Deep diving without scuba gear. Scuba diving without scuba gear

Freediving is diving underwater while holding your breath. Today, most of those who are interested associate freediving with superhumans, plunging into the darkest depths of the ocean with a single breath, able to control the body and mind so masterfully that they return to the surface tens of minutes later safe and sound (with a net of pearls or treasures of sunken ships). But every time you dive into the water and hold your breath, you are already a freediver. What is freediving really?

Diving without scuba is called free diving, skin diving and snorkeling. These techniques may use a mask, snorkel and fins, but freediving will always involve holding your breath. Breath-hold diving was previously practiced for survival - oyster fishing, pearling ... More recently, freediving has become a recreational sport and recreation.

With the development of freediving competitions, methods and techniques are also developing to help prolong the holding of the breath. More recently, apnea records have been recorded differently in salt and fresh water Now a lot of the rules have changed. Freediving as a sport is becoming an increasingly serious discipline.

Types of freediving

Consider modern technology freediving a little more detail.

"Open Water" disciplines of freediving

Constant Weight Freediving (CWT)

You can dive with or without fins. This is a competitive discipline, considered the purest form of freediving: the diver descends and ascends using his own weight and muscle strength, the weight remains the same throughout the dive.

Constant weight with fins, along with static apnea, were the first two competitive disciplines before dynamic apnea with fins. In the first international competitions, most of the competitors competed with bi-fins, and only a handful of athletes preferred the monofin. Now the advantage of the monofin has become universally recognized and is used by all deep-sea freedivers.

IN last years constant weight freediving without fins (CNF) is becoming increasingly popular. In competitions, CNF has its own category, although 20-30 years ago, deep-sea diving without equipment was prohibited and was considered very dangerous. Diving at constant weight without fins can be a challenge in overcoming positive buoyancy and then negative buoyancy on the ascent.

Free Immersion (FIM)

A discipline in which no fins are used and the diver holds on to the line while descending and ascending. This technique is often used as a CNF warm-up: you can save your legs and.

Freediving is widely used in beginner freediving courses, whereby beginners can learn ear blowing skills. Novice divers who are unaccustomed to pressure changes can dive “feet first” at first, and in this case they cannot do without a cable. Many freediving training programs are discussed in the article.

Variable Weight Freediving (VWT)

In this discipline, additional weight is used to facilitate the dive, the diver returns on his own - with the help of fins and a cable. This is not a competitive freediving discipline, but it holds its own world records.

Freediving "No Limits" (NLT)

Freediving without limits creates the most breaking news. He is also the most dangerous. It uses weighting and various buoyancy compensators to lift the diver to the surface. Not every freediver practices No Limits, but these methods were used by apnea pioneers Jacques Mayol and Enzo Mallorca.

In the sixties it became possible to use a special tank that lifts the diver to the surface. However, the deeper the dive became, the less effective this method was. Breaks in the filling hose often occurred, and the risk of nitrogen narcosis always left doubts about the adequacy of the diver, who had to perform a series of actions to successfully fill the tank with air and ascend. Now the most extreme freedivers use special buoyancy compensators, the result of which does not depend on the air or the diver - everything happens automatically.

Freediving in the pool

Static sleep apnea (STA)

Static apnea is one of the most psychologically challenging disciplines in freediving. The point is to hold your breath for as long as possible while lying on the surface of the water in the pool - nothing should distract the diver, while it is very easy to give up quickly, being millimeters from the surface.

Static apnea, along with constant weight with fins, is one of the main competitive disciplines. You can practice holding your breath all year round in the pool. Training develops self-confidence and mental strength.

Dynamic sleep apnea (DYN and DNF)

Dynamic apnea can be practiced with or without fins. The discipline is often performed in the pool and is based on the passage of the maximum horizontal distance while holding the breath. Often included in the program of team competitions, using fins.

Equalization of intra-ear pressure is difficult for some divers, and dynamic apnea allows you to stay in shape without the need for a deep dive.

