. This creates an environment and atmosphere that is important for many participants. This is something that we have discussed in the freediving committee and something that will be focused on more as we continue to develop the sport. Our future vision is that freediving activities will also 139

FREEDIVING We started regular freediving activities and introductions to the sport with a large group. Gradually we accumulated more valuable information from the internet, and the introductory freediving sessions conducted by Kimmo Lahtinen were also a great help.

Perhaps the most significant source of information was the DVD by the Molchanovas, which we watched over and over again as we worked to develop our diving techniques.

In the spring of 2010, I guess quite surprisingly, I found myself as the secretary of the Freediving Team of Finland, which seemed to end up being a very significant role in the growth of the sport. At the same time, I participated in the AIDA2 –course, which formed a basis for open water training. Then, in the summer, I spent a lot of time in the clear waters of an old abandoned mine, where I was accompanied by Jaakko Pasanen. He had found out about freediving in Tampere and was able to provide me with valuable guidance in open water diving. I also participated in the Asikkala training camp for the first time in July, which was my first shared experience with other freedivers.

After the summer of 2010, the sport of freediving had reached the state that it currently finds itself in. My first competition was the 2011 Finnish National Championships, which were held at the Espoonlahti swimming complex. It was a really enjoyable experience. There were a lot of familiar faces present, freedivers who I had met earlier at the summer training camp and at the courses run by Kimmo Lahtinen. They had all prepared well for the competition. My performances went as I had planned and I even won a bronze medal in my first freediving competition.

The next competition was held in Kuopio in the spring of 2012 where I actually was the event organizer. Unfortunately, my performances didn’t go so well as I think I just tried to go too hard. However, the organization of the competition went well and a few Finnish national records were achieved, which were also good enough to be near the top of the world rankings that year. That experience increased my desire to train and compete even more and I started to dream about making the Finnish national team and participating in the world championships.

In the autumn, I started to train very systematically. My main goal was the world pool championships, which were to be held in the summer of 2013. A part of my plan was to attend my first international competition in Riga in February, 2013.

After the Riga competition, the final phase in the selection for the national team was to take part in the Finnish National 140

Championships in Paimio, for which I was also one of the organizers in my role as the Finnish Diving Federation’s freediving representative. I succeeded in winning a silver medal and so my specific preparations for the world championships were now able to begin.

The world championships were held in Belgrade, Serbia. The event was an excellent introduction to elite international level freediving. My performances ended up being at the best of my abilities, but I was unable to quite achieve perfect results due to a few small mistakes. Similar to the first Finnish championships, my desire to myself organize an event of this standard was sparked, and those preparations are actually underway at the moment.

My last freediving season (2013-2014) was the most intense, and both the most unsuccessful and successful at the same time. My break from working life had given me the opportunity to focus more on the sport and training.

However, I ended up making some mistakes, including trying too hard, which led to physical exhaustion and poorer than expected performances at competitions. There were some successes too, since I ended up competing at 12 events both in Finland and overseas.

things about freediving. The competitions have been nerve wracking and panic-filled, yet at the same time also very exciting and calming experiences. They have allowed me to experience some unbelievable successes. It has been an amazing and emotional trip so far, and I look forward to experiencing much more of the same in the future.

My best results are: DYN 212 meters DNF 157 meters STA 6 minutes 49 seconds CWT 55 meters FIM 43 meters.

Throughout the years, with all the competitions and other freediving related activities, we have experienced a lot of growth in our own freediving family. Through the sport, I have gained many new friends, which has been one of the best 141

BECOMING AN ATHLETE From a very young age I have participated in sports, including swimming, cycling, skiing, jogging, weight training, as well as judo, in which I participated competitively as a teenager. I don’t remember ever having considered myself as an athlete, which may be a result of how the sports were organized for us at the time. There was no real athlete coaching at my own judo club and the training wasn’t very systematically organized. I gave up judo after my teenage years, but I continued to actively participate in skiing and weight training up until the beginning of my work career, but mainly just to keep fit and healthy. The challenges of work, with its long days, left little energy for sporting activities. This phase continued until work demands eased enough to allow more free time, and that is when I found freediving.

The summer of 2010 was a clear turning point in my freediving activities. Many things ended up combining fortuitously, and I found myself in a situation where my work

no longer offered me interesting projects. On the other hand, my character is such that I miss having challenges and goals to aim for in life. I become excited about challenging projects, which I then approach very comprehensively. I have great patience for long-term work, and challenges and problems do no worry me. Problems or challenges just mean that an issue needs to be approached in a different way. It reveals a point that still needs to be developed. In sport, it’s pretty much the same thing. Lots of hard work needs to be done to achieve the desired goals. Having goals provides motivation, but even more important is the enjoyment of the work you do to achieve those goals.

From the beginning of 2012, I became involved with the activities of the Finnish national team. Then, in the early spring of 2012, world champion freediver Goran Colak was invited to conduct a national team training camp. Goran’s training approach is very much based on the general training principles used in competitive sports. In his training sessions, it was very clear that the concept of not giving up was paramount, and I found that to be very inspirational. This approach opened up for me more sources from which to build my training program. There are many books on sports coaching and conditioning available, and so I started to design by training according to those principles. This approach was my first step towards identifying myself as a real athlete.

