What a weekend!
I left work on Friday with a spring in my step (and a massive rucksack on my back), ignoring the dirty looks of all the disgruntled commuters I managed to whack in the face with my fins. The reason for my excitement? After months of anticipation, I was on my way to the National Diving and Activity Centre for my AIDA** course with Saltfree! Sam Kirby, who runs the club, has been incredibly supportive of the challenge from its inception and pledged to provide me with some excellent instuction. She certainly delivered on her promise - Hannah, our course instuctor, was amazing!
Hannah picked me up from the train station in Lydney and within minutes we were talking animatedly about freediving. Hannah's partner Jason listened patiently; he does pretty much every sport except freediving! We arrived at Hannah's beautiful cottage and, having been introduced to Jonah the cat, I decided to get an early night with a book from Hannah's extensive freediving library.
I awoke at 7am in my comfy bed with an unnatural amount of energy! After getting to know each other over a delicious breakfast Hannah and I drove down to the National Diving and Activity Centre (NDAC) to meet the other students. NDAC is a flooded quarry, descibed accurately by Saltfree as "deep, green and unashamedly beautiful". Sheer grey cliffs plunge into sparkling emerald waters.
After setting up the classroom in a convenient port-a-cabin, we waited for the other students to arrive. Harry (an open water swimmer) arrived first, shortly followed by Tom (a climber). For the first time I felt a twinge of apprehension...tall and athletic, with not a centimetre of body fat between them, I felt completely out of place. I thought I might as well have turned up to an IronMan triathlon in a pink sequinned bikini, snacking on a donut. However, it quickly became clear that although both Harry and Tom were naturals at freediving, they were both really kind, friendly guys, with none of the ego that often accompanies such ability.
We headed to the classroom and Hannah outlined the plan for the day, before going through the knowledge reviews we'd completed at home. She gave clear and comprehensive explanations of the things we'd misunderstood, and encouraged us to ask as many questions as we liked. Andy, who won the award for "hard-as-nails" turned up halfway through our classrrom session having completed a long night shift and with only 4 hours sleep! He'd already completed the theory part of the course so was content to sit back and take forty winks as we finished up.
The less said about the process of getting into a freediving wetsuit, the better, I think, apart from the fact that collapsing with the giggles makes it a lot harder than normal.
I should, however, mention that the NDAC makes diving really easy. With warm changing rooms, hot showers, somewhere to buy food, a bus to take you down to the water, and a boat to ferry you across to the platform, you really couldn't ask for anything more. Saltfree's platform, lovingly tended by Sam, is perfectly set up for freediving.
After a comprehensive safety briefing from Hannah, we got started with some breathing exercises. Hannah had us all lie on the platform, and explained how to breathe slowly using the diaphragm, with emphasis on the outward breath. She asked us to tense and release each part of our body, focusing on relaxing every muscle. We then did some short breath-holds, followed by recovery breathing. By the time we finished, my limbs felt like they were filled with lead, while my mind felt clear but empty of consious thought. I simply heard the lapping of the water against the platform, felt the wind on my face and listened to the birds calling overhead. Bringing us back to the present moment, Hannah then showed us specific stretches for the muscles used during freediving and we practiced them together in the watery early morning sunshine.
"Are we ready to get in?!" asked Hannah...
Weightbelts adjusted, fins pulled on, we all piled into the water. It was cold, certainly, but the 5mm wetsuits meant that the shock was momentary. The line was down at 12m and we could see it clearly.
Agile as an otter, Hannah slipped under the water and down to the plate, turned gracefully, and with a few flicks of her fins surfaced with a huge smile.