Records are set in each of the disciplines of freediving, but freediving is above all the pleasure and enjoyment of contemplation under water world. Freedivers have the opportunity to receive more joy from communion with nature, without burdening yourself additional equipment. You can practice any of the types of free diving, getting a lot of advantages of this sport. But you need to start acquaintance with an environment unusual for a person with a good instructor next to you, who will help you understand the equipment, will literally hold your hand during the first dives. The first few steps are described in the article.

In conclusion, I will give my definition: freediving is unique look extreme with control and suppression of adrenaline. Enjoy!

We live on a water planet, but we know less about Earth's oceans than some cosmic bodies. More than half of the surface of Mars has been artographed with a resolution of about 20 m - and only 10-15% of the ocean floor has been studied with a resolution of at least 100 m. 12 people have visited the Moon, at the bottom Mariana Trench- three, and all of them did not dare to stick their noses out of heavy-duty bathyscaphes.

We dive

The main difficulty in the development of the oceans is pressure: for every 10 m of depth, it increases by one more atmosphere. When the count reaches thousands of meters and hundreds of atmospheres, everything changes. Liquids flow differently, gases behave unusually... Devices capable of withstanding these conditions remain a piece product, and even the most modern submarines are not designed for such pressure. The limiting depth of immersion of the latest nuclear submarine of the project 955 "Borey" is only 480 m.

Divers descending hundreds of meters are respectfully called aquanauts, comparing them with space explorers. But the abyss of the seas is in its own way more dangerous than the cosmic vacuum. If it happens that the crew working on the ISS will be able to transfer to the docked spacecraft and in a few hours will be on the surface of the Earth. This path is closed to divers: it may take weeks to evacuate from the depths. And this term cannot be reduced under any circumstances.

However, there is an alternative way to the depth. Instead of creating more rugged housings, you can send there ... live divers. The record of pressure endured by the testers in the laboratory is almost twice the capacity of the submarines. There is nothing incredible here: the cells of all living organisms are filled with the same water, which freely transfers pressure in all directions.

The cells do not resist the water column, like the solid hulls of submarines, they compensate for the external pressure with the internal one. No wonder the inhabitants of "black smokers", including roundworms and shrimp, feel great at many kilometers deep of the ocean floor. Some types of bacteria tolerate well even thousands of atmospheres. Man is no exception here - with the only difference that he needs air.

Under the surface

Oxygen Reed breathing tubes were known to the Mohicans of Fenimore Cooper. Today, hollow stems of plants have been replaced by tubes made of plastic, "anatomically shaped" and with comfortable mouthpieces. However, this did not add to their efficiency: the laws of physics and biology interfere.


Already at a meter depth, the pressure on the chest rises to 1.1 atm - 0.1 atm of the water column is added to the air itself. Breathing here requires a noticeable effort of the intercostal muscles, and only trained athletes can cope with this. At the same time, even their strength will be enough for a short time and a maximum of 4-5 m of depth, and for beginners it is difficult to breathe even at half a meter. In addition, the longer the tube, the more air it contains. The “working” tidal volume of the lungs averages 500 ml, and after each exhalation, part of the exhaust air remains in the tube. Each breath brings less oxygen and more carbon dioxide.

To deliver Fresh air required forced ventilation. By pumping gas under high pressure, it is possible to facilitate the work of the muscles of the chest. This approach has been used for over a century. Hand pumps have been known to divers since the 17th century, and in the middle of the 19th century, English builders who built underwater foundations for bridge piers were already working for a long time in an atmosphere of compressed air. For the work, thick-walled underwater chambers, open from below, were used, in which high pressure was maintained. That is, caissons.

Deeper than 10 m

Nitrogen During work in the caissons themselves, no problems arose. But when returning to the surface, the builders often developed symptoms that the French physiologists Paul and Vattel described in 1854 as On ne paie qu'en sortant - "retribution at the exit." It could be severe itching of the skin or dizziness, pain in the joints and muscles. In the most severe cases, paralysis developed, loss of consciousness followed, and then death.