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The final phase in my competitive freediving career began in the autumn of 2012. The goal was the 2013 world championships and my training plan was very systematically designed for the winter season and scheduled around different competitions. The season started off very successfully, which lead to an increase in training volume, as well as acting as a great source of motivation to focus even more on achieving my goals. My desire to do well, to be better than the others, was really high. Success in the season’s competitions, and participation at the world championships, were great achievements and rewards from a successful training program.

During the summer of 2013, I took a break from work, which gave me the opportunity to train more intensively. The pool training season was preceded by a short open water season.

During this time, I began to systematically develop and improve my depth diving skills with the 2014 team world championships in mind, where one of the disciplines was depth diving. Of course depth diving has always been a part of my freediving right from the beginning, but due to the open water season in Finland being so short, including the often challenging conditions, as well as a lack of knowledge, I’d never really had the opportunity to further develop my depth diving skills as I’ve been able to do for the pool disciplines.

Also, my achievements in the summer of 2014 were rather unspectacular, but I did start the pool season with a high level of motivation and excitement.

My goal for the 2013 season had been to significantly improve my results through an increase in training volume, although still maintaining the same main training principles, which seemed to have worked well so far. I had lots of desire to train and my plans were even more specific and exact than previously. My training intensity was, however, too high and it lead to a state of overtraining related fatigue and prolonged illness. The end result was failure at several competitions where my results generally remained at the same level. However, on a positive note, the season did end up improving my mental strength and ability to deal with adversity, as well as increasing my understanding of many different things that I could apply in future training.

At the end of the pool season in the spring of 2014, it was an important time to take a break, although it ended up being just a short one as I made the national team for the team world championships, which were to be held in Sardinia. My selection in the team created a real challenge in relation to the depth diving discipline. My experiences from previous seasons had helped me in my training, and I was pleased to achieve some good results. The diving fitness base, which I had achieved from the pool season, also lasted well. So, after the depth diving season, it was easier to get my results back to a good level.

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For me, the world championships in Sardinia were perhaps the highlight of my competitive freediving career so far. At the moment, it’s difficult for me to say whether they were my most memorable or greatest competition experiences. The competition was, perhaps in terms of technical performances, the most successful. It was also the first time that I had competed in the depth diving discipline in the ocean at an official competition. Despite that, my performances were controlled and relaxed. While I did approach all aspects of competition preparation with 100% focus, it all did feel somewhat sterile at the same time. On the other hand, such high levels of commitment, discipline and focus are required to be successful at the world’s elite level. Thus, the achievement of a world championship bronze medal acted as a strong springboard for future training and competitions.

speed endurance conditioning, but which I modified to be more suitable for the demands of freediving. My next main goal is the 2015 pool world championships in Serbia. The location is the same as 2 years ago, and my specific goal is to make the B-final in both the dynamic apnea disciplines.

At this time, my identity is very much that of an athlete. I’m now shifting into the new training season, from the base training phase into the sports specific training phase. After learning from the mistakes of the previous training phase, I have reduced my training volume and intensity to a more suitable level, including ensuring that I allow sufficient recovery time. My base training phase included 5-6 weekly physical training sessions. My training program also included a few mental training sessions involving concentration and relaxation exercises. The majority of my training occurs in the water my training was based mainly on the principles of 144

THE FUTURE Freediving will definitely remain a part of my life for a long time to come. Participating in competitions will also be a part of it all, but I’m sure at some point I’ll compete less as I focus on other activities. Freediving is much more than about competing, and I enjoy all the other things just as much. For example, I have so much more to experience in spearfishing, as I do in just freediving alone. In the future, I hope that I’ll be able to dive in different overseas locations a lot more, and just for fun with the time and opportunity to wonder at the amazing life in the sea.

In addition my own diving, I’m also involved in many different administrative roles in the sport. The freediving committee in Finland, such as is the case with similar committees in other countries, is based mainly around the efforts of volunteers, people who are simply interested in freediving. As a community, we can create a pretty big thing from this important sport that we share together. I willingly take on various duties and many are also given. As I achieve a lot, it results in even more work being created. The duties are made more enjoyable because they are directly related to my own activities. Thus, it has made it possible for me to

continue to learn and improve at the same time. My last role has been in the Finnish Diving Federation’s freediving committee. The federation has about 12,000 members in the many different clubs around Finland. The aim of our activities is to create a framework for freediving activities for the benefit of the federation’s member clubs. The work includes the development of activities for juniors, the organization and coordination of courses and competitions, as well as the development of coaching practices and the training of instructors. It also requires a long-term strategy and lots of practical effort. It has been great to see the activities gradually develop.

Freediving can already be found as a small part of the overall activities offered by many diving clubs, with more clubs regularly becoming interested in getting freediving activities started for their members too. The main challenge has been the lack of resources to offer courses. However, according to the strategy, the amount of resources is increasing and we are close to bypassing one key factor that has been limiting the growth of these activities. The sport is clearly in a state of growth and we wish all the freedivers, both new and old, many safe dives in the future!

Never dive alone!

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The most important thing in freediving is safety. Safe diving practices are taught in the courses where the physiological rules affecting freediving are also covered.

In Finland, you can find out about courses via the Freediving Team of Finland website. The FDTF has members all around Finland and freediving activities can be found in many cities and towns. These activities may be a part of what is already offered by some scuba diving clubs, but the FDTF also offers their own pool training session times in some locations. The easiest way to get started in freediving is to just send a message to your local club that already offers freediving activities.

