Amazing underwater mono swim

[AptaMer]

I've never seen anything like this before.


http://vimeo.com/52630486

The swimmer is Italian underwater swimming champion Ilaria Bonin, and she goes down to some depth and swims around a line for approximately 2 :34 minutes, and the distance she goes! It just shows what the (mer)human body is capable of.

More info is here http://www.apnea-academy.com/content/forum_AA/index.php?topic=5850.0 along with a link to the video and info about the championships.

[MerAnthony]

WOW!!! I wish I could stay under that long.

[Mermaid Annariea]

wow. i should start working on holding my breath that long...
also, the way she moves is so fluid and graceful. she should get a tail lol.

[Blondie]

That's incredible

[AptaMer]

This one amazed me too. I'm starting to see the potential of the human body more and more, For those used to measurements in feet, she monofined to a depth of 343 feet.


http://youtu.be/rD5Mg0eiJdE

[Mermaid Margarete]

Man, I need get more serious about working on my apnea.... This is really amazing!

[MermaidBrittany]

Man, I need get more serious about working on my apnea.... This is really amazing!

Me too! Everytime I see one of these free diving videos. Just wish I lived somewhere with a little warmer water :P

[spottedcatfish]

Me too! Everytime I see one of these free diving videos. Just wish I lived somewhere with a little warmer water :P

I agree. Although it you can freedive in the Pacific Ocean, you'll just need a thicker wetsuit. There is also freediving in swimming pools, training for length rather than depth. But any freediving activity you must do with a buddy or someone who is at least trained in CPR and some freediving. Do not do it alone.

[MermaidBrittany]

I agree. Although it you can freedive in the Pacific Ocean, you'll just need a thicker wetsuit. There is also freediving in swimming pools, training for length rather than depth. But any freediving activity you must do with a buddy or someone who is at least trained in CPR and some freediving. Do not do it alone.

Thats what I plan on doing :) I practice at the pool all the time. And I have book looking into wet suits, and being in Washington the water is pretty cold so I was acctually wondering if i should get a thick wetsuit or a dry one?

[AptaMer]

I have book looking into wet suits, and being in Washington the water is pretty cold so I was acctually wondering if i should get a thick wetsuit or a dry one?

Freediving isn't really possible in a drysuit.


The bulk of a drysuit produces a lot of water resistance, you just can't swim fast enough to do much useful freediving in a drysuit
bouyancy control in modern drysuits is accomplished either by



adding, and venting, air from a scuba tank, via a hose fitting, or
using a bouyancy compensator jacket, which is also fed via a hose from a scuba tank



All of those required fittings on a modern drysuit would create further drag in the water
Air is very compressible, and without bouyancy compensation from a tank, going down could cause a very rapid loss of bouyancy leading to rapid sinking and needing to ditch your weight belt.



When you're not burdened down with all kinds of gear, wetsuits can actually be warmer than drysuits anyway, i.e. less can be more. I've started getting to know some freedivers, and they all use wetsuits that are sort of a specific design, to maximize freedom of movement and reduce water circulation to a minimum. They consist of 2 parts: leggings that come up usually at least to the chest, sometimes right up to the shouldersl and a jacket that pulls down from the head. The jacket has an attached hood so no water can enter the neck area and the high leggings and pulled over jacket create a double layer of neoprene around the body core that also reduces leakage. Since this dsign has no zippers, the suit is very flexible, fits more skintight, and stretches in every direction which is what you need for freediving.

Many of the freedivers are going with "smoothskin" neoprene on their suits, which is warmer, and cuts through the water easier. Efficiency is everything in freediving (and mer swimming) you want to minimize water drag, and maximize freedom of movement.

This video shows the freediving kind of suit better than any explanation could, and this woman from Sweden is diving in water at 3.8º C (39º F)


http://youtu.be/enPiV9tLBZw

[MermaidBrittany]

Oh ok wow. Thats a lot of info and very helpful! :) Do you know if the two piece freediving suit would be alright for scuba diving as well? Because I am starting lessons and equiptment isnt exactly cheap so I was hoping to buy one. :P

[Neria]

This is amazing. She looks so graceful and mermaid-like as she moves through the water. She would be awesome in a tail.

[jammer54]

i wish i could swim like that!

[AptaMer]

Do you know if the two piece freediving suit would be alright for scuba diving as well?

Hi MermaidBrittany,

Some of the freedivers here have used their suits for scuba diving, and some of them use their old scuba diving suits, even though they are not optimal for freediving. So I guess you can. There are a number of differences in how a suit should be made to be best for scuba diving or freediving. Perhaps I will start a thread on that over in the freediiving or scuba diving forum?

Also, the company that everyone I've talked to here likes the best (Eilios http://eliossub.com/index.php/en/catalogue/wetsuits ) makes both scuba suits & freediving suits in the 2-pice zipperless design. Might be the best compromise for doing both.

Also, note that most scuba instructors recommend that you get some dive experience and become very comfortable handling yourself with scuba gear before you dive with a drysuit. There are a lot of issues with drysuits like controlling air movement in the suit (so air doesn't go into the legs and flip you up, for example) and, since air in the suit is so compressible, using your air supply to control bouyancy without wasting it. You don't have these issues with wetsuits.

[MermaidBrittany]

Hi MermaidBrittany,

Some of the freedivers here have used their suits for scuba diving, and some of them use their old scuba diving suits, even though they are not optimal for freediving. So I guess you can. There are a number of differences in how a suit should be made to be best for scuba diving or freediving. Perhaps I will start a thread on that over in the freediiving or scuba diving forum?

Also, the company that everyone I've talked to here likes the best (Eilios http://eliossub.com/index.php/en/catalogue/wetsuits ) makes both scuba suits & freediving suits in the 2-pice zipperless design. Might be the best compromise for doing both.

Also, note that most scuba instructors recommend that you get some dive experience and become very comfortable handling yourself with scuba gear before you dive with a drysuit. There are a lot of issues with drysuits like controlling air movement in the suit (so air doesn't go into the legs and flip you up, for example) and, since air in the suit is so compressible, using your air supply to control bouyancy without wasting it. You don't have these issues with wetsuits.

Oh ok great! I will deffinatly buy a wet suit, and look at the ones that Eilios sells.

A forum would be great too, im sure it would help others :) Thanks again for the info!

[Odette]

freediving is such an amazing sport <3