World-Record Omnibus
Posted By Peter Scott on 18 June 2002
Every record attempt has a preamble, a foreshadowing of things to come. For Mandy-Rae Cruickshank, it was a 5:31 at the Western Canadian Regionals in April. For Martin Stepanek, a no-fins dynamic in practice to 135m in April seemed like the perfect foundation for an attempt on both dynamic disciplines.
Mandy-Rae Cruickshank is a competitor by nature. That she hadn't equalled the world record before announcing her attempt doesn't faze her a bit. She is confident her concentration and Kirk's training regimen will get her into the record books for the second time.
By the last week before the attempts on May 26-28, 2002, when AIDA Judges Fred Buyle and Marcelle De Matteis had arrived from Europe, the suspense is already building among local freedivers. We hear that Mandy-Rae had reached 6:15 in practice. Then she discovers lumps on her neck. She is checked by a doctor and diagnosed with a deep tissue infection.
Luckily, the required antibiotics are not on the IOC prohibited substances list, but with only days to go before her scheduled attempt and still stricken with a fever, sore throat and flu symptoms, everyone fears the worst. Despite her bad health, Mandy attempts a practice static a few days later during the CAFA Nationals and makes 5:35, but it is obvious from the look on her face that her illness is affecting her concentration.
Sitting on the deck of the Emerald Tide, watching the CAFA Nationals constant ballast competition, Martin Stepanek can feel that something is wrong. The day before he has made a 200m dynamic with fins in practice. But his body isn't recovering. "I felt a whole body weakness," he said. Then comes flu-like chills and aches. What are the odds of both world-record hopefuls falling to illness only days before the attempt? Fighting off sickness drained his body of the oxygen he needed for over three and a half minutes of dynamic apnea.
May 26-Day 1
On Mandy's first attempt, she makes 6:15 with a samba. Kirk is confident that with a little more work on her recovery breathing, Mandy will break the record handily. Martin, pushing well beyond 182m, suffers a loss of motor control.
May 27th - Day 2
Mandy takes a day off and Martin goes in for a massage, desperate to oxygenate his legs which still feel like lead.
May 28th - Day 3
Martin asks for a marker to be placed at 185m. He makes the turn at 150m and heads for the far wall. He pulls up a few metres from the marker. His position is measured: 181m, equalling Herbert Nitsch's record. The people watching speculate that had the marker been at 181m or 182m, Martin would have made the extra kick or arm-pull necessary to break the record. Martin waves this suggestion off: He wants to break the record.
Time has run out and both competitors feel that they are getting better. They ask the judges to stay an extra two days for two more attempts. But the iron vice of stress is tightening....
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