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CHALLENGE I ended the last big project in my life with the quote “Don’t panic!”, which is from Douglas Adams’ fantastic story. The freediving project is in no way coming to an end, but this quote can be taken a long way under the surface. Forward motion demands continued development, which is one of my duties in freediving.

I would like to challenge other divers to research how freediving can be developed and moved forward. For example, how can we train better? How can we enjoy our contact with the water more? How can we better motivate others to get involved in freediving?

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CONSTANT WEIGHT

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On the morning of the depth diving competition, it was cloudy and cool. The media boat already took the photographers and videographers to the competition location early in the morning.

The ocean is beautiful today.

The judges are the first to arrive at the dive site.

Den GC is ready to be in the water the whole day recording the action.

Michael Board is preparing to dive in the first group.

The safety divers go over their procedures for the day one more time.

Andrea Zuccari and Emanuelle Manu check over the start time list.

Michael Board.

Goran Colak gets the official competition watch onto his wrist.

Goran surfaces and performs the required surface protocol.

Goran receives a white card from the judges.

The competition progresses according to schedule.

The diving conditions are perfect.

Alexander Bubenchikov is diving next.

Alexander Bubenchikov surfaces.

Andrey Matveenko is a member of Team Russia.

The day couldn’t be more beautiful.

The organization at the official dive rope is close to perfection. Super!

The schedule is holding.

A sense of peace and calm ruled at the warm-up rope.

The problems that occurred during the official training day did not appear again on the competition day.

Antero Joki and Johanna are on their way to the competition dive site.

Everything is ok and Antero prepares for his dive.

The last few breaths before starting the dive.

Mikko PÜnttinen dives to 80 meters. Mikko had his dive on another rope, so we’ll have to wait a while to share our news.

Marianna Krupnitskaja from Russia.

Soon it’ll be Antero’s turn.

Antero’s official training depth dives didn’t go according to plan.

Hopefully the competition dive will go well.

Antero was not able to reach his goal depth and receives a yellow card from the judges.

Marina Kazankova, Russia.

Robert King is satisfied today.

Everything has gone well.

Den GC. A really hard day is almost over.

Kurt Chambers and Team USA warming up.

Mikko Anttonen’s announced depth is 55 meters.

Johanna takes Mikko over to the dive rope.

Only 30 seconds to the start of the dive. Johanna is anxious, but luckily everything is ok with Mikko.

The judges Anne-Louise Fortin, Robert King, Andrea Zuccari and John Wright.

Mikko Anttonen receives a white card. A great performance! Team Finland is still in fifth position overall.

All the day’s competition dives have now been completed. Now it’s time to head back to shore.

TEAM FINLAND ANTERO JOKI

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ANTERO JOKI Freediving has helped me to learn a lot about myself. It has also given me the opportunity to meet so many amazing people. My whole life has changed as a result of being involved in freediving, including the country I now live in. Through freediving I even found the love of my life. I'm OK.

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LIFE CHANGES It is the beginning of July, 2007. We have just travelled to Vienna with the Finnish freediving team on the way to Maribor, Slovenia via Graz for the World Freediving Championships in the pool disciplines. The competitors’ accommodation was organized in a local student dormitory in which the conditions were quite tolerable.

However, the pool was really good. 50 meters long, 25 meters wide, and even 2 meters deep its entire length.

It was at our first training session at the pool that I saw the Russian team getting into the pool. With the team was a rather lovely looking lady with long hair. She was taking lots of pictures with her camera and she was absolutely stunning!

She moved around the pool area with her camera and, at one point, when we were on the stands at the same time, I noticed that she was leaning against a railing looking towards the pool. I placed my own camera on the railing ready to take her picture, but she continued to look in the direction of her camera. One of my friends tapped the railing, which caused her to turn around. It allowed me to get a great picture of her. However, as a shy Finn, I didn’t have the courage to go and talk with her. Later I noticed than she was taking a picture of me. At the finishing ceremony, she asked

one of the Russian Team’s members to act as a translator as she didn’t speak any English, asking me for my email address so that she could send me the picture that she’d taken of me. However, I never received the picture. Even though I thought of her quite often, I didn’t have any way of getting in contact with her. I didn’t know anyone in the Russian team or have any of their contact details.

The next competition was for depth diving and the location was Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt. Our team arrived at the hotel in the early evening. After the sub-zero temperatures of Finland, the weather felt really warm and wearing shorts was definitely the way to go. After I had carried my things to my room, I decided to go to the hotel’s front door to see who else had arrived. As I reached the stairs, I noticed that the Russian team had arrived in the courtyard with all their stuff.

To my joy, I immediately noticed a fair beauty amongst them.

I had been ready to say something sarcastic about the email that never came, but she noticed me first. She said “you” and ran over to hug me. I was a bit surprised, but very pleasantly so. She had learned some English during those months since the last competition and we exchanged a few words. I noticed that our rooms were right in the same position but on the first and second floors of the two story hotel, which was quite a coincidence given how all the rooms were spread out over a fairly wide area. During this competition, we actually started to talk. She was quite chatty with every single one of the 25 English language words that she had learned being 193

almost worn out from their very regular use! I wonder if she played a part in me feeling more relaxed as I improved by depth diving personal best greatly at this competition? Both of us had already lived quite a bit and the melding together of two completely different lives isn’t always an easy thing.