Heavy-duty suits can be used to go deep without any of the complications associated with extreme pressure. It's extremely complex systems, which withstand immersion to hundreds of meters and keep inside comfortable pressure in 1 atm. True, they are very expensive: for example, the price of the recently introduced spacesuit by the Canadian company Nuytco Research Ltd. EXOSUIT is about a million dollars.

The problem is that the amount of gas dissolved in a liquid directly depends on the pressure above it. This also applies to air, which contains about 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen (other gases - carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane, hydrogen, etc. - can be neglected: their content does not exceed 1%). If oxygen is quickly assimilated, then nitrogen simply saturates the blood and other tissues: with an increase in pressure by 1 atm, an additional 1 liter of nitrogen dissolves in the body.

With a rapid decrease in pressure, excess gas begins to evolve violently, sometimes foaming like an open bottle of champagne. The resulting blisters can physically deform tissues, clog vessels and cut off their blood supply, leading to a wide variety of and often severe symptoms. Fortunately, physiologists figured out this mechanism rather quickly, and already in the 1890s, decompression sickness could be prevented by applying a gradual and careful decrease in pressure to normal - so that nitrogen leaves the body gradually, and blood and other fluids do not “boil” .

At the beginning of the 20th century, the English researcher John Haldane compiled detailed tables with recommendations on the optimal modes of descent and ascent, compression and decompression. Experimenting with animals, and then with people - including himself and his loved ones - Haldane found that the maximum safe depth that does not require decompression is about 10 m, and even less during a long dive. The return from the depth should be done in stages and slowly to give the nitrogen time to release, but it is better to descend rather quickly, reducing the time for excess gas to enter the tissues of the body. People opened new limits of depth.


Deeper than 40 m

Helium The struggle with depth is like an arms race. Having found a way to overcome the next obstacle, people took a few more steps - and met a new obstacle. So, after the decompression sickness, a misfortune opened up, which divers almost lovingly call "nitrogen squirrel". The fact is that under hyperbaric conditions this inert gas begins to act no worse than strong alcohol. In the 1940s, the intoxicating effect of nitrogen was studied by another John Haldane, the son of "the same one." The dangerous experiments of his father did not bother him at all, and he continued the harsh experiments on himself and his colleagues. “One of our subjects had a ruptured lung,” the scientist recorded in the journal, “but now he is recovering.”

Despite all the research, the mechanism of nitrogen intoxication has not been established in detail - however, the same can be said about the effect of ordinary alcohol. Both disrupt the normal transmission of signals in synapses nerve cells, and possibly even change the permeability of cell membranes, turning ion-exchange processes on the surfaces of neurons into complete chaos. Outwardly, both manifest themselves in a similar way. A diver who "caught a nitrogen squirrel" loses control of himself. He can panic and cut the hoses, or, conversely, get carried away by retelling jokes to a flock of funny sharks.

Other inert gases also have a narcotic effect, and the heavier their molecules, the less pressure is required for this effect to manifest itself. For example, xenon anesthetizes under normal conditions, while lighter argon only under a few atmospheres. However, these manifestations are deeply individual, and some people, plunging, feel nitrogen intoxication much earlier than others.


You can get rid of the anesthetic effect of nitrogen by reducing its intake into the body. This is how nitrox breathing mixtures work, containing an increased (sometimes up to 36%) proportion of oxygen and, accordingly, a reduced amount of nitrogen. Even more tempting would be to switch to pure oxygen. After all, this would allow a fourfold reduction in the volume of breathing cylinders or a fourfold increase in the time of work with them. However, oxygen is an active element, and if inhaled for a long time, it is toxic, especially under pressure.

Pure oxygen causes intoxication and euphoria, leads to damage to the membranes in the cells of the respiratory tract. At the same time, the lack of free (reduced) hemoglobin makes it difficult to remove carbon dioxide, leads to hypercapnia and metabolic acidosis, triggering physiological responses hypoxia. A person suffocates, despite the fact that his body has enough oxygen. As the same Haldane Jr. established, even at a pressure of 7 atm, you can breathe pure oxygen for no longer than a few minutes, after which breathing disorders begin, convulsions - everything that is called in diving slang short word"blackout".

