So far, we have concentrated on the male world recorders, but there are some female freedivers who know as much as the guys. Now, its the girls’ turn. We try to find out what are the major differences between the two sexes. Not only for feminists!
 Girl Power Foto: Gido Braase  |
The eternal competition
Freedivers challenge records that were considered unbreakable last year or the year before. They dive deeper and swim further than people thought possible. The international judges supervising the record attempts had a very busy summer this year. We have reported about a number of world records in our freediving section. However, we have to admit that, so far, we have concentrated on the achievements of the stronger sex. Before you start to think that there are only male record breakers, we now introduce you to the female pack.
We made a list of the world’s current best female freedivers, who prove that sometimes the weaker sex „sinks” lower than men do. Of course, their muscles are not as strong as that of the guys, which is a disadvantage in those categories where the aim is to swim further, because their leg strokes are less powerful. Let‘s see who these women are.
 Audrey Mestre From: iafdusa.com |
A girl who died doing it
Even though she has passed away, Audrey Mestre cannot be missed out from such a list. She did not compete under the aegis of AIDA, the world‘s largest and most influential freediving organization. She was competing for IAFD, founded by her husband, Pipin Ferreras. Audrey reached –170 meters during training in the most extreme category, No Limits. (In No Limits, they try to dive as deep as their can with the help of a sled taking them down, and a balloon, „flying” them upwards.)
Their are a number of women who claim to be the World‘s Deepest Woman, but this description probably suits Audrey best. (AIDA lists the American Tanya Streeter as the world record holder of No Limits with –160 m for women and the French Loic Leferme with –162 m for men.) So, women are equally good even in the most extreme discipline.
 Tanya Streeter From: redefineyourlimits.com |
The world‘s current best female diver:
Our list would not be complete without Tanya Streeter, who is the current record holder in four categories. In today‘s world elite, she is the only one with four records, others have a maximum of two. From Tanya‘s four records, the latest is the Variable Weight with –122 meters. She reached it on July 19th, 2003 and it is deeper than the male record. That record is held by the Belgian Patrick Musimu, with –120 m. (In this discipline, freedivers dive with a sled but they have to come up without the help of a balloon.)
Tanya is also very good at organizing her own PR. Her latest record did not circulate only among the freediving forums, but it was also mentioned in the Sports News of the Hungarian National Television. (Hopefully, she is making a precedent.) She was awarded the Most Perfect Athlete title by Sports Illustrated in 2002. The most recent news in connection with her is that she is going to be the guest of the Late Night Show with Conan O‘Brien on Sept 4th, 2003. If you have CNBC at home, you can watch her in the highlights of the week‘s Jay Lano and Conan O’Brien shows on Saturday or Sunday even in Europe.
She went deeper than the guys
 Mandy-Rae |
We should also mention the best Canadian girl, Mandy-Rae Cruickshank, whose record is deeper than the male one. Mandy has become the world’s best in the Constant Weight without fins category. (That discipline is believed to be the most pure form of freediving, where they just dive down to the required depth and resurface, without using any form of artificial help.) Mandy broke the „ancient” world record of the Turkish Yasemin Dalkilic two days ago, on August 31st, 2003. The Turkish girl reached –40 meters on October 22nd, 2001, and Mandy went one meter deeper. The record is even more special, because the male record is „only” -33 m, which was accomplished three days prior to Mandy‘s by Dieter Baumann.
The girls seem to be doing great in the depth disciplines. Let‘s see how they are doing in the Dynamic and in the Static.
Just hold your breath
 They haven‘t died, it‘s a competition Foto: Dan Bolt |
In Static, the freedivers have to float face down in a pool, holding their breath, motionless – as long as they can. Some say, girls are doing worse than guys in this discipline, because they cannot keep their mouths shut for too long. The female world record holder of Static is the above mentioned Mandy-Rae, with 6 min 16 sec. The record for men is held by Martin Stepanek, with 8 min 6 sec. (You can find our recent interview with him here.) That means that the guys‘s advantage over women is almost 2 minutes.
At first, you might think that the freediver who can take the biggest amount of air in his or her lungs will be the best in this category. Well, it is not that simple. Here is a simple example: a little physiology, without becoming a medical journal.
The greatest amount of air you inhale at once is called vitalcapacity. According to researchers, 4 liters is the average amount a person can inhale at once. We managed to find how big the vitalcapacity is of the best freedivers of the world. We got very interesting results. Martin Stepanek‘s vitalcapacity is 8.3 liters, Mandy-Rae‘s is 5.8 liters. If freediving is Static would be only about vitalcapacity, then Mandy-Rae‘s results would be two-third of Martins: she should be able to stay underwater for 5 min 20 sec. In reality, her best result is 6 min 16, almost a minute longer. Static is not only about physical characeristics, but also about meditation and taking risks. This sport is not only about physiology, but also about controlling your body with your mind.
How further can guys swim?
There is a freediving discipline in which guys are much better than girls. It is the Dynamic, both the with fins and the without fins category. The task is simple: to swim as far as you can in a swimming pool, with one breath of air. Most of the current world record holders are Scandinavian. We have reported about the Danish-Swedish triple world records in July. (You can find interwievs here with Peter Pedersen and Stig Severinsen.)
 Guys are faster |
In the without fins category, the best female freediver is the Swedish Yamina Enedahl-Mekki with 97 meters.The best male is the Danish Stig Severinsen, with 166 meters. The Swedish girl‘s record is 58 percent of Stig‘s.
That ratio made me reach for my calculator, and to look up the swimming records. I looked up the world records in freestyle swimming – both for 100 m and 200 m. The female world record is the 89% of the male‘s for both distances!!! If dymanic freediving would be only about the athletes‘ swimming abilities, then the female record should be 89% of Stig‘s: 147 meters. In reality, Yamina‘s best is 50 meters less than that. It proves that the dynamic is not only about physical strength, either.
In the with fins version, they swim further, since they can make their leg strokes more powerful with the help of the fins. The female record is held by the French Nathalie Decreac and the Russian Natalia Molchanova, with 150 meters. You might remember Natalia‘s record attempt. She accomplished it at the Cyprus Open. She reached the 150 mark (that is three times the length of 50 m pool) and she simply forgot to make a turn and go on. (After holding her breath for so long, it is completely understandable.) He best male result is four times the length of the 50 m pool, exactly 200 meters. Following the 89% analogy, the female record should be 178 meters. In reality, it is 28 meters less. The difference between the male and female freedivers is bigger than the difference between the male and female swimmers.
What conclusion can we make from all this? One conclusion could be that freediving is a complicated sport, where success depends not only on physical strength but also on how much risk a freediver takes. This weekend, there will be an international competition (Carinthian Open) in Austria and extrem.hu will be there. We will continue our research into the depths of the differences between the two sexes.
An other logical conclusion could be, looking at the girls‘ photos, that the best female freedivers are all young models with long hair. We will soon prove that age does not have a major role. Annabel Briseno started competitive freediving at the age of 51. She lives in Hawaii, she is now 53 years old, and she has announced five world record attempts for November. We managed to reach this increadible nanny, and you will be able to read our interview soon.
