I just heard of the loss of a woamn-a star free diver… I guess she was swept away by a current-hasn’t been seen in 3 days…so i guess she won’t be down for breakfast. Anybody know the details?
You seriously couldn’t be arsed to do a three-second Google search?
Here are your details; are you going to use them to put together a post that doesn’t amount to an inappropriate joke?
Even though I think free-diving is up there with BASE Jumping in Silly Things Humans Do, I am sorry that this woman died doing it; she apparently was a very good diver and had taken the necessary precautions, but…high risk activities mean just that.
And yeah, ralph, your OP could have been a bit more…organized.
No joke intended-just a senseless “activity” that is up there with train spotting and used teabag collecting. maybe this 'sport" will reach the Olympics?
Why the sarcastic quotes? Is it not really an activity?
Everyone takes part in something that other people think is dumb and risky. Sailing, racing cars, shooting, motorcycling, the list is never-ending. Let’s ridicule them all.
What was that comment about breakfast then?
That OP is terrible; it’s about as close as I’ve seen to starting a thread by threadshitting.
I hope you speak out of ignorance, not out of stupidity.
Freediving is, like a bunch of other hobbies, something that can be done very dangerously or with a large safety margin. You can try to set a new world record in no-limits apnea, or you can UW hunt in 10m of water. Just as you can dive 300+m or 5km into a cave on scuba, or ramble along a reef in 15m of water. Climbing the K2 or hiking a public park. Swimming the Channel or taking a dip at the beach. etc., etc., etc.
Does someone rearrange all the letters on your keyboard every time you leave your desk?
No disagreement and I would never prevent anyone from pursuing the types of activities that appeal to them (provided that they are not illegal, like jumping off public buildings that don’t want you jumping off them). Life is not to be lived in moderation.
That said, some things just…puzzle…me, because the risk seems to outweigh the reward. Holding a heavy object to pull you down several hundred feet below the surface so you can…swim back up to the surface, just never seemed to be a logical thing to do. Cliff Diving, Cave Scuba, Reef Snorkling…yes, there are appreciable risks, but there are also appreciable rewards–and they are often done with a group for support.
Just my sense of the thing; guess my head isn’t configured to climb Mt Everest or Jump off the Hoover Dam bridge with a parachute.
But if others wish to, more power to them; I just don’t get the reasoning.
Don’t hold your breath.
Creepy. I’m currently reading a book about the death of free diver Audrey Mestre.
I disagree that everyone does something risky. I am strictly an armchair adventurer. The riskiest thing I do is cross the street. That said, many people do get a thrill out of taking risks, and I don’t condemn them for doing what they enjoy. Besides, it has given me a Kindle full of books to read about their gruesome deaths.
Neither did Natalia.
Ooooh, look, a nice handbasket. I’ll take it.
…isn’t just “freediving”. That’s “extreme freediving”. Just like climbing the K2 solo without oxygen isn’t just “mountaineering”, but “extreme mountaineering”.
Why don’t these free divers carry an aqualung along? that way, if they are about to lose it (and inhale water) they could save their lives…live another day. or maybe that violates sporting conventions? Just strikes me as an extremely hazardous activity.
If you’re thinking of normal sports freediving, it’s no more dangerous than other activities like scuba diving or hiking.
If you’re thinking of the record-setting extreme activity, the answer is that you don’t get a warning early enough to bail out to scuba before you black out. Besides, scuba has its own risks, particularly if you’re talking about the depths these guys go to.
tl;dr: it’s not worth the hassle.
I figure, someone has to be the spectator and I am so spectacularly risk-averse, it might as well be me!
17 posts in and nobody has even mentioned her name? Yeah, I don’t want to hit links that talk about dead folks.
Natalia Molchanova