Liquid breathing

A still semi-fantastic approach to conquering depth is to use substances that can take over the delivery of gases instead of air - for example, a blood plasma substitute, perftoran. In theory, the lungs can be filled with this bluish liquid and, saturating it with oxygen, pump it through, providing breathing without any gas mixture at all. However, this method remains deeply experimental, many experts consider it to be a dead end, and, for example, in the USA, the use of perftoran is officially prohibited.

Therefore, the partial pressure of oxygen during breathing at depth is maintained even lower than normal, and nitrogen is replaced with a safe and non-euphoric gas. Light hydrogen would be better than others, if not for its explosiveness in a mixture with oxygen. As a result, hydrogen is rarely used, and the second lightest gas, helium, has become a common substitute for nitrogen in the mixture. On its basis, oxygen-helium or oxygen-helium-nitrogen respiratory mixtures are produced - helioxes and trimixes.

Deeper than 80 m

Complex mixtures Here it is worth saying that compression and decompression at pressures of tens and hundreds of atmospheres drag on for a long time. So much so that it makes the work of industrial divers - for example, when servicing offshore oil platforms - ineffective. The time spent at depth becomes much shorter than long descents and ascents. Already half an hour at 60 m results in more than an hour of decompression. After half an hour at 160 m, it will take more than 25 hours to return - and divers have to go even lower.

Therefore, for several decades, deep-sea pressure chambers have been used for these purposes. People sometimes live in them for whole weeks, working in shifts and making excursions outside through the airlock compartment: the pressure of the respiratory mixture in the "dwelling" is maintained equal to the pressure aquatic environment around. And although decompression when ascending from 100 m takes about four days, and from 300 m - more than a week, a decent period of work at depth makes these losses of time quite justified.


Methods for prolonged stay in an environment with increased pressure have been developed since the middle of the 20th century. Large hyperbaric complexes made it possible to create the necessary pressure in the laboratory, and the brave testers of that time set one record after another, gradually moving into the sea. In 1962, Robert Stenuy spent 26 hours at a depth of 61 m, becoming the first aquanaut, and three years later, six Frenchmen, breathing trimix, lived at a depth of 100 m for almost three weeks.

This is where new problems start long stay people in isolation and in debilitatingly uncomfortable environments. Due to the high thermal conductivity of helium, divers lose heat with each exhalation of the gas mixture, and in their "house" they have to maintain a consistently hot atmosphere - about 30 ° C, and water creates high humidity. In addition, the low density of helium changes the timbre of the voice, making communication very difficult. But even all these difficulties taken together would not put a limit to our adventures in the hyperbaric world. There are more important restrictions.

Deeper than 600 m

Limit In laboratory experiments, individual neurons growing "in a test tube" do not tolerate extremely high pressure well, demonstrating erratic hyperexcitability. It seems that in this case, the properties of cell membrane lipids change markedly, so that it is impossible to resist these effects. The result can also be observed in the nervous system of a person under enormous pressure. He begins to “turn off” every now and then, falling into short periods of sleep or stupor. Perception is difficult, the body is tremored, panic sets in: a high-pressure nervous syndrome (NSVD) develops, due to the very physiology of neurons.


In addition to the lungs, there are other cavities in the body that contain air. But they communicate with environment very thin channels, and the pressure in them is not immediately equalized. For example, the cavities of the middle ear are connected to the nasopharynx only by a narrow Eustachian tube, which, moreover, is often clogged with mucus. The inconvenience associated with this is familiar to many aircraft passengers who have to tightly close their nose and mouth and exhale sharply, equalizing the pressure of the ear and the external environment. Divers also use this “blowing”, and when they have a cold, they try not to dive at all.

