Support Diving for the AIDA World Freediving Championships 2004
Posted By Laura Harris on 23 September 2004
The AIDA 2004 World Freediving Championships in Vancouver was being promoted as the most technologically diverse competitive freediving event ever to be held. From a safety team perspective this was going to be ground breaking, innovative and ambitious. State-of-the-art underwater communication systems were being made available to the team. Deep water lighting technology, using 200w HMI lights to illuminate the murky depths would be in place and we would be filming the athletes with high spec camera and video equipment. Technical divers had journeyed from across Canada, the States and the UK to provide support for this cosmopolitan contest. So with much anticipation, the safety team came together for what was to be an interesting few days. Would reality mimic the hype? Expectations were riding high.
Team Logistics
Team leader Bill Coltart had begun his selection process some months previously in February and March. Anticipated target depths were deep, with Venezuelan Carlos Coste expected, along with many of the worlds top freediving athletes. Initial thoughts were that Bill would need a large number of trimix and CCR trained support divers, capable of covering depths up to and in excess of 100 metres. To begin, he approached every major tech diving facility in the Pacific Northwest, with a request for suitable divers. A few came forward. Still short, and with time moving on, he tapped into the TDI, GUE and IANTD instructor databases. The response led to a 50% completion of the team. The remaining divers were recruited via personal invitation and from local volunteers, with priority given to those who were nitrox and trimix trained. Additional qualifications within the team included commercial divers, gas blenders, paramedics and search and recovery divers. Five members of the team had safety experience covering the Canadian National Freediving Championships and finally myself, who had supported the UK National Championships and the two Cyprus events.
Bill Coltart was not only heading up the safety team but had also undertaken the tasks of setting up the comms systems and, as he himself is a paramedic, the first-aid station. His boat 'Atta-tude' was to be used should there be an accident of any nature.
Five of the team would be diving CCR (4 Inspirations and a KISS) with the rest of us on open circuit. Divers would be buddied up (in compliance with AIDA regulations) with one diver on safety cover and the other on either filming duty or on comms. Divers would be positioned about every 10 metres through the water column starting from 20 metres.
The team would be diving from the barge where zones had been roped off here and there for the support divers, the judges, competitors, media and topside crew. Space, already at a premium, became prized territory once the numerous J's of oxygen and helium had been loaded along with a portable compressor and technical equipment for 21 divers. The first-aid base had also been assembled within our allocated section, enabling Bill to oversee any crucial emergencies.
Gas was mixed on site with every blend of nitrox or trimix available. In contrast to other team diving safety projects, where bail out gas is usually staged along our support line, the preferred choice was for each diver to carry their own using side slings or twins. A decision based partly on local environmental conditions including low visibility, darkness at depth and the risk of strong currents. As a precaution we had 100% O2 and some bail out gas on the trapeze.
- Bookmark with :
- what are these?
