Tom Sietas: Was 2004 His Year ?
Posted By Aniko Kapornaki on 10 January 2005
Tom Sietas is the most active and most successful freediver of 2004. He has broken the world record in Static Apnea no fewere than five times, and his German national records in Dynamic (with fins and without fins) exceed the the official world records. The following interview reveals some of his secrets, frustrations, his relief, and gives a closer look at this workaholic German freediver.
AK - You reached 8’56” in Wiesbaden, Germany in October, and then in Eindhoven, on December 11th, you did 8’58”. Since the minimum amount of time you have to improve on the world record is two seconds, I was wondering whether you did the smallest step allowed, on purpose. Like Sergey Bubka did when he was improving his pole vaulting world records by one meter at a time, because he was getting paid after each record.
TS- I know what you mean, but unfortunately I don’t get his kind of paycheck to do world records. I did not improve on the world record by two seconds intentionally. I start to receive signs every 15 seconds after the 6-minute mark, but after a while, I lost count on exactly how many times I received the sign. I do not look at my watch either. I know approximately where I am, and I come up when I cannot hold my breath any longer; later I get the exact time I have spent down in the water. In Eindhoven, I was a bit frustrated when I heard that I would have needed two more seconds to reach the 9-minute mark. Well, next time.
AK- The most common question I get from people who hear about your records is whether you are worried about the possible long-term effects, since the territory you are stepping into has not been reached by any human being before. It is a blank sheet for physicians.
TS- I have been asked that question many times. There is no doctor regularly checking me, even though it would be nice to have one. I am going to go to a serious examination in February, and I hope it will shed some light on some of these issues. Generally, I think that my body would indicate, if it was not reacting well to my extended stays under water. However, I have not had any BO's during static.
AK- In September 2003, in Millstatt, Austria, where I first saw you at a competition, your PB was 7’15”. How could you have improved so dramatically?
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