However, she is the great love of my life and I am so happy to now be married with that fine fair beauty!

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ANTERO JOKI I’m a 48 year old freediver originating from Lahti, Finland. I started scuba diving in 1992 after completing a basic level course under the instruction of Osku Puukila in Eilat on the Red Sea. That’s how it all started and I became more and more involved with it as time passed by.

During a scuba diving training session in the pool, I tried out a dynamic apnea, naturally under the watchful eye of my diving buddy. Once I went too far and I lost consciousness.

That really made me think. I was quite interested in freediving, but there clearly wasn’t enough information available about the sport. In the year 2000, I met Jyri Vehmaskoski during a scuba diving instructor course. He told me about the existence of a freediving club that had been established in Finland. So, in 2001, I joined the Suomen Vapaasukeltajat club, which now goes by the name ‘Freediving Team of Finland’. From the club I received more information about the sport, since there were no organized courses at the time. These days, there are qualified freediving instructors all around the world. Attendance at such courses is recommended for all those who are new to freediving, as the basics of diving related physiology and

safety can be learned properly. After completely a course, it is possible to continue to train with just a dive buddy.

Luckily I had a training buddy, Teppo Kallio, during those early years. He was quite interested in freediving and would pick me up to go training for the first few summers. I guess I’m the sort of guy who takes a while to get excited about things. Without Teppo I probably wouldn’t have continued on with the sport. Thanks to Teppo, my interest in freediving gradually grew as I continued to take part in the training sessions. All of that lead to me being involved in a wonderful and fascinating sport. Teppo, with the help of his friend Jussi, managed to convince me to take part in the Finnish National Championships. Those championships were organized as a team event at the time where the results of all three team members in both static apnea and dynamic apnea with fins were collated for a final combined team result. I achieved personal bests in both of the events and that really gave me motivation to keep going.

The last thing to seal my fate as a freediver was when I took part in the first national championships for depth diving, which was held in the late summer of 2003 at Päijänne Lake.

Despite being really nervous, I still managed to achieve a personal best, which resulted in me being totally sold on the sport. I experienced such an incredibly wonderful feeling of success after that dive that I just had to get more of the

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same! It was so obvious to everyone there as I was already smiling really widely as I surfaced from the dive.

My best results as of 2014: CWT 100 meters CNF 73 meters FIM 87 meters STA 7 minutes 17 seconds DYN 182 meters DNF 128 meters.

Currently, my results are significantly better than what I could have imagined as being possible to achieve in the early years. As a beginner, I had set myself some dream goals, which I though would indicate perfect success should I ever reach them. I achieved those dream goals quite quickly, but each time I was left with the feeling that I could still do much better. Most of the goals that I have set for myself have been reached many times, so I’ve had to just keep readjusting them regularly. I have made improvements every year in each of the disciplines, which has helped to keep me

motivated. Freediving is more about learning about yourself and finding out what you really are capable of. Your limits keep being push further and further, as long as you progress patiently and you continue to learn more about yourself. In freediving, you have to learn about the signals that your body gives you and to trust in them. Your body always knows its own limits, but your mind may sometimes say something completely different to you. It is true that a strong will to achieve a particular goal can dull the messages you receive from your body. That can lead to losing control and going too far beyond your limits, which most often leads to disqualified performances. On the other hand, the mind can set limits that are well within your physical capabilities. This can lead to divers ending their performances well before their physical limits have been reached. Of course this is a safe approach, but in competitive freediving, it will result in the greatest levels of personal success not being achieved.

During the early years, training was more regular due to the excited bunch of recreational freedivers in our area, as well as a rather open calendar! As the time available for freediving became less and less, naturally the amount of training decreased as a consequence. Also, the possibilities for training were reduced with only one hour of pool time being available each week. For some time, though, my results in all the disciplines continued to improve to a certain point. Then, I noticed that they had begun to level out and even decrease, especially in static apnea. The problem in 196

the depth diving disciplines was always the lack of opportunity and time to dive in warm waters or there were no sufficiently deep places to train, or then the water was just too cold. You just can’t dive deeper if you don’t practice depth diving. Getting used to being at depth, including the changes in pressure, demands time and patience to allow the body to perform optimally and for the dives to be safe.

Getting used to the changes in pressure is the same as in mountain climbing, except that the pressure change is in the opposite direction.

These days, the training opportunities are the best possible.

There is lots of pool training time available, as well as sufficiently deep lakes located nearby. At least they have been sufficient for my training needs so far. I go to the gym a few times a week to do some weight training and to the pool about three times a week. My final best results are still somewhere in the future, but I feel that I have continued to improve through my training. I have high expectations of better results in the future, at least in some of the disciplines.

I’ll just have to see what happens in the following year.

In addition to competing in freediving, I also act as a competition judge. I find judging to be quite interesting, as it’s easier to sense the feelings and emotions of divers after having myself done so many dives. Of course, the points of focus when judging differ completely as compared to that of competitors. The most important thing is to ensure that all

performances are judged fairly and without bias. This is also necessary to make sure that the results at any one competition can be compared to those achieved at competitions in other locations. Freediving is still a comparatively young sport in which even the rules keep changing as the level of knowledge increases and development occurs. The development and updating of rules has been one area of responsibility for me in my role as the technical officer for the AIDA International leadership committee for a number of years. Additionally, I also teach new freedivers, as well as freediving instructors who then teach their own students about freediving.