The addition of small (up to 9%) amounts of nitrogen to the oxygen-helium mixture makes it possible to somewhat weaken these effects. Therefore, record dives on heliox reach the level of 200–250 m, and on nitrogen-containing trimix - about 450 m in the open sea and 600 m in a compression chamber. The legislators in this area were - and still are - French aquanauts. The alternation of air, complex breathing mixtures, cunning dive and decompression modes allowed divers to overcome the bar of 700 m of depth back in the 1970s, and COMEX, created by the students of Jacques Cousteau, made COMEX the world leader in diving maintenance of offshore oil platforms. The details of these operations remain military and commercial secrets, so researchers from other countries are trying to catch up with the French, moving in their own ways.

Trying to go deeper, Soviet physiologists explored the possibility of replacing helium with heavier gases such as neon. Experiments to simulate diving to 400 m in an oxygen-neon atmosphere were carried out in the hyperbaric complex of the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in the secret "underwater" NII-40 of the Ministry of Defense, as well as in the Research Institute of Oceanology named after. Shirshov. However, the heaviness of neon showed its downside.


It can be calculated that already at a pressure of 35 atm the density of the oxygen-neon mixture is equal to the density of the oxygen-helium mixture at about 150 atm. And then - more: our airways are simply not adapted for "pumping" such a thick environment. IBMP testers reported that when the lungs and bronchi work with such a dense mixture, there is a strange and heavy feeling, "as if you are not breathing, but drinking air." In the waking state, experienced divers can still cope with this, but during periods of sleep - and you can’t get to such a depth without spending long days descending and ascending - they wake up every now and then with a panicky sensation of suffocation. And although the military aquanauts from NII-40 managed to reach the 450-meter bar and receive the well-deserved medals of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, this did not fundamentally solve the issue.

New diving records can still be set, but we seem to have reached the final limit. Unbearable density of the respiratory mixture, on the one hand, and nervous syndrome high pressures- on the other hand, they seem to put the final limit on human travel under extreme pressure.

There are many more places on earth about which we know less than about the vast expanses of space. It's about first of all about unconquerable water depths. According to scientists, science has not actually begun to study mysterious life at the bottom of the oceans, all research is at the beginning of the journey.

From year to year, there are more and more brave souls who are ready to perform a new record deep dive. In the presented material, I would like to talk about swims without equipment, with scuba gear and with the help of bathyscaphes, which have gone down in history.

Deepest human dive

For a long time, the champion in the field of freediving was the French athlete Loic Leferm. In 2002, he managed to make a deep dive to 162 meters. Many divers tried to improve this figure, but died in the depths of the sea. In 2004, Leferm himself became a victim of his own vanity. During a training swim in the oceanic basin of Villefranche-sur-Mer, he plunged to 171 meters. However, the athlete did not manage to rise to the surface.

The last record deep dive was made by Austrian freediver Herbert Nietzsch. He managed to descend 214 meters without an oxygen tank. Thus, the achievement of Loïc Leferme is a thing of the past.

Record deep-sea dive for women

Several records among women were set by the French athlete Audrey Mestre. On May 29, 1997, she dived as much as 80 meters in one breath hold, without an air tank. A year later, Audrey broke her own record, dropping into deep sea at 115 meters. In 2001, the athlete plunged as much as 130 meters. The specified record, which has the status of a world among women, is assigned to Audrey to this day.

On October 12, 2002, Mestre made her one last try in life, diving without equipment to 171 meters off the coast Dominican Republic. The athlete used only a special load, not having oxygen cylinders with her. The rise was to be carried out with the help of an air dome. However, the latter was not filled. 8 minutes after the deep dive started, Audrey's body was brought to the surface by scuba divers. As the official cause of death of the athlete, problems with equipment for lifting to the surface were noted.

Record-breaking scuba diving

Now let's talk about deep-sea scuba diving. The most significant of them was carried out by the French diver Pascal Bernabe. In the summer of 2005, he managed to descend into the depths of the sea at 330 meters. Although it was originally planned to conquer a depth of 320 meters. Such a significant record took place as a result of a small incident. During the descent, the rope stretched at Pascal, which made it possible to swim 10 extra meters in depth.

