Finswimming, vs freediving, vs hydrotouring, vs apnea

[JaceAquarius]

Ok so I have heard these terms tossed around. I found what freediving was and am actually trying to learn it. Apnea has to do with not breathing, so is that just breath holding competitions? And when I was on Leaderfins I found they had their fins separated with freediving and finswimming separate. So what's different about finswimming? Hydrotouring has to do with lucent's special fins, but I'm still not catching what it is and why their fins allow you to do it?

Any insight would be appreciated. I can guess what some of these are I'm just looking for someone who knows what they are instead of me guessing.

[Anahita]

free and apnea diving are the same thing (if I recall) they're both just diving without SCUBA or any other breathing equipment. You go down, spend a few minutes there with your breath held, then go back up for air.

Finswimming and freediving are different because one is actively diving and going down to notable depths, whereas finswimming is just swimming like normal, but with a fin (either with a monofin or a set of bifins)

Hydrotouring is something I think Lunocet made up to describe how one uses their fins.... They're made to go far at a leisurely pace with not much effort, so they're like a touring bicycle, versus a mountain or racing bike. If that makes sense.

I hope that helps.

[Aziara]

So I guess us mers would be apnea finswimmers?

[Anahita]

I would think most of us are do fall into that category. While I usually view diving as going to depths greater than 15ft, I do know that underwater sports like non-SCUBA spearfishing and synchronized swimming are considered "freediving" as well. And we're very similar to synchronized swimmers (in that we're performance swimmers, and many early professional mermaids were synchronized swimmers).

[JaceAquarius]

Very interesting! Thanks a ton that was exactly what I was looking for!

[Mermaid Melanie]

freediving covers many different aspects - in AIDA they have 8 disciplines of freediving -

Static Apnea ( static timed breath hold )
Dynamic No Fins ( horizontal distance cover with no fins )
Dynamic With Fins ( Horizontal distance covered with fins )
Free Immersion (Using only the rope line to pull on to descend and ascend)
Constant Weight Without Fins ( Swimming down without pulling the rope and using your own power to move in the water )
Constant Weight ( Diving down with fins - bi-fins or mono fin )
Variable Weight ( Go down on the weighted sled - swim back up )
No Limits (Go down on the weighted sled - fly back up using airbag)

Finswimming is more of a speed sport - people compete to cover a certain distance as quickly as possible - I'm sure they even have their own disciplines in that sport ( using breathing apparatus or not etc )

I guess mermaiding has elements of different sports and disciplines - apnea, synchro, dynamic, constant weight.

[AptaMer]

So I guess us mers would be apnea finswimmers?

Until we get advanced biotechnology to let us grow gills, and then we can stay down and breathe water, like we were always meant to

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Mers (with lungs) are freedivers, as are all Dolphins, whales, and marine mammals and even some birds.

Hydrotouring and sea-hiking (same thing) involves traveling long distances continuously with reduced underwater times and more frequent surfacing to breathe.

Fin swimming is an eastern European sport that's underwater sprinting with fins (either bi or mono).

Everything you do while not actively respiring is apnea, so technically all of the above incorporate apnea at certain points.


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