Diving under the ice is the goal of many freedivers. Several freedivers in Finland have had a chance to realize that goal under the ice of Päijänne Lake in an event in which I was the main organizer. Päijänne Lake is a fantastic body of water in which the water quality is even good enough for drinking.

After the winter, the water has settled and all the silt and other suspended materials have sunk to the bottom leaving clearer water nearer to the surface. The visibility can even reach as much as 20 meters. Under the ice, there’s a calm, almost spiritual atmosphere. Every single diver has most likely felt at least a little nervous while thinking about how a dive into the cold and dark waters will go, but they have each one has come back to the surface with a wide smile on his or her face. Under the ice, the atmosphere is absolutely amazing, almost like nature’s own cathedral. It’s so easy to 197

just leave all the worries and stresses of everyday life under the ice and to become more and more relaxed with each new dive. This event has already achieved a few loyal followers. Amongst others, Stig Severinsen, the Guinness Book of World Records record holder for diving under the ice, has come to the event each time it has been held. I hope that he’ll come back again for the next event, which is schedule to be held on the 14.3.2015. At least that’s the date we have set in our competition calendar. I’m sure that this year there’ll also be some new divers taking part and realizing their goal of freediving under the ice.

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COMPETITIONS My first competition was the Finnish National Championships in the pool disciplines held in the spring of 2002 at Hervanta near Tampere. Teams of three competitors competed in two events, which were static apnea and dynamic apnea with fins. Our team did well and I achieved personal best results in both events. My teammates were Teppo Kallio and Jussi Auvinen, both from the town of Nastola. Although we ended up placing fourth overall, we really enjoyed the competition and it left us even more motivated for future events. It has been my experience that every freediver that I have met has been a really nice person. Thus, I have really enjoyed the company of all of them right from the start.

This same phenomenon has continued to be evident at all the competitions from year to year. It has definitely been one of the main things that have made freediving, including competitions, so interesting for me.

My first depth diving competition was in the summer of 2003 at a place called Kiniselkä, which is located on Päijänne Lake. At that time, my best result in depth diving in the constant weight discipline was 41 meters. I’d achieved that result earlier that same summer during a training session.

So, I decided to announce a competition depth of 45 meters.

I was very nervous before my dive, even though I had gone over the dive many times in my mind during the previous days. How will I descend? How will I equalize during the descent? How will I place my hand on the base plate?

Everything went as I had planned and a wide grin appeared on my face as soon as I had turned to return to the surface.

It remained all the way to the surface for all to see, and for a long time afterwards too.

The first time that I got to dive in warm and clear waters was in June, 2014 when an international level competition was organized in Cyprus. The competition disciplines were the same as at the team world championships, that is, static apnea, dynamic apnea with fins and constant weight with fins. The first discipline on the competition schedule was constant weight with fins. Prior to the start of the competition, we had a few opportunities to do some depth dive training in the ocean and, for me, everything felt really good. The water was clear and warm compared to the waters of Päijänne Lake and I noticed that my dives were much more relaxed and easier than ever before. Thus, I ended up announcing a depth of 55 meters, which would be a new personal best for me. To be sure, I was a bit nervous about my dive. I found myself in my hotel room the evening before still practicing how I would equalize my ears at depth. My level of anxiety was exacerbated even more when the competition doctor made a comment at the dinner table that I wouldn’t be able 199

to make that depth as I had ‘only’ ever reached a depth of 50 meters in training. Well, my belief in my own abilities was strong and I made a bet for one beer that I would make it.

The dive itself ended up being quite easy and my equalization had gone as planned. After I had surfaced I commented immediately to the doctor, “You owe me a beer!”

That kind of surface protocol isn’t performed any more, since the rules now require divers to do a few other things first before it’s ok to start blurting out such comments.

The next discipline was dynamic apnea with fins. I hadn’t previously competed in a 50 meter pool, so the situation was a bit new to me. However, diving in the long pool felt quite good. I achieved a personal best with a result of 121 meters, if I remember correctly. In any case, Finland’s own Johanna Nordblad achieved a female’s world record in the same discipline with a distance of 158 meters, which was an absolutely amazing effort!

Finally, it was time to hold our breaths in the hotel pool. To my great disappointment, I’d suffered from heat stroke the day before with a resulting case of diarrhea. So, my effort in that final event wasn’t the best, but I still achieved a good result nevertheless.

Overall, the competition left a good taste in my mouth. I especially enjoyed meeting and spending time with the other freedivers. They were really a great bunch of people! At this

point, freediving really felt like the thing I was meant to be a part of.

I’ve also been a part of the Finnish National Team in several world championship competitions. The competitions that have been the furthest away from home have included ones in Okinawa, Japan and Long Island in the Bahamas. Both of them were absolutely amazing competition trips.

The team world championships were held in Japan in 2010.

Team Finland achieved a bronze medal at that competition after an exciting finish. It was certainly an amazing achievement. The same had happened two years earlier in Sharm-el-Sheik where our national team achieved its first world championship level medal. Finland’s strength in the competitions has been the consistently good and solid performances of all the team members. According to the rankings, we haven’t be a favorite to win any medals in any competition, but our final places have been really good. This was evident once again just last year at the team world championships in Sardinia where our team again earned a bronze medal.

