Loic Leferme: Explorer, Adventurer, Freediver
Posted By Peter Scott on 28 December 2004
These years of practice – essentially in record conditions all year round – have also influenced the management of risk by Leferme’s team. The team has now dispensed with scuba divers all together. The diver and sled descend down a guide rope. There is a brake on the sled, but Leferme only uses it to release himself downward at the surface. From start to finish, the dive is timed meticulously. Because the system has been repeated so many times in training, the team knows exactly when Leferme should be on his way back to the surface. They give him a slight head start and then deploy a counter weight that raises the line and the sled under Leferme as he rockets to the surface with the lift bag. Should the lift bag fail to inflate or should he black out at the bottom, the bottom of the line is right beneath him and will bring him to the surface. The main difference between this system and counter weight systems for constant weight, is that the uncertainty of when to activate the counter weight is eliminated because it is activated every time, soon after the diver starts his ascent. The team also makes use of a Lowrance sonar to follow Leferme’s progress down and back up to the surface.
Leferme warns against other divers adopting his safety system out of context. “We have developed the system that supports the equipment we use to a high level. It is not just about using the counter weight every time. It is the team and the philosophy that we apply on every single dive.”
The parallels between no-limits and mountain climbing become more and more striking. Anyone who climbs a mountain summit, whether it is Everest or the Eiger, must make detailed preparations for the challenge. A climber of that ambition needs discipline, leadership, an excellent support team and the strength of mind, body and spirit to last all the way to the end. A hastily put together team and rushed training inevitably leads to disaster.
And when those crucial preparations are successful, the thirst for adventure can sometimes be quenched.
“The first world record was special,” Leferme remembers. “After all, it was the king of the freediving disciplines. I will never forget it. But the 171 metres dive was my most beautiful record. There was an ambience among us all, some were even crying when it was over. In part, I think it was because we had come this far over the years and had still managed to keep the original philosophy intact.”
These adventures have led Loic Leferme to five world records in no-limits, a freediving expedition in the highlands of Afghanistan, many competitions, training courses for freedivers from around the world, and membership in an international community of underwater explorers.
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