NEWS

Cayman 2004 - Freediving World Record Event

Day 25 - Doc's second record

Yesterday's weather forecast proves correct, winds are gusting to 30 with offshore wave heights of five to six feet. Three of the safety divers cancel as they're needed at work. The weather has the dive shops shuffling their customers and staff around the island trying to find protection, making us a low priority for them today.

Logistically we won't have enough resources to pull off Martin's dive and with this welcome news to him Martin decides to take the day off. This means that Mandy and Doc will have it all to themselves. This also means that neither of them will semi-drown as we drift away from the lee of the island. Without the divers and their need for lengthy bottom time and without the usual wait between Martin and Mandy, we'll be able to tow the counterbalance back to the deep wall mooring.

We set off from the dock at West Bay and head out to our mooring to finish the set up. Mandy will be attempting 81m again. For the second day in a row Mandy's seen the chiropractor for her neck. It's still uncomfortable and, in the wrong position it's difficult for her to take a deep breath. However, she knows she can bail out of the dive if it doesn't feel right. These are challenges that most high level athletes have to deal with. If it's not sinus, ears, ankles, or stomach it can be a host of other issues.

We're in the water. The counterbalance is set-up and Mandy starts her warm-up. Meanwhile the divers slowly pile into the water and take up their positions, readying themselves for the coming seven minute count. The warm-up is going okay, but I see Mandy stretching her neck a lot in the water. Today the counterbalance is reconfigured to be inline, meaning that the safety diver's line is now in between the competition and counterbalance ends. This strengthens the system's structure against the waves and wind, but we'll have to forgo the banners.

The seven minute count starts. The cameras are rolling; the safety divers are prepped. Everything is ready for this last and final attempt. In world record attempts, you're only allowed three attempts in any one discipline during your seven days with the judges. It's a dumb rule in my opinion. Why have the judges for a maximum of seven days and then limit the athletes to three attempts? But this is what the AIDA Assembly has recently decided and we'll live by it. "Five minutes". The divers start descending to depth. Today there's more of a bubble screen as we replace a rebreather diver with an open circuit scuba diver. The rebreather divers use reconditioned gas wholly contained in their unit, while the scuba divers release used air as bubbles into the water. This means that a screen of bubbles is continuously ascending to the surface, limiting our visibility and decreasing the efficiency of our fins as they work through the bubble-filled water.

Mandy finishes the last two minutes of her countdown, but not without instructing me to hold her neck in different ways. Apparently the bouncing of her head and neck in the waves is getting a little uncomfortable. She starts her descent and is soon out of sight. I listen to Bill count up from Mandy's start and am soon leaving for my station at 25m. Once there I soon make out Mandy on her way to the surface and I can see that she's holding the tag. She's made it to the bottom, but whether she made it without her ears causing a problem is yet to be seen. Her undulating dolphin kick looks good as she approaches me. There's no apparent sign of vertigo, which would indicate a ruptured eardrum from unequalized pressures.

We meet at 25m. But now things don't look as good as her successful 78m world record. 81m is the difference of one of Mandy's outstretched body lengths but now she's not in 100% form. Over the last couple of days things have changed, but she remained determined to 'give it a go'. I signal her to make a rotation, telling her that she's under the counterbalance poles. She complies but I can see that things clearly aren't right. She releases a small burst of bubbles, drops her arms and clearly needs assistance. One of the first signs of a samba or loss of motor control (LMC) due to hypoxia is loss of airway control. Now it's up to me and Paul Kotik the second safety diver.

I secure Mandy, protecting her airway while Paul grabs her around the waist. We ascend to the surface a short nine meters away. Once there, Paul supports her in the water above the waves while I remove her nose clip, blow across her face and give her a short breath to help her start breathing. The body has two amazing protective reflexes: the laryngospasm which closes off the throat to prevent water from entering; and a temporary suspension of the breathing response. These are genetically programmed within all of us to prevent water from entering the lungs -- most of us have experienced it while trying to talk and drink at the same time. Now this reflex is working in Mandy's favour and after a five seconds on the surface she announces, "I just had the most amazing dream!".