Even though the competition for medals is fierce, all the competitors still get along very well. For example, at the competition in Kalamata, Greece in 2011, I was at the same hotel for three weeks, firstly, to do my own training, and then for the competition. However, it never got boring even though I was away from the hotel for only two days out of the entire 200

three weeks, when I went driving around the nearby areas with my teammates. In the competitions, the competitors from the different teams truly support each other, even though they all want to do the best for themselves and their respective countries. There are few other sports that seem to have the same great sense of community and friendship as freediving does. It is absolutely one of the best things about the sport in my opinion. Did I mention already that freedivers are really a great bunch of people?

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RECORD The whole thing started in December of 2010 when a thread about freediving goals and resolutions for the New Year was started on the Freediving Team of Finland online forum. After thinking over my own response, I announced my own freediving results goals, of which one was to achieve a depth of 100 meters in constant weight with fins.

In my mind, I had decided to try and achieve this goal in September, 2011 at the world championships in Kalamata, Greece. At the time, I was already an active freediver, so I was sure that I would be able to reach my goal then. There were probably quite a number of freedivers who were wondering about such an increase in my depth diving goal given that my deepest dive so far had been to 85 meters, which I achieved in Okinawa. An improvement of 15 meters in a year, especially considering Finland’s poor conditions for training for depth diving, seemed like quite a big jump. I took a different approach to sell that goal to myself. I had achieved that personal best dive in Okinawa quite easily and I knew that I could have gone 5 meters deeper on that dive.

Thus, I was really only looking to improve by just 10 meters!

From the moment I had set that goal, the countdown clock had started ticking. I’d planned to be in the best possible physical shape at the start of September, which was when the world championships were scheduled. Even though my training volume wasn’t very high, I concentrated as well as I could on always achieving the goals I had set for each training session. Basically, I concentrated on quality rather than quantity. In the pool, I focused on improving my kicking technique, while in the gym, I focused on longer sets and improving my tolerance to lactic acid. In apnea training I focused on improving my tolerance to higher levels of carbon dioxide, as well as on strengthening my diving reflex. During the summer, I focused on getting used to pressure changes and my ability to equalize more effectively. My training sessions went according to plan and I felt that everything I had practiced had improved through my approach to training.

The world championships were scheduled to last for a week.

My plan was to go to the competition location already two weeks before the start of the championships so that I would have sufficient time to gradually get used to changes in pressure. I wanted to ensure that I would be able to achieve my depth goal, and to do it as safely as possible. My training started well and I progressed patiently, one small step at a time. At home earlier, I had calculated that if all the building blocks could come together perfectly, then I’d have a very good chance of achieving the goals I had set for myself in

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the other disciplines too. It was just unfortunate that the love of my life was not able to come with me on this trip due to her work commitments.

A small competition held over three days was organized one week before the actual world championships. This was a great opportunity for competitors to attempt personal best performances before the main event. In my wisdom, I thought that I could get my 100 meter constant weight dive out of the way, so as to reduce the level of stress I’d likely experience in the world championships. A media team from Finland was also on location to make sure the first ever 100 meter dive by a Finn was caught on camera. So, I announced a personal best depth of 100 meters.

On the first day, I reached 96 meters. Thus, I was just 4 meters short of the base plate, but I didn’t want to risk my eardrums and so I turned to go back up. On the second day, my equalization technique wasn’t right. On the descent I ended up losing my so-called ‘mouthfill’, so I already turned back at 85 meters. On the third day, so now on the third consecutive day of depth diving, I was already perhaps experiencing some slight mental fatigue, as very soon into the dive I felt I had no business trying to get to the base plate today. I turned back at a depth of 52 meters. The result I achieved at this competition was anything other than what I’d aimed for. Well, at least I still had two more training sessions before the actual world championships, so nothing to worry

about. However, in both training dives, I had to turn back before reaching the base plate and that didn’t do much for my confidence. I wanted to feel really strong and prepared for my performances at the world championships, but I felt anything but.

The world freediving championships began on a Monday with the constant weight with no fins (CNF) discipline. I had announced a depth of 70 meters, which I knew I could reach as long as I was able to equalize properly. Problems with equalization had been the barrier to achieving my goal depths in those earlier dives. However, everything went as I’d hoped on this dive. I completed a successful dive and received a white card from the judges for my effort. That wide smile had returned to my face. I achieved a personal best result, which was also good enough to be a Finnish national record! I was surprised further when back on shore I heard someone yell out that it was a Nordic record too. Not bad and a very nice start to the competition!

Thursday was the big one, the day of the constant weight with fins (CWT) discipline competition. On Tuesday evening, the media team arrived on site with their cameras. The entire next day was spent doing different kinds of interviews associated with my attempt. Looking back at it now, I noticed how I was actually talking to myself. I spoke about what I had to do in order to be able to achieve the depth. All the physical training had been done. Now, everything was dependent on 203

what was between my ears and how I could guide my thoughts to just focus on the task at hand, and to forget about everything else. In the interviews, I don’t think I smiled at all.

