FEATURE
THE MEAN OLD DADDY OF FREEDIVING FEATURE SARA-LISE HAITH
We have long ago surpassed the limits attainable by purely physical excellence and are now venturing into the terra incognita of our mental potential. Aharon Solomons
She has trained and worked uniquely in freediving since 1997, and after only five months of diving, was one of only a handful of women who could pass 50 metres on one breath, while six months pregnant. They are based in Mexico in Baja California. They come to us to bring knowledge to the freedivers and spearfishers of the UAE, in the hope that we can all learn and transmit new knowledge and safety to this growing sport. Humans have been freediving for longer than we can remember. Since the early years of the 20th century, freedivers have long wanted to co-exist with marine life and experience the profound connection believed to exist with man and the underwater mammal. Born in the UK, American national Aharon Solomons, current US Masters Record Holder of the Mens Constant Weight, Dynamic Apnea and Free Immersion Disciplines, comes to the Emirates this August 2008 to share his indepth knowledge and experience with local freedivers. Solomons has been involved in military, research, commercial and sports diving education for more than 35 years prior to adopting freediving as his passion. At 69 years old, he is not only one of the world’s most experienced freediving instructors, but also the oldest continuing “masters” level freediver.
Aharon and MT are instructors for 4 different freedive training agencies, and MT is about to attempt to another record in the championships in Mexico, to be held on 20th June at Xibalba. Aharon is attempting to better his Masters record this year, and hoping to hit 60m in the Constant Weight category.
He is accompanied by his dive partner MariaTeresa Solomons (MT), who began freediving in Crete in 1996. She joined one of Aharon’s clinics where she discovered her natural ability.
Aharon and MT have written a lot of literature about freediving and training techniques. They often receive the same questions from divers; “how can I get deeper?”Their answer is “What’s
Freedivers have always striven for deeper dives, longer times. Hypoxic training has recently become the focus of attention for many freediving athletes, who are looking for a drug-free and legal way to improve their performance and also to get that vital edge in competition. Divers who have exposed themselves to continuous high levels of hypoxia have evolved greatly and have developed strategies that exploit and explore it more than any other athletic discipline.
28 EMIRATES DIVING ASSOCIATION, JUNE 2008
stopping you?”, and the answer to this is usually specific ‘equalisation’ or concentration. Further examination however often reveals that this answer is erroneous or actually, incomplete, as the real answer is usually a combination of factors.Tension, and that multiheaded undersea fictitious monster called the Hydra is often the culprit. We often fear things that do not actually exist, and they prevent us from completing the dive we want. Technique and relaxation form a large part of becoming a freediver. With those two factors in check, the depth will come. Gliding is one of the secrets of deep diving and needs practice to reap the benefits of its by-product, which are energy and O2 conservation. Flexibility is also a key factor, and Aharon and MT incorporate pranayamas and some yoga education into their courses, teaching freedivers how to maximize their physique and improve it for better performance, together with specific warm-up procedures, partner work, and dive line procedures. Jaques Mayol used yoga techniques in freedive training but there was never clear exposition by him of what exactly he found to be most useful nor of what practice he constructed with it. Since Aharon/MT began teaching in 1995, it has been one of the main training regimens and over the course of the years and through trial and error and a lot of experimentation they have evolved what they consider to be a superior practice specifically for the freediver. It is only this year in fact that