Deep Freediving Safety - Part One
Posted By Cliff Etzel on 10 January 2003
This is the first in a two part series addressing the safety protocols that are implemented during world record attempts in the various disciplines of freediving. This first part addresses the safety procedures relating to the disciplines of Variable and No-Limits freediving. Part two will address what are considered the more pure forms of freediving - Constant Ballast and Free Immersion.
The repercussions of the high profile death of Audrey Mestre on Oct 12th, 2002 have left the freediving community in a state of shock - and now questions of what could have been done differently to have averted this tragedy are now being asked. It appears that this was one of several of no-limits accidents that began in early August with Belgian freediver Frederic Buyle suffering an accident during a no-limits training dive. The second more severe accident occurred later that month when German freediver Benjamin Franz suffered a very serious accident during an intense day of training with the end result of being left partially paralyzed.
Leaving speculation aside as to who is to blame, what can be learned from these incidents so as to minimize any future potential deaths arising from this extreme discipline of the sport?
There are some in the community who are calling for an end to the category of no-limits record attempts that may not be seeing the full aspects of proper safety, nor fully analyzing what needs to be implemented properly to prevent a repeat of these accidents.
There are several areas that need to be examined:
- The number of safety divers in the water - how many should there be? There is still debate on this subject.
- Type of "Bail-Out" systems - which one and why one is preferable over another.
- Surface personnel trained and ready to act should the need arise - They need to be there ready to act if needed
By no means are the No-Limits and Variable Ballast categories without there dangers, let alone the other disciplines of freediving, but these dangers can be managed in ways that reduce them to their lowest possible denominator so that should the need arise, a well thought out accident management plan can be implemented - and put into action.
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