DiversTravel.com met with Glennon in May 2002, in Kona, Hawaii, where he is Executive Director of the YMCA. We had heard him speak twice at the annual Sea Rovers conferences in Boston, and were particularly interested in his role in promoting freediving. The following interview resulted.
DT: What is the attraction of the sport of freediving?
In Hawaii and parts of the South Pacific and Asia, freediving has been practiced by various cultures for centuries, because it is a vehicle for food gathering. So that besides a freedom and challenge physically, there was an element of collection and sustainability. In a typical Hawaiian village there were specialists who would gather food from the sea, then traded food with villages in the upland area that farmed, so this was a means of survival of the village. In cultures like Japan and Korea, a whole cadre of women gathered seaweeds and so forth.
There is a relationship with the ocean that comes with
freediving, as well as a certain sense of spirituality. It has nothing to do with religion, but what we personally get from the experience. The personal, physical, and spiritual mix together for a healthy, balanced person. Freediving can fulfill that. Then there's also the challenge. People get into sports for different reasons - sometimes there are challenges or obstacles, some times there are issues of physically becoming stronger, losing weight, or feeling better about yourself. For me it's really a lot of things. The visuals of being in a different environment, where you have a chance to see coral reefs, bright fish and pelagics - is a real high that you're not going to see sitting in a car in rush hour traffic.
DT: Can anybody be a freediver?
That's like saying, can anyone be a racecar driver. I think the majority of people who are safe and comfortable in and around the water can learn
freediving; it may be only to a certain level, but at least they can learn. The only restriction is good health, and medical clearance for pulmonary capacity and cardiac issues, and the
ability to equalize the ears. The majority of people who want to dive down 10 to 20 feet, can get involved at some level in a program, be good at it and enjoy it.
DT: What's the best way to transition through aquatics into
freediving?
The best foundation is attention to safety in the water, good instruction, potential issues around the water; swim lessons, lifeguard training, first aid. All can be accessed thru YMCA. Snorkeling is a natural add-on activity. Just taking a good half- to an hour of solid foundation training in using mask, snorkel and fins can make all the difference on what happens later. I get frustrated that first-time snorkelers don't get the instruction - it builds such tremendous confidence and comfort, and allows them to then focus on the beauty of the underwater they came to see. Simple things, like clearing the snorkel, the right size mask and fins, how to enter the water. In the long run, a little extra time will make this basic water experience memorable, and will keep them in the sport. Almost everyone remembers his first snorkeling excursion. The YMCA still focuses on those basic skills. This is where people first enter the sport of
freediving. The "Y" is doing a partnership program with Jean-Michel
Cousteau. He said we're kind of missing the point by pushing people too fast to scuba . . . the window to the underwater world for the masses is snorkeling. If we spend a little more time on that, we would do more to raise that person's awareness of the environment and how to protect it. The economics of diving often drives [scuba] dive operators, but I believe that a snorkeling program can be just as advantageous, and do just as much service. This is my original premise - it's the basic, the simple, the free, and the origins of why we first got in the water to do breath-hold diving. You can compare the thousands of years of
freediving, back to the Romans and the Greeks, with the relatively new invention of scuba, and see what a fine historical tradition freediving has. One thing that we're trying to implement is more underwater footage of the freediving events, so that you can be watching more than just the diver's head pop up. The movies also, such as "The Big Blue," a memorial to Jacques
[Mayol], make people excited about snorkeling and freediving in itself, without the notion that everything leads to scuba. And that's what I want to do - think of it [snorkeling] as a simple way of getting in the water and having a lot of fun, for all ages. I've seen good performance in all ages in terms of
[freediving] competition. We also see the industry taking note, and growing its lines of equipment specifically designed for
freediving. In our sponsorship we see a growth and interest.
DT: What's the best way to get into freediving?
Mentoring with support is the best way to get into
freediving. Tanya [Streeter] is a wonderful mentor for kids.
