|
Dear Kirk and Martin,
I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know how impressed I was with your clinic last weekend in Miami. As I told you before the clinic, I am an infrequent freediver/spearfisherman whose experience is unfortunately limited to one or two dive trips to the Bahamas each year, and not much practice in between. The primary event that pushed me to take the course was a freediving accident that happened to a good friend of mine on a trip we took to the Bahamas in 2002, which left him comatose for 5 weeks and still in pretty bad shape today. It was evident from the course description that you guys put a lot of emhasis on the safety aspect of the sport, so it seemed to be just what I was looking for.
The course itself, and my improvement in performance, far exceeded my expectations. First, the two of you are incredibly knowledgeable about every aspect of freediving, and do a great job of conveying that knowledge to the students. Everything made sense, and I found myself saying many times, "Oh, so THAT's why I'm feeling that." There was just an incredible amount of useful information regarding technique, safety and physiology.
As for my improvement in performance, I had never done any static apnea attempts, other than just very short playing around in the swimming pool, so I had no idea what I might be able to do. However, from my spearfishing trips, I figured that 3 minutes would be fantastic. However, with the "breathing up" techniques you taught us, I was able to do 4 min. 45 seconds on the second day! I was amazed. And that was with no "packing" and only a few purges. I would guess that my maximum before taking the clinic would have been about half that.
As for depth, I had never gone deeper than 50 feet before, but went to 98 feet on the third day. Again, other than some difficulty clearing near the end, I was amazed at how relatively easy that was. It took some effort, but I never felt any significant stress or panic. Wow! It was a great feeling.
I'm pretty sure I have talked my spearfishing buddies into attending your next clinic in Miami, so I'll keep an eye out for dates. Again, thank you for a great clinic. I know that the things I learned will make my diving safer, more comfortable and more fun for the rest of my life.
Sincerely, Jay Colling
[ TOP ]
|