The diver managed to successfully ascend to the surface. The ascent lasted a long 9 hours. The reason for this slow rise was high risk development, which could lead to respiratory arrest and damage to blood vessels. It is worth noting that in order to set a record, Pascal Bernaba had to spend as much as 3 years in constant training.

Record diving in a bathyscaphe

On January 23, 1960, scientists Donald Walsh and Jacques Piccard set the record for diving to the bottom of the ocean in a manned vehicle. On board the small submarine Trieste, the researchers reached the bottom at a depth of 10,898 meters.

The deepest dive in a manned submersible was carried out thanks to the construction of the device Deepsea Challenger, which took the designers a long 8 years. This mini-submarine is a streamlined capsule weighing more than 10 tons and with a wall thickness of 6.4 cm. It is noteworthy that before commissioning, the bathyscaphe was tested several times with a pressure of 1160 atmospheres, which is higher than the figure that was supposed to affect the walls of the apparatus on the ocean floor .

In 2012, the famous American film director James Cameron, piloting the mini-submarine Deepsea Challenger, conquered the previous record set on the Trieste apparatus, and even improved it by diving 11 km into the Mariinsky Trench.

- this special kind scuba diving. After all, in order to be under water, a person only needs to hold his breath.

This earliest form of diving is still popular today both in sports and in commerce. And it is constantly evolving.

The record for holding the breath already reaches 12 minutes, and the record for diving in depth has long exceeded 100 meters. Probably, after all, there is no limit to human capabilities.

Non-scuba dive depth record

Divers Enzo Mallorca and Jacques Mayol set the first dive record without scuba gear. They dived to a depth of 100 meters. But their result was not officially recorded in sports records.

But thanks to the film by Luc Besson "The Blue Abyss" their names will always be remembered (they became the prototypes of the main characters of the film).

In 2002, French freediver Loic Leferme set a truly amazing record. Without scuba gear, he dived to a depth of 162 meters. Before that, his own record was 137 meters. In 2004, Loic Leferme decided to set another record. He plunged to a depth of 171 meters, but could not swim out.

dive world record

It is considered the most popular type of scuba diving without scuba gear. But in the system International Association developmental sleep apnea (AIDA) there are many other disciplines in this area.

For example, static and dynamic sleep apnea, constant weight in fins" and so on. And in every discipline the records are amazing.

In the category " free dive» A new world record was set in 2013 at the World Championships in freediving in Greece. The record holder among women was the Russian woman Natalya Molchanova. She sank to a depth of 91 meters. Among men, the record was set in 2011 and has not been broken since.

Then the record holder was William Trubridge from New Zealand. He dived to a depth of 121 meters.
became Natalia Molchanova. At first, she set a record in 2009, and then in 2013 she broke it herself.

Diving to great depths is very dangerous. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare for such dives not only for months, but for years. To achieve the described results is possible only through constant training. Read about diving on our website and get results. If you want to set a world record in free diving, then start preparing now.

The water element attracted and attracted people, diving under water has been a popular and interesting activity since ancient times. To dive underwater, it is important to study and train. Diving into the water requires the jumper to have certain skills, abilities, knowledge of methods and the right technique. Diving under water is loved by adults and children, because it is at the bottom that the mysterious and mysterious is hidden. Diving and diving without scuba gear is a difficult task, requiring preliminary preparation and special lung training.

Freediving is fun and hard work. For those who feel free in the water, it will reveal its beauties and secrets. The correct resumption of breathing after diving will ensure good health and will make you want to repeat the underwater journey. The technique of diving into the water is difficult, but everyone can master it by choosing the appropriate way to dive into the water. extreme diving in cold water require courage and willpower. It is important to know where to start and how to end this process in order to avoid unpleasant consequences and not harm your health.

diving into the water

Swimming is considered a life skill for a person. People who know how to swim feel confident on the water, risk less, as they are able to assess and respond to any situation near the water. The work of many people is associated with this element, swimming for them is included in official duties. Sports and water are inseparable, water sports are popular and loved by people. Diving into the water is part of general concept"applied swimming", that is, the ability to hold on and the ability to act in the elements of water.