[Umberto] Pelizzari has his own school in Italy - he's held world records, freediving all of his life, but still he doesn't have a problem taking a group of kids out snorkeling. I think it's an attitude. You'll always see top end and extreme performances on TV, but if you get involved with a good instructor freediving won't be intimidating. Freediving itself doesn't have to imply competition. It could be that it's a weekend activity; maybe you'll take pictures, or just explore. You'll get better the more you do, and enjoy it even more.
Organizations [such as the scuba certifying agencies] can adopt a program in
freediving. People such as myself probably proposed many of the skills taught.
A.I.D.A. [International Association for the Development of Apnea],
www.aidausa.org, is moving toward adopting a program out of IANTD [International Association of Nitro and Technical Divers],
www.iantd.com, rather acting as an "arm," to recommend training programs to people interested in learning how to
freedive. IANTD is technically sound and stresses safety. We
(A.I.D.A.) will have the opportunity to review the training content and to continuously edit it. That partnership will allow us to have more people in the field to meet the need for instruction. We need not just events and venues, but also good, solid training. That's the only way we can grow. Right now there is no certification in free diving.
DT: Couldn't a person just start freediving on his own?
One of the pitfalls is that you develop bad habits, like lessening your attention to safety details. Also the learning curve is disrupted; you have to spend time breaking your bad habits. Having a mentor is the key to getting a solid foundation. A safe, sane approach is always the best. A book that we recommend is authored by David Shipperly and Terry Maas, called "Freedive!" We use some of this book as our [team] text; it has great sections on the basics of diving and the physiology, understanding equipment, swimming underwater. We're getting a lot stricter on our dive team members having a basic knowledge, so we're encouraging this book as a resource. There are no instructive videos yet, but they should come. There is a companion video to the "Freedive!" book
(www.freedive.net).
DT: What would I look for in instructor?
The content of the course, willingness for them to work with you in a group setting and one-on-one, enthusiasm and patience, and credentials.
DT: Are there any other groups acting as spokesmen for the freediving community?
A.I.D.A. is international, in the most countries, holds the major events, uses standardization, and also is the key body for gathering record information. They have they right mission, participation, and tracking to disseminate to the masses. We have e-mail and a
chatboard, but I don't monitor them myself. I have other things I'm usually working on. Yes, there are other, smaller groups, but they appear only interested in events, or recognition.
DT: Tell us about the meets coming up in August [2002] in Hawaii.
Team trials are open; people from the general population can try out at the first level, in the pool. From there we go to open water where the final selection is made for the team. In 2002 there will be four trials in four locations around the country: Honolulu, San Diego, Newport, and Key Largo. We've done seminars in LA that have attracted people to the trials. The trials are held under the same rules as real competitions. In 2002 Hawaii had a complement of games, The Aloha State Games, open to everyone; about 40 events, and this was the first year we had
freediving, so this is like a regional event. It was pool-based only, so we had dynamic and static apnea, but we had lots of fun.
DT: Do you have to live in Paradise to be on the U.S. Team?
People who live in Hawaii, for instance, have a bit of an advantage over, say, someone living in Massachusetts, who might not relish training in cold water under gray skies in low visibility. There are lots of people who have all the right tools to free dive, and they only live near lakes or in cold conditions. The California coastal waters are pretty cold - 55 degrees - all year round; but some of our team train in those conditions. Then there are the Swedes and Swiss - so what really matters is how much you want to do this. Hawaii is special because we can get the depth without going far offshore. That's great for safety: it reduces transport time.
DT: Do you see freediving as an Olympic event?
Takes lots on money, time and lobbying to put together. Fin, that is, monofin swimming is actually being considered, and we would hope that free diving would follow up, perhaps as an exhibition and maybe even as a sport.
DT: Do you think freediving is perceived as an "extreme" sport?
I hate the label "extreme," although you can't get away from it. Most people associate extreme with speed and radical behavior, while diving is so slow and graceful. The only extreme aspect is the depth, the pressure. How do you relate that to aspects of "X" games? It'll be interesting. I do see elements of that. There's always the press, even now, holding us in that category. So I guess we can capitalize on it. We done TV and articles, and we discussed how everyone can relate to holding their breath. Also the mainstream magazines have picked us up - Outdoor Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, even the London Times and Wall Street Journal. Everyone who's a non-diver finds it fascinating, maybe even a little bit scary and intimidating that we go underwater. Yet we think that's just the best thing.
