Cayman 2004 -
Freediving World Record Event
Day 15 - Mandy hits 72m
Martin decides to take another day off as he's still feeling a little tired even after yesterday's day off around the pool. So we pack up and grab Doc and Dan Nersesian. Dan just finished taking our Malibu clinic a couple of weeks ago and is currently on island vacationing with his family. Also joining us on the boat is AIDA International Judge, Bill Strömberg from Sweden.
Winds have died down a little, but there's still chop on the water and as usual we hook up on a deep wall mooring first to set up our counterbalance, prep the lines, etc. Once everything is in the water and functioning, we set the counterbalance drifting from the boat which will take us away from the deep wall into over 1000m / 3280' of water.
Today Mandy starts the warm-ups first and she comments part way through that she feels like she doesn't have enough time. Guess she's been getting used to the small delays going after Martin, and now everything is on time. As you'll see, this doesn't effect her performance at all. While Mandy is warming up, Dan and Bill are on the other line practicing some dives of their own. Before they do I take them through the counterbalance workings and protocols of how they might assist if we have to use it in an emergency.
Mandy finishes her warm-ups and is now at zero-plus 15 and on her way. Only once she reaches for her nose to secure the nose clip as she has to force a little harder on one of her sinuses. She quickly descends and is out of sight. The 70m mark was measured at 1.8m below the surface and this means a new world record attempt in training while here. Just before the bottom, Mandy comments that one of her sinuses is starting to stick and that she has to push just a little to get to the bottom plate. The mounted video shows a good turn. She grabs a tag, introduced into training today, and is on her way to the surface.
Waiting at 25m I see the silver surfer suit appear at around 50m and soon we're face to face. Mandy looks really good and I even get a small smile from her. I like being able to see the eyes clearly, but today Mandy's wearing fluid goggles made by Eric Fattah and her eyes seem distorted. Distortion or not, Mandy's using them regardless as she has some grander goals than 71m for constant. Upon reaching the surface she finishes her recovery breathing in control, removes the goggles and comments that she didn't crash into the plate. She looks great at the surface and I don't see a problem with her achieving nearer to 76-80m if time, weather, sinuses, boats, and so on allow. In the end she achieves 72m in a total time of 2:16 (1:11 down & 1:05 up).
Next up is Doc. Today he's working on some deeper equalizing and negative pressures so the training is relatively easy. He's a little disappointed with the way things are progressing and we reiterate that he needs a day off and is probably overtraining. Doc's refused to believe us up till this point as he feels that in the water you're hardly expending any energy. Truth is, just putting the body through aerobic and anaerobic cycles, building up lactic acid from extreme dives, keeping warm, and contending with the continuous movement of the ocean will wear you down. Try as you might the ocean will always win. The best you can do is 'go with the flow'.
Having a late lunch at Cimboco a Caribbean fare restaurant, Doc mentions that he is tired and that maybe he does need a day off. Today is his ninth day straight of training, and he wisely decides to take tomorrow off to rest.
Later in the evening we head out for sushi at Yoshi again which is the best sushi on island. Back at the condo 'Kill Bill Vol 3' is dead asleep recovering from European jet-lag. Tony will be up till 4:30am creating the next day's video clip for web cast and I'm sure that he's only getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night. Martin and I joke that once he gets home, he'll hibernate till it's time to leave for Cyprus.
Tomorrow, Martin is planning 100m in constant ballast, Mandy is planning 72m in free immersion and, me I'm just planning on supporting M&M and having a great time while doing it.
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