Photo 1. Diving under water in the pool should be done with a breath hold so that water does not enter the lungs

Diving under water is a process when a person stays under water, without filling the lungs with air. Diving skill is used by athletes to set a record, and ordinary people in everyday life. The practical development of the technique of diving into the water will allow you to extend the time spent under water and recover after diving. Prolonged breath holding is possible with regular training of the lungs with knowledge of special breathing techniques.

Diving types:

  1. In length. In this case, movement under water is carried out at a depth of 1-2 meters in the position of the body horizontal to the bottom.
  2. To the depth. The swimmer penetrates the water vertically, reaching a depth of 5-6 meters.
  3. Combined. A combination of the first and second types of diving, during which the swimmer goes vertically to the depth and takes a horizontal position while swimming the distance.

Competent and technical diving allows you to set the movement vector and reduce the speed of reaching depth. Having reached the bottom, the swimmer helps himself by grouping and pushing his body to the water surface.

Photo 2. For prolonged swimming under water, special nose clips are used to prevent fluid from entering the nasopharynx

Diving technique

Diving into the water - ways:

  • from the base position. In this case, applied jumps into the water are performed from a support: the side of the boat, the bedside table or the side of the pool, the jump from the shore of the reservoir. Jumping into the water without information about the state of the bottom is life-threatening.
  • With an unsupported position. In this case, the swimmer dives from the surface of the water. To overcome water obstacles or rescue a drowning person, diving skills are used precisely from an unsupported position.

Photo 3. Correct technique diving into the water from the support position

Diving methods have their own techniques. It is important that the beginner knows about them and learns correct execution on the water.

Diving from the "support" position:

  1. Feet forward. The edge of the pool acts as a support, they take the following body position: the feet are connected, the hands are lowered and pressed to the body, the head is held straight, the eyes are in front of you. Perform a body feed forward and take a step right foot, starting from a solid support. Later, the left leg comes off the surface and joins the right leg in flight. In the process of entering the water, the socks are pulled back. Entry into the water is allowed "from the jump." Athletes take the starting position: feet are side by side parallel, legs are bent at the knees, arms are extended and pressed to the body, head and gaze are forward. They push off to make a jump up and forward, trying to keep the body position vertical, pulling the socks when entering the water.
  2. Head forward. The starting pedestal serves as a support. The athlete stands on the pedestal and grabs its edge with his toes. The starting position is this - the feet are connected together, and the arms are raised and extended. For immersion, they move forward with the body and bend their legs, perform a push and take off with a straight body in the direction forward and down. Another type of diving is used as a starting jump during distance swimming breaststroke, front crawl or dolphin.

Photo 4. Immersion in water from a support - a ten-meter tower in the pool

Diving from the "without support" position:

  1. Legs down. The body is grouped: the knees rise to the chest, the feet approach the pelvis, the arms are extended forward. Stroke with your hands down so that your shoulders are above the water. A push with the legs until they are straightened in a downward direction allows you to raise the body from the water column to the level of the lumbar region, while the body position is straight, and the socks are pulled. Further, gravity forces a person to sink under water, for deepening, accompanying hand swings to the sides and up are used.
  2. Head down. Immersion is carried out from the starting position: knees next to the chest, feet pressed to the pelvis, arms extended. The athlete inhales deeply, lowering his head into the water. At the same time, the arms and body tend to the bottom, and the legs rise above the water surface. The increase in the depth of immersion occurs due to the increased work of the arms back and down through the sides.
  3. Diving in length. They perform a sharp and powerful stroke with one hand, while the other hand remains in front, the legs work in a crawl. After the stroke, they turn their head towards the moving arm, inhaling air into the lungs. When the hands are joined, the person bends the legs at the hip joint, trying to immerse the hands and the front of the body to the depth. The legs continue to make movements similar to crawl swimming, the torso straightens horizontally. So the athlete moves in the water column for a distance.