DT: What kind of support do you need during deep dives?
Well, you need safety scuba divers. In the majority of events we have divers every 10 meters on the line leading down to your target depth, plus various people on the surface observing and acting as safety. There's the medical team. In any kind of free diving practice, as a minimum, you should always have somebody and have adequate first aid training, including CPR and oxygen use. You both need to have an understanding of the physiology and potential problems to be supportive of each other as you would in any partner sport. You and your partner should alternate so that you're never underwater at the same time, and diving at a depth where you can reasonably see them and rescue them if you have to. If you can't do that then you should probably have someone with scuba in the water. You can train people until you're blue in the face, but ultimately personal responsibility is key in avoiding accidents.
DT: What sort of training -- if you don't mind answering -- are you doing with the military?
What I've been doing with freedive training has focused on the prevention of accidents, how to do a breath-hold dive, the physiology involved, and looking at what blackouts will look like and how to recognize them, prevent them, and rescue that person. Breath-holding and comfort in the water can be applied to military missions, so freediving needs to be as efficient as possible. If scuba rigs are not available, then the operation needs to be prepared to apply the basics - breath-holding.
DT: Last year a diver on your team alluded to breathing exercises that he does.
Deep breathing exercises in the form of yoga and other traditional exercises have been around for years. If you start doing this stuff you can really focus internally on what's going on in the body, what stress level you're at. And that's a cool thing about freediving - it really teaches you how to relax. It's an eye opener when you first start to learn, because you realize how stressed out you've been. The deep breathing relaxes you, lowers your heart rate, slows your metabolism, and therefore extends your time underwater.
DT: I know you've met the heavy hitters, the traditions, of this sport.
I spent some time with Jacques Mayol; his bent was more toward a spiritual and nature relationship. He sort of set the tone for
freediving. Those who have followed have been more on the competitive side. Whatever the case is, you have to be relaxed in the water. So however you get to that point - it's up to you.
DT: So where is freediving going?
Just in the past 5 years we see records being broken - over 300 feet depth, and people holding their breath over 8 minutes in static breath-hold. So the medical community has an interest in the ramifications - how would that adaptation help people with pulmonary problems? Through our activity we participate and support this research. When people say "apnea," they think of sleep apnea. Our use of the word means a transient cessation of breathing, which means you are conscious of it and willingly hold your breath. Obviously we adapt to a lot of situations by going into a survival mode, but how do marine mammals go to depth and how might we relate to them, physiologically? People often get into the sport just because of the challenge - can they go deeper, hold their breath longer?
One proposal for the future of competition is that we have state records; you won't have to travel or be an elite athlete. It will bring divers into our ranks in a non-intimidating way. That will develop into regional events, then trials for the national team. Right now we're doing things from the top down, instead of the bottom up. Our pool of people otherwise would be too small; I want to get more people involved, of all age groups. Underwater video of events will allow them to be enjoyed by spectators. All in all, the future is bright.
During our interview we were joined by Glennon's Executive Assistant at the "Y," Anne Irene Wilcox, who graciously added her observations and comments:
I act as a safety diver during the freedives, but I also do some
freediving, as much as my ears will allow. Without the bubbles [from scuba] it's another
world altogether. When first starting in freediving the pressure on your ears can be scary. But I started at 5', and at the end of the day was down 20-25'. That was good for me. As a non-competitive person I can tell you it's a great sport. It's very slow. You work yourself into a level of calmness.
We have a freediving club at the "Y", and up until now the activity was primarily
spearfishing. Now we see the two sports integrating.
Spearfishermen hang at 65' for about 2 minutes; freedivers concentrate on depth. So they're teaching each other. As Shipperly and Maas state in their book, all breath-hold sports are a form of
freediving. They are unique but have something in common. So we get underwater hockey, or fin swimming as extensions of the basic breath-hold.
