![]() ![]() ![]() Their horizontal distance is recorded across three areas: Dynamic Monofin, using a monofin similar to a mermaid’s tail, which gives the greatest power Dynamic Bifins, where fins are worn on each foot and Dynamic No Fins. Four are pool-based disciplines, with three “Dynamic” categories, where divers swim as far as they can in a 50m pool on a single breath. The AFA aligns with both bodies and adopts similar competition protocols.Įight competitive disciplines are recognised by AFA and the two international bodies. Internationally, two bodies run freediving competitions: the International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA) and the World Underwater Federation (CMAS). Image credit: Aimee JanĬompetitive freediving in Australia is regulated by the AFA, which organises national competitions. The AFA sits under the umbrella of the Australian Underwater Federation, which is the governing body for all underwater sports in Australia. Kyra Andrijich swims beside a school of fish at WA’s Ningaloo Reef during a dive. Freedivers report more intimate interactions with marine life than their scuba diving counterparts. In New South Wales, Cabbage Tree Bay in Sydney is popular, while in Western Australia, it’s hard to go past Ningaloo Reef. Other hotspots include Mornington in Victoria, and Queensland’s Lady Elliot Island, North Stradbroke and freshwater Lake Eacham. In SA there’s Rapid Bay and a freshwater sinkhole near Mount Gambier. Lisa says there are a few particularly favoured places around Australia. The community spirit is also strong in recreational freediving, where groups dive together in swimming pools, freshwater lakes or in the ocean. You’ll go to a competition like World Championships or the Pan Pacifics and you’ll see athletes from other countries coaching each other.” “It’s also the community I love the fact that most people are really willing to support everybody else. “What can happen is that the pain signals get ‘stuck on’, and freediving and meditation help turn it down,” she says. Before she knew it, the club’s community had encouraged her to compete in pool-based competitions and she found herself on the board of the AFA.įor Lisa, freediving and meditation have combined to help her cope with chronic pain. On return to her home in South Australia, she joined her local pool-based freediving club. With many of her usual sports impossible after the injury, Lisa took a freediving course in Bali. “I have a lot of pain and a lot of physical issues that I have to deal with.” “My doctors have said to me they don’t know why I’m walking,” she says. Lisa’s own entry into freediving followed a serious spinal-cord injury in 2008. Other freedivers were previously snorkellers or spearfishers who simply wished to stay underwater longer. Lisa Borg, AFA secretary, explains that many former scuba enthusiasts choose to ditch the bulky equipment, finding the interaction with marine wildlife is enhanced without scuba’s exhaled bubbles. Image credit: Aimee Janįor many, the path to freediving begins with scuba diving. American freediver Rachel Strohl swims beside a whale shark at Ningaloo Reef, WA. Apart from the COVID pause in recording data in 2020, the sport has averaged 40–80 per cent growth annually since 2014. Jody says freediving schools are popping up across the country, and there’s been an exponential increase in people becoming certified freedivers and competing. You get a sense of being suspended in time. “It’s incredibly beautiful and, on top of that, you’re holding your breath, so your heartbeat is slowed. “If you’re on a deep dive in very clear water, you’re surrounded by bright blue and you get these ribbons of light that are just streaming around,” says Jody, who’s also the technical officer of the Australian Freediving Association (AFA), the not-for-profit organisation that promotes freediving in Australia. Why spend more time underwater on a single breath? It’s partly to do with the sensory experience, says Dr Jody Fisher, an applied mathematician working on interdisciplinary areas, including the physiology of freediving.
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