Loic Leferme: Explorer, Adventurer, Freediver
Posted By Peter Scott on 28 December 2004
In training, Leferme was able to equalize at over 170 metres, meaning that going well over 180 metres was achievable. But the goal of his team was to achieve a world record, so they settled on the sure thing for the sake of the team.
The loyalty of his team - fifteen years is a long time - has allowed Loic Leferme to develop his no-limits diving above and beyond the skills of others, even Pipin and Pelizzari. Leferme is more like a mountain sherpa who lives on the slopes of the Himalayas and makes several trips to the summit a year, rather than the foreign climbers who arrive once every five years for rushed attempts to conquer the peaks with great media fanfare. In his quest to find the absolute depths of the ocean and within himself, Loic Leferme has a deep advantage over any other no-limits challenger: he has been training all year round, in the ocean, at significant depths, for many years.
His continuous training has allowed him to adapt to deep dives perhaps more than anyone. Leferme doesn’t need to flood his sinuses with saline or seawater and uses a relatively slow descent to reach the bottom. And while narcosis is less of a factor in the warm waters of the Med, one might expected that the extreme pressure of Leferme’s dives would have a noticeable impact on his mental state.
“I used to get narcosis on shallower dives, especially on the ascent, and I soon realized that being cold and tired were the biggest factors. I made sure from that point onward to sleep well and stay warm. The water is 13 degrees Celsius down there but now even at 170 metres or deeper, I don’t feel any narcosis.”
Loic Leferme believes that being able to progress very slowly from one depth to another has allowed him to avoid the dangers of narcosis and decompression sickness. He likens it to mountain climbers on Everest getting acclimatized to altitude at base camp for months before attempting the summit. Earlier in his training he would breathe oxygen at 4 metres after a deep dive to reduce the risk of DCS. Now he no longer uses oxygen decompression and also rides the lift bag straight up to the surface. Most other no-limits freedivers release the lift bag at around 20 metres to allow for a slower ascent and for the body to off-gas the excess nitrogen; Leferme used to do this as well. However, now that his new safety system keeps him permanently attached to the lift bag, he has no choice but to surface rapidly. His adaptations made this safety system possible. It might not work for others who are less adapted. Leferme says he has never suffered from decompression sickness, unlike Pipin Ferreras.
“I take the time my body needs to adapt and I never surprise it with sudden changes in stress,” Leferme says. He is famous for his one metre increments during training, which at over 150 metres, seems not worth the effort of setting up each time. What about 200 metres? When will no-limits become too dangerous? “It’s not the absolute depths that are dangerous,” he says with emphasis, “it is the method of training and diving that can be dangerous. Humans can overcome any challenge if the right method is applied. This has been shown throughout our history.”
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