It was now Thursday morning. As soon as I had woken up, I heard the cameraman knocking at my door. He’d come to record my morning ritual. I did some gentle stretches and breathing exercises to relax. I then packed all the equipment I would need for my dive before going to the shore to wait for my turn to head out to the competition dive site. There were many other athletes on the beach and it was really nice to be able to chat and share a few jokes with them. It seemed that laughing a little helped me to keep me relaxed. Kaj Toivola was there to assist me on my dive. We both put on our wetsuits at the same time and then got into a pedal boat. It was a nice, dry place to sit and rest for a while. Twenty minutes before my official dive time I entered the water and completed one warm-up dive. Everything felt good and it was as if the ocean was giving me a warm gentle hug. My aim was to just perform as relaxed and enjoyable a dive as possible, without paying any attention to other goals. As always, I gave myself permission to turn back at anytime if things didn’t feel right. When it was time, I moved over to the competition rope with the assistance of Kaj where I would relax for the last three minutes. When my time to dive had arrived, I filled my lungs with air, and then packed with my tongue a little more, before turning over onto my belly and

then bending at the waist to go below the surface to start my descent. At the beginning of the dive, it is necessary to kick with your fin to get some speed. After about 30 meters, I stopped kicking altogether as I was now negatively buoyant as my lungs and wetsuit had been squeezed down in size. At the same time, I also filled my mouth with air, as I would need that mouthfill to equalize my ears at depth. The so-called ‘freefall’ is the most enjoyable phase of the dive as you can just glide down in a state of complete relaxation and just enjoy the ride. I concentrated on ensuring that I retained the air in my mouth and that I equalized regularly. My dive computer’s depth alert went off at 80 meters, which signified the start of the dive’s real challenges. After that, I was able to perform one last good equalization, as well as a smaller one.

I had already reached 96 meters without the smaller equalization, so when I was able to do it, I knew that I’d be able to get down to my goal depth of 100 meters. It felt great when I finally made it to the base plate. Now all I had to do was grab a depth marker tag and kick my way back up to the surface with it. Only 100 meters to go! Even though I didn’t really think about the distance, it is crucial to remain calm and relaxed at this point of the dive. At the 50 meter point, I could feel how the water was now significantly warmer and I noticed the first safety diver appear at 40 meters. Then a second one appeared at 30 meters. Everything started to become brighter from the strengthening sunshine as I approached the surface. Finally, I broke the surface. I quickly 204

grabbed the rope, took three deep breaths and performed the surface protocol for the judges. Then I just had to wait for their verdict, but I already knew what it was going to be. As the judge’s white card was raised I let out a rather loud shout. I’d done it! A new personal best and Finnish national record. I’d achieved my grand goal for the year! What an amazing feeling! My dive had gone 100% to plan. I wouldn’t have been able to dive a meter further, but I did what I set out to do and it all went well. Best of all, I did it at the world championships!

else’s result. I ended up having to turn back at 80 meters due to difficulties with equalization, and so I didn’t quite achieve my announced depth. However, I still achieved personal bests in all of the three disciplines, and two Finnish national records in two of them. In my opinion, the main reasons for my successful performances were my systematic approach to training and, especially, visualization of that final dive many, many times during the year. I would see myself always turning at exactly a depth of 100 meters at the world championships, and that’s exactly the way it worked out!

Back on shore, it was time to share congratulations. I received lots of hugs, and I also gave out many as well to other competitors who had achieved successful dives. After that, it was time to quickly go and get changed and start doing some final interviews as the media team had to soon head to the airport. I was certainly smiling in these interviews! It was clearly evident that all the pressure was gone and that I was a much more relaxed guy than before my dive.

The last discipline on the schedule was in the free immersion (FIM) discipline, which requires depth diving while pulling on the descent rope. I had announced a depth of 84 meters. I guess you get hungrier as you eat! Should I succeed in that dive, it would be a new Nordic record. At this point I made the mistake of not setting my goals according to how I was feeling, but more based on a comparison with someone 205

TODAY Right now I live in a small village just outside of Munich that is over 1200 years old. The Bayern region is really nice with everything here being in tip-top condition all the time. German precision! The local people are really friendly and, surprisingly, many of them speak English too, which has certainly slowed the pace at which I’ve been able to learn German. It’s often just been easier to explain things in English when you can’t find the right words. I’ve studied German for about three hours a day for three months now. It seems that even us oldies can learn some new tricks, although a bit slowly.

Here in central Europe, there are many castles from the middle-ages, as well as some newer ones too, so lots of history. I guess it all happened here. My wife and I have had the opportunity to visit and explore many amazing castles, which the Germans have continued to keep in really good condition. This region is also good for freediving as there are many swimming pools and lots of lakes in the vicinity. Some of them are even a few hundred meters deep, so more than enough depth for me. Freediving strongly guides our life in other ways too. For example, so far our holiday destinations have been in locations where freediving competitions have

been held. We aim to visit one or two bigger competitions each year, and we try to stay longer at the locations than the actual length of the event itself. That’s what we did on our honeymoon too, after first getting married in Finland. In the morning, we were married at the magistrate’s office to get the official part out of the way before receiving a priest’s blessing in the evening in the company of friends. Then, a few days later, we travelled to the Bahamas where a local priest also blessed us, but this time the location was a white sandy beach surrounded by freedivers. After that, we continued with our honeymoon in the name of freediving, as I was competing at the Vertical Blue competition, which was being held at Dean’s Blue Hole on Long Island in the Bahamas. Also, my new, beloved wife was also involved in the competition as a judge. Dean’s Blue Hole is probably the best place in the world for depth diving. The water temperature there is always at least 25 degrees, there are never any currents or waves, and just 20 meters from the beach the water depth is an incredible 200 meters!