Han explained and demonstrated free immersion, and gave us some tips to make equalisation easier. I was first, and pulled slowly down the line, stopping to equalise and to marvel at the colour of the water. There was silence, just my heart beating in my chest. As soon as I noticed it, my heartbeat sped up and, turning on the rope, I made the classic newbie mistake of looking for the surface. I'm glad I did, because I saw the shafts of sunlight refracted by the water, which looked like crystals on the roof of a giant green cave. Hannah was right there with me and I couldn't help smiling at her all the way up to the surface. As she returned my smile, I felt we were both thinking the same thing - we're home. Once on the surface, she monitored my revovery breathing; big inhales, passive exhales, until I told her I was OK. She said that I looked more than OK - I looked ecstatic! Harry and Tom went down in turn and came up with the same huge smiles! Andy experienced equalisation problems which unfortunately persisted despite Hannah's helpful suggestions. However, since most of what we were learning was technique, we could all work on this, regardless of depth.
As well as providing general instruction on the correct technique for free immersion and constant weight, Hannah was able instantly to spot where each of us needed to make adjustments. She was even able to demonstrate what we were doing wrong, so that we could see for ourselves the mistakes we were making, and the effect they were having on our streamlining. For example, I needed to "tie an imaginary rubber band around my legs" during free immersion, but make stronger, more powerful kicks during constant weight. Although the boys already had very good streamlining, and were very comfortable in the water, each of us made big improvements in the short time we had during the morning.
Daz, the cheeky and charismatic boat "captain" teased us about the size of our food bag, but we were really glad of it by the time we got to lunch, which we ate together at the picnic tables ovelooking the quarry. We got to know each other a bit better and found out how the path of each of our lives had brought us to freediving. Group cameraderie firmly established with a shared weakness for cream cheese bagels and dirty jokes, Hannah said out loud what I had been thinking; "you meet the best people freediving"!
The afternoon session took us to Lydney swimming pool for static and dynamic. Hannah made sure we were all able to perform rescues for LMC and blackout. In the process of improving our rescue techniqe we discovered that Tom had a hidden talent for acting; his ability to accurately reproduce the effects of a samba was really unnerving! Thanks to my Introduction to Freediving course with London Freediving, I was lucky to already be familiar with much of what was covered in the pool sessions but it was great to be able to practice my rescues.
Tom was my buddy for static. He asked me lots of questions about how I like to do my statics and had a really calm presence. I felt completely comfortable with him buddying me and pushed close to my PB.
Tom was watching attentively as soon as I came up and put a reassuring arm around me, encouraging me to do my recovery breathing. Everyone did a successful dynamic, and we gave a cheer because we'd all passed the course requirements for the pool session.
After a hard day in the water, and having been frustrated by the early closure of the local climbing centre, we decided that it was time for a bit of relaxation. Hannah and I decided that what we really needed was spaghetti bolognese and a hot bath. Tom and Harry decided that what they really needed was spaghetti bolognese and Jessica Alba in a bikini. So we cooked together and talked about freediving, life, the universe, and everything. Hannah's spaghetti bolognese was the best I've ever tasted (the secret ingredients are chorizo, marmite and olives). Then we opened a bottle of wine and ate sprawled on cushions while watching a cheesy freediving movie. It was the perfect end to the day!
Returning to NDAC on day two I noticed that were were subject to some amused glances by some of the SCUBA divers, who were busy hauling around complex technical rigs. Harry, who sometimes works at NDAC was teased good-naturedly by someone he knew: "Like it do ya? Next thing you'll only be eating organic vegetables and doing yoga! Ha!". It seems that us freedivers might have a leetle bit of an image problem ;). It was time for the AIDA** exam in the morning. Exams (even little ones) make me pretty nervous but Hannah's teaching meant that everyone passed with flying colours.
After some different stretching and breathing exercises, it was time to start duck-diving. Hannah laughed as she said that this was usually really funny for the instructors!
Sure enough, our first few attempts involved an inordinate amount of splashing and fins waving about in the air but with Hannah's pointers, we rapidly improved. After 15 minutes, Hannah was describing some of the duck-dives going on as "beautiful". As a swimmer, I reckon Harry had the edge - he seemed not to create even a ripple! We made some LMC rescues at the surface and then rescues from 5-10m in which we brought the "unconscious" diver to the surface, protecting their airways, removing their mask, and following the mantra of "Blow, Tap, Talk". Hannah regaled us with the tale of the instructor who got so fed up of his students forgetting to "Blow, Tap, Talk", he had T-shirts printed with the slogan! Once again, Tom's acting abilities came into their own...
