The Ice is Nice: Come On In-Part II
Posted By Steve Millard on 27 June 2005
There was a one-way system in place so people did not bang their heads. This meant that when you got to the final hole you had to get back to the beginning.
Taking a fin on and off is a chore so the best thing to do was to pull yourself along the ropes on your belly and watch the divers pass under you. ‘Stranded seal’ springs to mind when I think back to when I accidentally let go of the rope a couple of times.
Just before the end of the session we were invited over to their recently designed no-limits sled. It looks an excellent design and will be a good tool for equalisation practice in the cold 48-metres-deep lake. After our quick sled ride we headed back to get changed. No tiring surface swims -just a leisurely walk back.
We got quickly changed and headed back to our digs for the night. It was a fire station. We were like kids again being shown round all of the different engines, rescue boats, and even a hovercraft.
I would like to mention now that our Swedish hosts were excellent. The diving was organised, and there were meals, accommodation and even evening entertainment in the form of freediving films and pictures at the fire station big screen. George just about summed our stay up by saying (with a free beer in his hand and a grin from ear to ear) ‘I see no reason to ever leave’. I thought he was going to emigrate. Oh yeah, the Swedish hospitality even included a traditional Swedish sauna, ideal for getting your core temperature back up. We had a 100 degrees Celsius temperature change in the space of a couple of hours. Our hosts gave us top tips like ‘don’t move around too quickly or it will burn your skin’ and my favourite tip was ‘drink from the beer can regularly, so it doesn’t burn your lip’.
I must have looked well cooked when I came out because someone reached out to grab me as I exited. I must have looked like I was going to collapse. What they didn't know is that I always look like that after a few beers! Alun in ,articular, had a couple of ‘which way do I look moments’ in there but it was a great way to chill out after diving- if you'll pardon the rather brutal pun.
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