Poolside at the 3rd Dutch Apnea Open
Posted By Sam Kirby on 20 December 2004
Freedive competitions to me, so far, have meant basking in the sun pre-dive, getting gradually more nervous over a whole week or so of training days, and being part of a huge team or gang of friends all going through the same thing. Heading off to Eindhoven in mid-December for a competition, all alone on a cold and frosty weekend did not feel quite right.... until I got there.
Saturday 11th December was a training day and my flight landed far too early in the morning. Pim Vermeulen and Susan Kluytmans, the chief organisers, entertained me all morning and seemed remarkably calm after what I knew had been a crazy few months of late nights and stress. As the day drew on, the mobile phone started buzzing. Before we knew it, around 70 freedivers had arrived and Pim seemed to have met most of them at the station.
Checking into the Stayokay youth hostel (the equivalent of the "Athlete's Village") I found out that without many females at the competition, I would be sharing a dormitory with five guys I didn't know. This was slightly daunting but I didn’t need to worry - they could not have been more gentlemanly - they didn't even snore!
[Editors Note: You sure they were real men ?]
After making our beds and sorting out kit, it was time to head to the beautiful pool, De Tongelreep (don't ask me what it means!). Leaving the frozen fog outside, the pool was brightly lit, warm and most importantl, enormous. After trying to train for dynamic in a 22m pool for the last six months, the excitement at seeing a smooth 50m stretching out in front of me was hard to describe.
As ever at freedive events, friends were made and old acquaintances picked up very quickly. Panos Lianos was being Team Greece all on his own, I was the only Brit and Veronika Dittes, who declared herself "just a newbie" and then set an Austrian static record - was alone until fellow Austrian Herbert Nitsch showed up later. We all kept an eye on each other for some static training and things seemed to go well for all three of us.
The pool training session was not only an opportunity for last minute serious training but also a chance to try out one of the huge range of “Specialfins” fins. With foot pockets in almost every size, Pim had at least one of each of the range for everyone to try. To those of us deprived of a decent freedive shop this was like Christmas Day. Dolphin monofins with every stiffness of blade, Coloured Fins and even carbon monofins were stacked up poolside along with the same selection of bi-fins. The queue for the spanner to change the pockets soon stretched around the block! Hopefully Pim got some good sales.
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