As Freediving Competition starts doubled between 2009-2019 (credits Freediving Statistics), a great number of newbies, myself included, approached competitive freediving for the first time.
The idea of joining their first competition might sound daunting for many but it doesn't have to be.
Here below are some recommendations and tips on how to make your first experience a smooth one.
Get a coach ahead of the competition
I cannot stress the importance of having a coach, especially in the month ahead of the competition.
Choose a proper coach for your training, to guide you and correct technique and work on equalisation, improve relaxation. Talking and discussing issues as they rise is fundamental for progression. I was lucky to be coached by Gus Kreivenas during my time in Dahab, and generally when choosing a coach ask around for recommendations and choose someone with lots of competition experience who has been in your shoes before you.
If you cannot afford a coach, then choose well your freediving buddy and be consistent with them: write down a training and progression plan, set a routine and observe it, track what food you eat and make sure you drink enough water.
It's also useful to keep a dive log: write down a record of your dives depth, dive time, bottom time.
Set a diving routine
In the month leading to the comp, set a diving routine and be consistent.
Be wary of making changes in your setup and making them all at once.
Each minimal change, be it your wetsuit or how many weights you have, or moving from mask to nose clip, needs to be done one at a time and tested many times before the competition.
Be consistent with your warmup routine, acclimatize with the Official Top countdown, if you pack, then make sure you are consistent with how many packs you do, and practice collecting the white tag from the bottom plate.
Practice surface protocol and repeat it at every dive. When in stress, the brain will tell the body to do what it is used to doing, so REPEAT, REPEAT and REPEAT.
Set time for training but don’t forget to rest
I usually dive two days on one day off in the first part of the month ahead of the competition.
In the week ahead of the competition I dive one day on one day off and take a lot of time to rest, nap and recover from the deeper dives and the build up of stress.
In the afternoon after a deep dive I always take a 20 minute power nap to reset the nervous system.
Get a coach during the competition
Ask your coach or freediving buddy to assist you during the competition - choose someone that you can rely on whilst you relax and get ‘in the zone'.
I have seen much stress just a few minutes before the Official Top because of a missing nose clip or weight belt, and that can be easily avoided with a gear checklist.
Make sure your nominated coach has a list of your gear and that they check you have everything you need before getting in the water: wetsuit, nose clip, weight belt, neckweight, mask, snorkel, gloves, socks, fins or Monofin, lanyard, water, dive computer with alarms set at the proper depth.
Ask your coach to bring you from the warm up buoy to the main buoy - regardless if you do any warmups dive or not.
I like to have my face in the water and breath through the snorkel eyes closed whilst my coach carries me weightless to the buoy.
This requires total trust in your coach, so choose him/ her well!
Once I surface from my dive I like to have my coach scream at me (like properly scream!) to remind me to breathe and complete my protocol in order (Breathe! Breathe! Nose Clip off! OK sign!)
It’s easy to get messed up or not breathe enough when surfacing,
Write Timetables
Make a timetable up to 8 hours before the Official Top so that you know where you are in space and time.
My timetable is something like this, and is adjusted to match the competition rules and my dive start time.
8h ahead of the OT: big meal
5h ahead of the OT: meal
4 to 2h ahead of the OT: snacks rich in sugar or protein and light to digest: bananas, dates, eggs, honey, porridge they all work well for me. Drink lots of water with hydration salts.
4 to 2h ahead of the OT: move to dive site
2h ahead of OT: stretching
1h30' ahead of OT: breathing and EQ exercises
1h15' ahead of OT: visualization - listening to my own recording of the dive
1h 05' ahead of OT: bathroom stop
1h ahead of OT: check in at dive centre
55' ahead of OT: wetsuit on and gear check
40' ahead of OT: get in the water for warm up dives
8' ahead of the OT: move to the main buoy
5'-8' ahead of OT: breathing routine
OT
Good luck!