Cayman 2004 -
Freediving World Record Event
Day 18 - Some good days and some not so good days
Today the two chattering monkeys come to sit on Martin and Mandy's shoulders during the dives. Bad for all but Doc :>)
Today is the normal routine: get-up, eat breakfast, edit some pictures from the previous evening, spring to the internet and do the morning emails. It's getting harder and harder every day to keep the digital side of our lives going and we apologize to those of you who're trying to contact us.
Today's boat routine is the same: hook-up and set up the counterbalance. Just before Martin's seven minute countdown we set the counterbalance floating to avoid any problems by being tied to a mooring with the boat swinging in the current. This time Martin is on his way to attempt 102m in constant ballast and everything looks in order from the start. The only 'problem' today is that Martin bails out at around 15m on his ascent and pulls himself the rest of the way to the surface.
He tells me later that in his mind the dive seems to take longer and by the time he gets to me he thinks he is still much deeper. It's no problem. He makes the correct decision: when it isn't feeling good, abort the dive and bail out. It's better to bail than to push a bad dive farther. The real problem is that now he's kicking himself after hearing that he bailed at 15m. Reflecting on his good state at the surface where he was clearly in control, in hindsight he figures he should have just finished. No problem. He does 102m constant ballast in 3:36 (1:28 down & 2:04 up), but of course it isn't a recognizable dive.
Next up is Mandy. This is her second attempt at free immersion in Cayman as she's elected to concentrate more on constant ballast. In Vancouver she made the prerequisite 69m last summer and today she's attempting 75m after her very successful 74m constant dive the day before. Unfortunately she bails out on her dive too. Mandy's early turn is at 65m and she hits the surface swearing at herself for it. She says her arms are feeling really tired. Martin and I discuss that she's still pulling too deep and also maybe too quickly.
In the end both of them choose to listen to the wrong voice in their heads. We jokingly talk about the two chattering monkeys that sit on your shoulders and talk to you. You can choose to listen to the one that soothingly says, "You're doing well. Just relax and keep going. You're almost there. Nice and easy ...". Or you can listen to the other who seeds doubt by constantly nattering, "I don't know. You're a long way down. What if you don't make it to the surface. What if you're too tired. Maybe you should turn ...". Sometimes the long training sequences get to you. You tire. Frankly, Mandy and Martin are pushing the limits of human endurance and aren't expected to succeed every day. The trick is to 'fail' correctly and to be able to learn from the experience.
We joke with them both about how connected-at-the-hip their training is going: one fails, both fail; one succeeds, both succeed. Fortunately we have another team member who's ready to carry the weight and Doc is up next. The previous day, Doc's monkeys manifested themselves in the form a tooth squeeze. Essentially that's an air pocket which is trapped within the tooth due to a bad filling or some other necessary dental work. Today his warm-ups are great and he's having no problems. He's doing good, long hangs, and he's nice and relaxed.
Doc's final dive commences and he's off, pulling to depth with no sign of the dental problem recurring. We reach the 10m mark above the bottom plate and I start pumping my fists in encouragement. 33m later we're at the surface again and Doc is back in form. This is a good solid dive and an important one to keep the rest of our spirits up.
It's an early evening. Tomorrow Martin will attempt 102m again but in free immersion, Mandy will attempt 77m constant ballast and Doc will attempt 36m.
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