Freediving is any of various aquatic activities that share the practice of breath-hold underwater diving. Examples include breathhold spear fishing, freedive photography, apnea competitions and, to a degree, snorkeling. The activity that garners the most public attention is competitive apnea, an extreme sport, in which competitors attempt to attain great depths, times or distances on a single breath without direct assistance of self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba).

Recent interest in this sport has caused dive schools to look at this side of diving as a great alternative to traditional underwater interaction. A recent article in the Times about Freediving in Koh Tao reviewed the sport, the island and the local leaders in free diving; Apnea Total. In the article Guyan Mitra says:

By the end of the two-day course, I was comfortable at 20 metres, a depth that had sounded inconceivable 48 hours earlier. Plus, I was able to dive Ko Tao’s newest underwater site. A boat had recently sunk — without casualty, thankfully — creating a modern wreck around which a kaleidoscope of tropical sea life was investigating.

Using my new-found skills, I was able to probe and glide in and around the wreck, just like my fellow fish. Not quite a merman, but getting there… definitely getting there.

That article in its entirety can be found here

Additional interest was generated from the inflight magazine for Bangkok Airways; “Fah Thai” where photo journalist and fellow technical diving enthusiast Ayesha Cantrell reports about the growing trend of breath hold diving growing on Koh Tao. In the report Ayeasha says:

Go scuba diving around Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand and you may encounter a mermaid. Propelled by her monofin to depths of 50 metres on a single breath of air, Monica Ganame is the nearest you’ll get to meeting one of these mythical creatures underwater.

The Argentinian-born professional free diver wears no air tank or other bulky scuba gear - instead, Monica can hold her breath for up to six minutes and explore the underwater world in its truly natural state. The absence of dive equipment not only allows Monica to interact much more closely with marine life, but also to feel a part of the ocean herself.

Ayesha is referring to Monica Ganame who is co-owner of Apnea Total on Koh Tao, that article can be found here

One of Apnea Totals protege’s is Jeroen Marteens who became a freediving instructor through their school. Jeroen is your typical freediving instructor; Tall, slim and appears to be someone who likes his yoga and perhaps a bit of incense. Jeroen join the Big Blue Family to start our Big Blue Freediving department and has been very busy ever since. With maximum 3 people per course.

Jeroen will be taking out members of the Big Blue Tech team for their freediving course later this month, although there were grumblings between wearing 6 cylinders or none at all it is a fringe and extreme side of scuba diving so technical diving and freediving have quite a lot of similarities.

You can find more details about these courses: Freediver Basic and Freediver Advanced

Greg Robertson is recuperating in Nambour hospital after a sickening accident in which he speared himself in the groin area with a speargun at Coolum yesterday.

The drama unfolded off the rocks at Point Perry about 3.30pm when the 25 year old was pushed onto the speargun, which had been washed out of his hands by a wave.

The two metre long spear pierced his inside upper thigh, just millimetres from his genitals and femoral artery, and lodged several centimetres under the skin.

The first time spear fisherman had been enjoying a day at the beach with his girlfriend Jacinta Fisher and mates Casey Jensen and her fiance, who unscrewed the spear from the gun when the accident happened.

It remained lodged in place and sticking out from his body as paramedics gave pain relief and packed around the wound.

“A big wave knocked him into the rocks, he lost his spear and the spear rebounded off one of the rocks and got him right near the groin,” Casey said.

“The spear’s barbed on the end, so it’s locked in there. He got up and said ‘It’s in me, it’s in me!

“He’s ok now. He’s still conscious and talking.

“He’ll probably have a laugh about it in a week. We joked about it…we told them to not spear themselves and mistake themselves for a fish and then it actually happened.”

Brisbane holidaymakers Doug and Richard saw the accident happen and called triple 0.

“The girlfriend was holding him and we were all quite anxious because he was walking around the rocks and slipping and sliding with this spear hanging out and we’re yelling out, ‘Stop, don’t move, the ambulance is coming’,” Doug said.

Richard communicated with the two couples from the headland above.

“He seemed to be ok, but he was in shock,” he said.

“He was very close to being in real trouble.”

The Energex Community Rescue Helicopter dropped off two crew on the nearby rocks and then performed a winch rescue in front of hundreds of onlookers who had gathered for the spectacle.

Those who had stationed themselves right on the Point Perry lookout tower had the best view, as the chopper hovered right at their eyeline for the winch.

“The challenge for the crew was how to remove the two metre long spear to something that was manageable,” Energex crew member Dan King said.

“They stabilised the bit that was lodged in his leg and unscrewed the long pole so there was only six or seven inches sticking out.

“He certainly could have come off a lot worse than he did. Initially he did say that he thought he got washed into another rock, but when the wave drew back he realised, ‘Oh dear, there’s a big metal thing stuck in my leg’.

“Hopefully he’ll make a full recovery.

“And I asked him if he caught any fish and he didn’t. But if you are going to have one bump a year, you may as well get it out of the way of the first day of the year.”

Mr Robertson had surgery to remove the spear last night.