So, as many good people are, I am addicted to sea water. If you can put me in a boat, in a swim suit, or in a set of dive gear, then put me in the water, I will lick your hand like a pathetically grateful puppy. I've been coming to the Red Sea since I was a young 'un, at first to the Egyptian mainland coast, but, since Sinai was handed back, mostly to the areas around Sharm and Dahab. I was lucky enough to work in the Ras Mohamed National Park for a couple of years, and it is still one of my favourite places on land or at sea. In the 15 years since qualifing as a diver I've clocked up quite a bit of time underwater, both for fun and also working as a research diver. In the last year, as many of my friends have become immersed in technical diving, I've gone the other way and become more interested in freediving, also known as apnea.
In time i'll update this area with dive stories, stupid and happy, discussions about recreational diving, and whatever takes my fancy. Until then you can follow these links to some other places I find useful, or just stare in amazement (not) at my current apnea performance.
I started freediving when I was a kid, just holding my breath and duckdiving for fun, wanting to get closer to the reef or a fish. Later I found myself freediving down to point things out to my marine biology students when we were snorkelling, or just for fun. A SCUBA instructor i know warned me that I'd better do a course in apnea before i drowned myself, and I was surprised to know that such courses even existed. As it turned out Lotta Ericson lives in dahab, is personable and fun, and took me on for a 3 day course that changed my life.
During the course a funny thing happened. Before that freediving had been all about getting closer to the fish. but during the course I found the process of going deeper inside myself was more interesting. Whereas before i had been all about looking at all the pretty reef, now I only had eyes for the training line a few inches in front of my eyes. Through Lotta i've met a bunch of other enthusiasts (particularly Mike, Bevan & Andy) who have taught and inspired me, and who have given me a whole new perspective on life. I trained with Lotta in dahab's blue hole fairly regularly from August to December 2004, then a bout of illness laid me low. I struggled with fitness for most of 2005, and have now resigned myself to concetrating on being fit for 2006. I know I'll never be breaking any records - the beauty of freediving, for me, is that I am only competing against myself.
Static Apnea: 4 mins 20 secs
Constant Weight: 34m