The focus for the afternoon was constant weight and the line was dropped to the course depth requirement of 16m. We continued to work on our duck dives, our orientation to the line, finning technique and added in the challenge of an efficient turn on the line. Tom and Harry made a really comfortable dives to 16m but I kept on turning before the plate. I knew my static time was more than enough to get me to the plate and back but I found it really hard to get into a relaxed mind-frame, even with a long breathe-up. I wasn't experiencing any urge to breathe but my mind just shouted: "TURN!". Hannah explained to me that since we were diving to 12m over and over, it's possible I had subconsciously created a "glass floor" at that depth. She reminded me of what I'd said the night before: "we've got our whole lives to freedive, we don't need to race to depth in the first two days!". She suggested I try free immersion instead of constant weight, which I like because it's slower and helps me to relax. But I still couldn't make it. I was frustrated and upset, which made me doubt my ability, which meant that it became even harder. I was aware of all of this and took time out on the platform to warm up and do breathing exercises and some of the positive visualisations I do for static.
The plate was dropped to 20m so that Harry and Tom could try out a bit more depth, and perhaps experience the "glide phase". Both were down at 20m on their first attempt. They made it look so easy! "It's so quiet down there", Tom told me. "It's a really intense, deep green, and it's colder too". "Come on, Grace", said Hannah, who could see the longing in my eyes, "Harry's going to buddy you for your big dive". There was no pressure, from Hannah or the other divers; I wanted to try again because somewhere inside me I
knew I could do it.
Last deep, sweet, breath, duckdive fluidly into the green. Look at the line...remember to make strong, wide fin strokes...start to feel a rhythm...finally feel the mind quiet and relax, and time slow. Feel an almost imperceptible pull deeper. It's only the start of negative buoyancy but it feels like straining to hear someone you love calling your name. Sudden stab of fear...last few determined kicks for the plate. Turn. Mind focussed now, kick steadily. Eyes on the line. Don't look up. Phew, there's Harry! Feel positive buoyancy kicking in again, it's easy now. Stop kicking and fly toward the surface. Smile so much that water starts creeping into your mask...forget the need to breathe entirely. Break the surface, hear "breathe, Grace, breathe, breathe, breathe". Complete surface protocol and "Whoooooooooooooooooo! I did it!". Hug everyone.
I thought the weekend couldn't possibly get any better but once we'd finished the course, there were some time left to playing on the "attractions" sunk at the end of the quarry; containers, tubes, and even a armoured people carrier! As we were freediving through the container a group of SCUBA divers turned to watch us, wide-eyed! Hannah and I both had "Bond-girl" moments ascending through the tubes. We even got to see the enormous trout that hang around the pontoon, since Daz was kind enough to feed them so that they would come up close, flashing silver as they darted toward the surface.
As you can probably tell, I had the most incredible weekend with Saltfree! As well as being a lovely person, Hannah was an outstanding instructor. Her energy and enthusiasm created a wonderfully positive atmosphere within which to learn. She spent time with each of us individually, addressing our particular difficulties, so that we were able to make great progress. I know that she'll be there for me as my freediving journey progresses, and I'm really grateful to have her as my guide.
I'll give the final word to my buddies! We've already arranged to meet up again. for more freediving :D
Harry: "Had an amazing weekend with Saltfree - can't believe we dove to 20m, Hannah was a brilliant teacher and an excellent host (must steal that spag bol recipe from her). Has got to be the best underwater course I've ever done, the two weeks until we all get back in the water again seems way too long."
Tom: "Thanks again for an amazing weekend - it has absolutley put me on a high and it is largely due to having such an excellent instructor/hostess!"
