Umberto e Jacques
History
Deep freediving, as we know it today, sees the first incredible "dives" already documented in 1913, when the sponge fisherman Haggi Statti dives to locate the anchor lost from the Italian military ship Regina Margherita: Statti performed countless towed descents. from a large stone secured to a peak (skandalopetra), identifying the anchor at -76 m, with the astonishment of the navy doctors who, after having examined him, were able to ascertain that Haggi had pulmonary emphysema, damaged eardrums and a capacity to hold the breath out of the water not exceeding one minute and despite everything it succeeded in this incredible business.
The achievements of the "pioneers" of freediving linked to records began to arrive later, with Raimondo Bucher who, in 1949 reached the -30 m and the memorable challenges among the famous Enzo Maiorca and Jacques Mayol, the real ones founding fathers of freediving.
In 1981, in Syracuse, Mallorca was the first to cross -50m, going against the medical theories of the time, which established the maximum limit that man could reach at this altitude. The French physician Cabarroe he said, referring to the chest: "the s'ecrase", that is, it breaks, ignoring the principles of hemocompensation discovered only a few years later.
It was Enzo Maiorca who challenged the enemy-friend Jacques Mayol, also called Homo Delphinus, who was the first to combine physical training with a formidable mental training, with particular regard to breathing, the result of yoga techniques. In fact, Jacques noticed how important training was of the mind beyond that physicist. He went down to -105m, contributing to the medical-scientific research on freediving with numerous experiments.
Other athletes will try their hand at the various freediving disciplines, until the witness of the challenges between Mallorca and Mayol will be picked up by the "OceanMen" Umberto Pelizzari and Francisco "Pipìn" Ferreras.
Umberto Pelizzari, called "Pelo", disciple of Jacques, he carries on the philosophy of the combination of apnea and relaxation. Great athlete, determined and competitive, he is the first man in history to break down the -150 m wall, the only one in the history of freediving to have simultaneously owned all and three records of freediving specialties. He favors and considers the constant thirst, in which he has gone so far as to be the queen of specialties -80 m and then the other two disciplines (variable and no limits) -131 m and -150 m.
In 1996 he founded Apnea Academy, one of the best schools for freediving research and training in the world, which still includes some of the best world-class athletes, including William Trubridge.
Francisco "Pipìn" Ferreras, Cuban, follows, unlike Umberto, Enzo Maiorca's philosophy of diving, based more on a physical than a mental approach. It excels above all in the specialty of the "no limits" variable structure, in which it reached -170 m.
After the dualism between Pelo and Pipin, a large group of promising young people come forward, grown up in their myth and who have taken up their baton, continuing in the challenge towards the abyss, with new and increasingly prpfondi records.
Finally Even the female world has joined the challenge of the big blue with great athletes.
The specialties
CONSTANT SET-UP cwt
The athlete reaches the maximum depth with only the strength of the legs and then ascends in the same way, without being able to touch the descent cable.
ABSOLUTE "NO LIMITS" VARIABLE STRUCTURE
This specialty consists in reaching the maximum depth with the help of weights, without any weight limit. The surface can be gained with the help of balloons.
VARIABLE SET-UP
The athlete has weights of a maximum weight of 30 kg to reach the maximum depth. The ballast is abandoned on the bottom and the athlete goes back up with his own means, the use of any aids such as balls or other is forbidden.
Constant attitude without tools cnf
The athlete reaches the maximum depth without the aid of any tools and then ascends in the same way
descent and ascent with fim arms
The athlete reaches maximum depth by pulling on the cable e come back up in the same way.
CALA D'OLIVA DIVING CENTER
