Cayman 2004 -
Freediving World Record Event
Day 23 - 102m WORLD RECORD!!
We wake up to more wind than we've had on the island this month. And the 'good' news is that things are supposed to get worse! The forecast calls for winds gusting to 25 knots with large chop. Wave heights of 3-5 feet are expected into the weekend. I guess we're going to have to start working for our dinner now.
Some of the diving safety crew are new to us today. We still have Derek and Ivan at 100m, Chris on video at 60m, and Courtney at 30-20m with camera. The new additions are Rob at 60m safety, Erika covering 40m, and Reg supporting the team from the surface. Our crew will be in flux for several days, but all is working well -- except for the weather.
As soon as we get the counterbalance in the water we start to swing on the pendulum. We're accustomed to staying tied off to the boat until Martin starts his seven minute breathe-up. This helps us stay closer to shore and in the lee of the island as much as possible. Unfortunately we learn a lesson today that we'll have to correct and it will make Mandy and Doc's breathe-ups that much more unpleasant. When tied to the mooring, the boat swings in an arc because its hull creates a sail effect. The boat swings on its mooring line in an arc covering 20m or so. The bow falls to its left and then starts its 20m swing to the left, slows, then the bow falls to its right (starboard for the nauties out there) and starts its 20m right swing.
Today the swing is faster and wider. This plays havoc with the safety divers' float and line which is mounted to a t-section perpendicular to the comp line and counterbalance line. The stress from the swinging action causes the centre-piece to let go. This is not a big problem, the divers are still floating with their line ... but it will slowly pull away from us. I call a temporary halt to the countdown until we can move it to the free arm. Then I ask Martin if he wants me to start the countdown again.
"No, keep going."
At 4:20 of the 7:00 count, I yell at the camera operators, "Roll 'em" and shout out, "Five minutes". The game is back on.
Martin is attempting free immersion to 102m, one meter more than the current record held by Carlos Coste of Venezuela. His start is good and everything looks as it should today. Martin is in good form and by 32 seconds after the start, he disappears into the depths. Bill Strömberg calls out the times, "1:30 ... 1:45". I start some purges, then pack and get ready to descend. Purging and packing might seem like overkill for 25m, but I prepare as if I will have to spend an extra 1:30 and descend to 40m in case of an emergency. Upon reaching 25m all feels good and my breath-hold is strong. I can see and feel the line pulsing with each pull Martin makes along his way. Unlike Mandy and Doc who are easy to see on their ascents in their silver and gold suits, Martin is still using his darker suit due to a misfitting in the new one's hood. With the black and gold suit, he seems to come out of nowhere when I finally see him.
Pull, glide ... pull, glide ... pull, glide. Martin rhythmically pulls to the surface. No doubt this will be a world record dive as long as the other details are in place. These details include proper video capture, the twenty second rule with an OK sign and removal of mask/goggles, keeping the airway out of the water for 60 seconds, and not touching or being touched by anyone until the judges give the final OK. These are the rules. We've agreed to them. We train by them, and we respect them. When a world record is judged there are three people who need to be taken into account: the athlete who's breaking the record, the athlete who held it, and the athlete who wants it next. It's more than simply hitting the depth and surviving. It's abiding by the rules, training with them and respecting the final decision.
Martin breaks the surface and takes his recovery breaths. Everything is looking good. Martin smiles, gives the OK signal, removes the mask and keeps his airway out of the water. The judges finally give him the "OK" signal after observing him for one minute. Cheers erupt around us! A new world record to 102m in free immersion is set. His second record was free immersion here in 2001. He went to 90m then, now he's 12m deeper. The demons are exorcised.
Martin's next goal is another attempt in constant ballast to 100m, a depth he's more than capable of.
Mandy is up next. The divers are still down and the wind has steadily picked up since we first let go of the mooring. Initially the lee of the island protects us, but slowly the wind pushes us further out to sea into angry water. The waves, although not big rollers are sometimes more annoying than if they were. They splash violently at the most inopportune times, usually while you're trying to take a breath or you're in the middle of a pack. Today Mandy and Doc are put to the test. Unfortunately, the long-term weather forecast isn't looking pretty.
Mandy's soon on her way, although many things are different. There is a different aura present as the weather pushes us to reach deeper, and become more focused and determined NOT to be defeated. Mandy's out of sight, diving 3m deeper than her previous world record set only two days ago. Having attained 78m, she's going for broke and working in the maximum allowed 3m jump. In a few minutes 81m may look like a great idea and an amazing triumph, or hindsight may prove to be 20/20.
At the 1:30 signal from Bill I descend to meet her, but I can already see her and rush to catch up with her at the 17m mark, turn upright and follow. She's tapping her right ear as an indication that she's having trouble equalizing. This explains the timing difference. On the surface everything is fine except for the grimace of pain on her face. Although she could equalize at depth, she started to feel shooting pains in the side of her neck signaling problems in the Eustachian tube. "I didn't squeeze my ear, it just really hurts here", she says pointing to her neck. Martin and I automatically go through a check-list with her: legs, chest, contractions, hypoxia, equipment, ears, narcosis. Everything else is okay, it's just the pain.
She turned at 67m having decided that it wasn't worth jeopardizing the other attempt days. We'll call Dr. Glatz our on-island ear, nose and throat specialist who worked with Brett LeMaster and M&M on the previous attempts here. We'll get it figured out and Mandy'll make another attempt to 81m.
Next up is Doc. By now it's getting annoyingly hard to breathe as the chop has become higher and closer together. When it hits, it's like a slap in the face with a wet towel after being thrown in front of a jet engine. Doc's not going to enjoy this. To top it off, Mandy has gone back to the boat to attend to her ear. I'm breathing up and Martin is getting ready to turn the bottom camera back on. Usually one of us helps support Doc's back or neck to avoid a near drowning scenario, but not today. His last purges start, then packing. With every two packs, he spits one out along with a mouthful of water. Soon he turns, grabs the line and is on his way.
It's amazing how the environment can dictate your style and rhythm. For Mandy and Martin, this has been trained on and overcome, but not for Doc. Now he's pulling too quickly, but is still looking relaxed at the start. I follow Doc a few meters in front and deeper to coach him along. Today his target is 34m, a depth he's attained in training on a day that was a lot more pleasant. At the 24m mark I signal with my throaty 'whaling' sound. He stops to equalize and draw air up, but he's starting to look up and he's working hard to bring air up. It's not happening today, not in this weather. We turn and head for the surface. He looks mad at himself.
One world record and two record attempts. Not really a bad day considering the circumstances, and there are still two days to come. We pull the counterbalance out of the water. This isn't as easy as it was when we had training weights at the bottom! World records require us to have 30kgs / 66lbs at the bottom and when that's attached to the boat in these winds and we're travelling at a couple of knots it makes the lifting much harder. Luckily there's lots of time to do this as our safety rebreather divers have another hour of decompression.
Soon we're back at the West Bay dock and then on our way home. The evening consists of immediate food (sushi at Yoshi's), then bed. Each day we're more easily exhausted, additionally the mental toll of several hundred unanswered emails weighs on several of us. The normalcy of life will return in a week, but even that thought brings about some sadness. For now we'll enjoy the moments, good and bad. It's a very special time in our lives and we will cherish every moment and every experience.
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