Who is watching your back?

I once dove with a Frenchman who was a world class freediver.  We were in 40-45 feet of water off of Green Turtle.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shoot to the surface from the bottom with his hand under his buddies jaw forcing him to face upward as his elbow and forearm squeezed his chest on ascent.   I rose to the surface and swam to them thinking he was unconscious but found them both laughing.  Jacques was just teaching us how to do a deep water rescue but neglected to tell the other three divers in our party.

Freediving is one of those passions that is best not done alone.  In fact freediver training specifies that you dive with a partner.  Too many things can happen in the two to four minutes that the average freediver spends below the surface.  Shallow water blackout is a term often misused by freedivers when they are actually referring to deep water blackout.  This is when upon ascent from greater than 10 meters the diver looses consciousness due to the rapid decrease in oxygen pressure dissolved in the blood of the lungs.  Anecdotal evidence exists of divers who have been saved by partners who were still going through the motions of swimming while unconscious.  Sometimes drowning is difficult to recognise.   Interestingly enough the majority of divers who succumb to black out are well trained, good swimmers in excellent physical shape.

There are several environmental hazards that can be prevented by a good partner.  As difficult as this may seem to believe for a non water person, often you can stare down a bull shark and he will turn away.  The problem being…you have to see them first.  With no one watching your back, you have a limited visual field.  I don’t know how many times I have cracked my head on coral or the bottom of a boat (last Sunday).  With a partner you are much more likely to make it through the disorientation resulting from a good wack to the top the head.  Fortunately for me I have been told my skull is too hard. 

Most people think that freediving is an unusual passion.  Are they driven because of fear of dying or fear of living.  I guess the same questions can be asked of mountain climbers.  They both push their limits and despite aggressive physical conditioning or rather because of it…they are more prone to death and or injury.

Those of you who follow my blog know by now that I am constructing a metaphor.  May we all be fortunate enough to have someone watch our back as we go through life…a friend or friends, a partner, a significant other…whatever.  Jacques Mayol (not the same Jacques mentioned above) was at one time the best freediver in the world.  At the age of 56 he was the first human to freedive past the 100 meter mark.  Jacques Mayol ended his life at the age of 73 on the Island of Elba.  Sometimes drowning is hard to recognize.  With no one watching your back it is impossible.

Advertisement