Photo 5. Diving into the water without support upside down using a nose clip and goggles

The basis of diving techniques and techniques is the popular styles of swimming dolphin, breaststroke and crawl, elements of swimming on one side and the other. Combining elements from different swimming techniques allows you to achieve speed and depth of immersion. The structure and strength of swimming movements differ from the classical requirements and norms of the above styles, but this is considered acceptable in diving.

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Scuba diving without scuba gear

A long swim under water is the dream of any person if an underwater journey passes through the seabed with coral reefs and their inhabitants. Diving under water without scuba requires energy and strength from the swimmer. Scuba diving training takes place taking into account the readiness of the person. Increase the intensity and duration of classes gradually, focusing on the well-being and readiness of the swimmer for a new one. An important element of the technique is the resumption of breathing after immersion under water. The features of scuba diving without scuba gear include ambient noise effects, pressure drops, eardrum sensitivity and psycho-emotional stress.

The record was set in 2002 by French freediver Loic Leferm. He sank without scuba gear to a depth of 162 meters. In 2004, the same athlete made a tragic dive to a depth of 171 meters, but could no longer get out of the water.

Free diving is carried out in a mask for convenience and with a partner for safety, in calm water without waves. It is important to remember that head maneuvers are prohibited because of the pressure on the eardrums, with the risk of damaging them. Any movement is done with the whole body and in parallel with the bottom. Having plunged, to eliminate discomfort in the ears, pinch the nose and try to forcefully exhale through it. Thanks to regular workouts and skills, you will feel like a part of the vast water world, unusual and bewitching.

Photo 6. Diving into water without scuba gear requires well-developed lungs for long breath holding

Features of diving in cold water

Water is strength, health and sport. Cold water is a medium for testing a person for strength. Ice water hardens the body, strengthens the human spirit and character. Contact with cold water This is an emotional shake-up, which is almost impossible to get used to. Diving into cold water is an effort and a victory over yourself.

The positive effects of cold water on a person:

  • Gymnastics for blood vessels and capillaries.
  • Training for skin receptors.
  • Improvement of vital organs and systems.
  • Element of hardening of the body.
  • training nervous system.
  • Strengthening metabolic processes in the body.
  • Neutralization of the body's positive charge.
  • Purification of the body from harmful gases.
  • Systematization of the movement of fluids in the human body.

Photo 7. Diving in cold water heals the body and improves immunity

Contacts with cold water begin with comfortable temperature, distributing the load, without undue stress and with a positive fighting spirit. It is important to know that the healing effect of low temperature water is achieved with short-term exposure. This method does not cancel other procedures that are beneficial to health and pleasant for a person.

Resumption of breathing after diving

Holding your breath for a long time is the key to deep diving. The brain is capable of life without oxygen for 3-4 minutes. Due to what air is saved and how viability is maintained during a long respiratory delay. This skill can be learned through regular training and increasing the time spent without oxygen. On average, a person is able to delay the respiratory reflex for 1-3 minutes. Some people can hold their breath underwater for up to 10-15 minutes.

Photo 8. It is important to breathe correctly before diving in order not to get tired

German Tom Sitas, training the capabilities of his lungs, in the city of Changsha, China, in front of television cameras, achieved the result of holding his breath for a period of 22 minutes and 22 seconds. This achievement was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Before free diving, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood is lowered and it is enriched with oxygen. To do this, perform a cycle of exercises inhale-exhale (6-7 times or more). Before entering the water, take a final deep breath. The rise of a person to the surface of the water occurs on a delayed breath. Having emerged to the surface, the swimmer exhales the remaining air from the lungs and makes other breaths calmly and deeply. Until the respiratory process is fully restored, the main thing is to inhale and exhale several times.

Photo 9. Diving to depth with special monofins that make movements fast and smooth

Freediving while holding your breath is an ancient diving variety, over time it does not lose its relevance, interest and demand among people. Water training in any of its manifestations - in nature near the coast, at the sea or in the pool, in the form of diving or swimming, is an excellent workout for the muscles, heart and brain. Scuba diving will be a pleasure if a person is trained, confident in himself and his abilities, which means that without fear and doubt, he easily and freely rushes through the water column.



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