It’s been great to be able to share all our free time together in connection with freediving. It’s a sport we both love. It’s actually now formed a kind of job for us as we’ve both decided to start a freediving school in Munich. We conduct courses according to the AIDA International educational system. In addition, we at least partly conduct training sessions based on the system formed from the results of Natalia Molchanova’s research work. It helps when your wife 206

is a good friend of Natalia and so she knows the system well. Our aim is to also organize freediving competitions here in Munich, as well as trips to good freediving locations such as Dahab in Egypt, Cagliari in Sardinia, and Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas of course. Anyone interested in programs and timetables can send their enquiries to the following address: freediving.munich@gmail.com Naturally, we’ll have our website up soon too.

On the 14th of March this year, we’ll again be holding the ‘Päijänne on the Rocks’ event at Päijänne Lake where you can dive under the ice, and even drink the water if you want to. This time, even a few world record attempts are planned. It remains to be seen whether Guinness will ratify both of the attempts or just the one. So, welcome to the ‘Päijänne on the Rocks’ freediving competition. It will involve freediving and scuba diving under the ice.

Previously, the number of places has been very limited, but this year we are aiming to set up more holes in the ice, so that should allow for more divers to take part. For all enquires and event registrations, please contact me at: antero.joki@gmail.com 207

CHALLENGE A challenge for divers from countries other than Finland: As a relay event, three Finnish freedivers will dive under the ice at the ‘Päijänne on the Rocks’ event on the 14.3.2015, attempting to achieve the greatest distance possible in a period of 15 minutes.

The rules: Teams are made up of 3 divers. The distance between holes in the ice is 25 meters. The total time available is 15 minutes. Only one person is to dive at a time. The final team result is the combined distances of the dives of each team member. Can you beat the Finns?

Video your performance and post it on the elinaandjohanna.com Facebook page at http://facebook.com/elinaandjohanna.

A really great prize awaits the winner of this 2015 pool challenge!

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DYNAMIC APNEA 2014 FREEDIVING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 210

The dynamic apnea competition day is starting.

Mikko Pรถnttinen is already on site and ready to dive in the first group. Mikko prefers to dive as early as possible in the mornings.

Watches have to be synced to the exact second with the official competition time. Roberto Mattana tells Johanna what that is.

Roberto also leaves Mikko to relax and get ready in peace.

Antero arrives in good time at the competition venue.

Max Lindqvist from Sweden. Clearly everyone is excited about the day’s dives.

Robert King. The last day of judging at the competition.

Antonella De Vanna.

Soon it will be Mikko’s turn to dive.

Everyone is expecting a really long dive from Mikko.

Hopefully Mikko will be successful in his performance.

236 meters.

A successful performance is given a white card.

A great start for the rest of the competition day.

Katya helps Antero to prepare for his dive.

If all of the team members can put in solid performances today, there’s a good chance Team Finland will finish in the top 5 overall.

The countdown has begun.

Luckily Antero is known for being able to perform well from one competition to the next.

182 meters and a fully expected white card.

Fantastic Antero!

For Antero, the competition is now over.

The rest of the day will be spent in excitement at how the dives of others will go.

The points situation looks promising.

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Adam Skolnick is on site as a reporter.

Alexey Molchanov and Yury Shmatko.

The photographers and videographers are ready. Alessandro Madeddu.

It’s Goran Colak’s turn.

Alexey Molchanov prepares.

Alexey Molchanov.

The competitors focus on their performances and the judges are doing a great job too.

Favorite Alexey completes a solid dive.

Alexey Molchanov and Goran Colak.

Alexander Bubenchikov.

Team Finland’s last competitor, Mikko Anttonen, preparing for his and the team’s last dive.

In the team’s competition, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the points situation in relation to the other teams.

Mikko checks the final results and calculates the total points of the other teams.

Team Finland’s ranking will not change unless Mikko can pull off an impossibly long dive.

If Mikko can successfully complete a solid dive, there is no chance that another team can go ahead of Finland in the current rankings.

Mikko just has to do a good, solid dive.

The photographers and videographers have spent the entire day in the pool.

Four minutes to the start.

The long dives are scheduled for the afternoon. The tension at the competition venue builds.

Everything is ready. The countdown has begun.

Mikko Antonen, 200 meters and a white card.

Mikko’s dive went exactly as planned. Fantastic!

Team Finland is currently fourth in the rankings, but we still don’t know how the other teams’ dives will go.

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Alexander Bubenchikov.

Ilaria Bonin.

Italy’s Alessia Zecchini completes an unbelievable great long dive of 223 meters.

Martin Valenta 225 meters.

The last dives of the day have now been completed.

Now all we need to do is wait.

All the Finnish competitors completed good, solid dives today.

If the protests are dismissed, it looks like Team Finland will win the bronze medal.

But we still haven’t dared to start celebrating, so we do our best to calmly wait for the final results.

Even Team Finland is shouted at to jump into the pool.

Mikko Anttonen and Johanna saved Finland’s reputation, while Mikko PÜnttinen kicked his way to safety.

There was lots of tension all the way into the evening until the final results were confirmed and announced.

Team Finland finishes third and wins a world championships bronze medal! Our boys are so great! Congratulations!

FREEDIVING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

END