Worlds 2004: from behind the lines - Olympic Blues
Posted By Peter Scott on 24 August 2004
An Olympic Case of the Post-Competition Blues
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I’ve been watching the Olympics off and on ever since the 4th AIDA Freediving World Championships wrapped up. I have a feeling that something important, something vital to understanding the whole Olympic experience, is missing from the broadcast. Beyond medals, rankings, world records, sponsorships, and rivalries, what is surely missing from the talking head presentation of these games is what it means to be an Olympian. Spare me the whole spiel of being a role model for others or the long and sacrificial road to success. What I’ve always wondered is what it must feel like to be in the athlete’s village, interacting with teammates, athletes, organizers, fans, volunteers, and media and bringing a little something from your own life and country to share with the rest of the world. It is, I guess, one of those things that you have to experience yourself as an Olympian at the Olympics.
Thanks to freediving, I’ve had the experience of being a competitor, media representative and a volunteer in two consecutive world championships. When I represented Team Canada in Ibiza in 2001, I felt the keen edge of melancholy at the end, when so many people who share the same passions disbanded and went home to their “real” lives. But this time, in my role as volunteer coordinator for CAFA, I felt enriched because I was able to see so many more sides of this incredible event than I would have otherwise seen had I been a competitor.
Unless you’ve been under a freediving rock, you’ve seen the yellow-shirted volunteer crew that made this competition a rousing success in the photos and videos on various websites. The YellowJackets, les maillots jaunes, the freediving bananas—whatever you want to call them—have made this event a profound and life-changing experience for me.
Vancouver now boasts the best safety freediving crew in the world! From Tyler Zetterstrom’s smooth descents down to 25 metres every single time without fail on the competition line to Adam Lein’s remarkable sacrifice of personal warmth in the driving drizzle for the sake of competitor safety on the training days, these guys made all the organizers look good. Spending almost six hours a day in the water hauling weights, setting lines, video cameras and expensive lights, putting up and taking down the barge accessories, with barely a chance to have a bite to eat—this is what makes an event inspiring to all who are a part of it.
There were also some volunteers who were new to freediving and got a front row seat on the action. Anne Laure Bottier (who saved my skin more than once with her no nonsense approach to volunteering), Nancy Aguirre, Sergio Bernardo, Christine Archer, Alex Cole, Kelly Dunlap (a full member of the Ansell tribe), Miranda Malinson, Jodie Ritchie, Kevin Mullan and several others—these were some of the people who came out and discovered that freediving is not so extreme after all.
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