Sorry to take so long to answer.



No, don't use the seld thing. I dive in a category called unassisted freediving. No fins, no assistance from sled or weights. If I use any wieghts to pull me down I have to take them back up with me.



The current record is 80m. It's about 265ft...This Oct i'm going for 275ft. My record last year was 65m /213ft. You can check out the video of that record at www.apneablue.com

 

I guess your training pretty heavily to go for a 15m increase. I admire the determination that takes. Best of luck.

 

Nice website there - I took a look at the videos and I'm a bit surprised at the technique that's used - I would have thought that bursts of energy from your arms/legs would use more oxygen than say just kicking at a steady pace, and what's the reason behind stopping swimming just before you reach the surface, howcome you don't go for one last kick and get to the surface a second earlier?



Mark

 

So you are David Lee? Damn. that is awesome. I watched the 65m world record one.



What does it feel like when you come up on the surface? Are you lightheaded or anything of the sort?



When I was on a swim team they made us swim laps without taking a breath. I would go till I started getting floaty and running into the lane dividers before I stopped, and would then be light headed for a couple seconds. I don't remember how long I got it up to, but it was pretty good. I would love to try free diving one day, just to see what I could do.

 

[quote name='inanimate_object' date='Jul 23 2005, 12:21 PM']Nice website there - I took a look at the videos and I'm a bit surprised at the technique that's used - I would have thought that bursts of energy from your arms/legs would use more oxygen than say just kicking at a steady pace, and what's the reason behind stopping swimming just before you reach the surface, howcome you don't go for one last kick and get to the surface a second earlier?



Mark


[/quote]



Thanks man...I like the site too.



The reason I stop kicking is because I have momentum going and also I start to float towards the surface at the same speed I was going. Not doing anything so it's like just going for the ride.

 

[quote name='venomrx7' date='Jul 23 2005, 12:32 PM']So you are David Lee? Damn. that is awesome. I watched the 65m world record one.



What does it feel like when you come up on the surface? Are you lightheaded or anything of the sort?



When I was on a swim team they made us swim laps without taking a breath. I would go till I started getting floaty and running into the lane dividers before I stopped, and would then be light headed for a couple seconds. I don't remember how long I got it up to, but it was pretty good. I would love to try free diving one day, just to see what I could do.


[/quote]





When I get to the surface I have a breathing routine I have to do to keep me from passing out if i am close to that state. But so far. no, haven't had any light headedness yet.



However, I didn't train for one reacord very long and then blacked out and busted an eardrum...no fun.

 

What training methods do you use to lengthen the ammount of time that you can hold your breath?



heh. I bet. eardrums are pretty tender. I bruised my left one from a botched dive from the 7m platform.





Sorry if I'm getting irritating, but anything around water has always been interesting to me, and I have always been like a fish when it comes to swimming. I wish i could do stuff more often.

 

one of my biggest fearts is drowning. i could never do that

 

[quote name='venomrx7' date='Jul 23 2005, 10:08 PM']What training methods do you use to lengthen the ammount of time that you can hold your breath?



heh. I bet. eardrums are pretty tender. I bruised my left one from a botched dive from the 7m platform.

Sorry if I'm getting irritating, but anything around water has always been interesting to me, and I have always been like a fish when it comes to swimming. I wish i could do stuff more often.


[/quote]



Honestly, right now the idea for me is not to lengthen the amount of time I am under....What I am training to do is 3 min to 3:30 of intense work without oxygen...Just sitting there holding your breath doesn't prepare you for that.



If you want to lengthen your breath hold it's as simple as keeping consistent. Before I had propper training I brought myself to 5:30 static (breath hold) just by doing 4 repetitions to maximum 3 nights a week. You can literally see progress over a few days.



Right now my training consists of about 3-4 hours a day 6 days a week of swimming multiple laps under water using different styles and varied distances. Little difficult to explain in detail but that's the gist of it.

 

[quote name='ApneaBlue' date='Jul 24 2005, 12:27 PM']Honestly, right now the idea for me is not to lengthen the amount of time I am under....What I am training to do is 3 min to 3:30 of intense work without oxygen...Just sitting there holding your breath doesn't prepare you for that.



If you want to lengthen your breath hold it's as simple as keeping consistent. Before I had propper training I brought myself to 5:30 static (breath hold) just by doing 4 repetitions to maximum 3 nights a week. You can literally see progress over a few days.



Right now my training consists of about 3-4 hours a day 6 days a week of swimming multiple laps under water using different styles and varied distances. Little difficult to explain in detail but that's the gist of it.


[/quote]



Hmm. That sounds similar to what I did when training for swimming the long races. I would train by swimming each of the four strokes as far as I could go without air. repeat after a short rest period.



And that makes sense about the difference between static hold and hold under exercise.



This is one of those things that I think I could be pretty good at, but have just never got the chance to try. one day...