Mandy is fine on the surface and we try to figure out what led up to her blackout. "Legs?" I query. "Fine, no different than 78m", she replies. We go through the checklist and with each question, "Fine" is the reply. Soon we're at the medic's boat and following safety protocols Mandy breathes oxygen for five minutes as a precautionary measure. Later we identify a couple of factors that may have led to the problem. Of course, the neck is the big one as Mandy can't really relax, but we actively tear apart the dive to see if there's anything else. Mandy remembers being a little chilled just before the attempt. Cold prevents the chest wall from relaxing and being compressible. On this dive neither of her D3 alarms went off at the 10m mark from the bottom. Mandy remembers that she went past the plate until her lanyard tugged at her. The computers' alarms are supposed to be her gentle warning that it's time to look up and make an efficient turn. We figure that she overshot her target and got to 82.5m.

In the end, Mandy is a super trooper. She knows that everything wasn't quite 100%, but then they never really are. She made the depth and equalized fine with no ear problems. We look forward to her next attempt at the 80m+ mark. Maybe at Cyprus if she can get the time off and if Howard will still accept a late entry. Martin, Mandy and I have been talking more about Cyprus and going as the PFD team for fun. Doc and Dianna are talking about joining us for the experience and to help support the adventure. Speaking of Doc, he's up next.

We towed the counterbalance with the divers back to the wall mooring. We're tied up and Doc is in the water. For the past couple of weeks we've been discussing many different techniques. One we mentioned for times when it's hard to equalize is to turn around and touch the plate with your feet. This seems logical enough. In dynamic apnea you can touch with any part of your body. In no-limits and variable ballast your body is no more than three meters from the mark. So, at Doc's last surface prep Mandy encourages him and reminds him of this.

Doc finishes his warm-up and is soon making his way to depth. Today I'm a little shallower than Doc so he won't inadvertently 'look-up' at me. This is at his request and it's smart. His demon all along has been equalizing at depth. Today his target is 34m, a depth he completed previously in training. Meters from the bottom, Doc turns upright. I think he's lost his equalization and is heading up. But no! He pulls himself hand-over-hand to the plate, touches with his foot and ascends. "All right!!", I think to myself. The man's more determined than ever and I'm laughing the whole way to the surface. He's just made 34m, his second United States national record. Upon reaching the surface Doc removes his mask, gives the OK and reminds the judges that he knows the rules. There's still another sixty seconds to go for his airway to be out of the water. Finally both judges give the OK. We all cheer and celebrate Doc's new record. He's done amazingly well. I remark that Team PFD is three for four now, three days of attempts and four records. Doc's kicking Mandy's and Martin's butt on this event for record totals :>)

We unload at the dock and head back to the condo for a quick shower and lunch. But now Rob, our videographer capturing Mandy's attempts, mentions that his arm feels sore and tingly. I go through a quick assessment for decompression sickness. Then I hand him over to Martin who puts him on oxygen and starts hydrating him. I grab Doc from the dock and call John at the hyperbaric chamber to give him a heads up. John was my boss at one time as I volunteered there. Quickly we load Rob into the van and drive off to emergency. Mandy, Martin, Doc and I wait for a couple hours in the hospital until Rob's finally released. He suffered a small DCS problem, but not one they're going to treat in the chamber. He asked to return tomorrow if the problem persists. It may be amazing what the athletes do, but the dive's complexity and issues extend to the safety and support team. Rob's incident is a reminder of this.

With that we end an eventful day of enjoying the ocean. A different kind of enjoyment for some and a learning experience for others. Most importantly, we learn to correct and improve for the next time. Martin will reattempt 100m in constant ballast and Mandy will move on to a couple of attempts at static apnea.

Tomorrow there'll be a different kind of experience and adventure. Doc's wife Dianna, and his sister-in-law Irene will take a ride to 244m / 800' on a deep sub. We'll be meeting it in on its return to the shallows for some video and pictures by Courtney. Excited? Yes!!!

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