Lanyards

Diver retrieval systems - lanyards

At the depth competitive freedivers are noe reaching there is no room for error / there is no second chance..... When you are beyond the reach of even the scuba safty diver who or what can you depend on?

With the introduction of freediving competitions in the early 90’s much thought has been put into the design of retrieval systems for athletes attempting depths that go beyond our imagination. How do you recover a breath-holder from a depth of 100 metres without adding bulky equipment that interferes in their rate of descent but aids their speedy return to the surface?

One method is to have scuba divers stationed at varying depths of each dive. They hang suspended, depending on the athlete’s nomination, bearing witness to the freediver’s performance and ready to attach a lift bag to an unconscious diver if need be.

Lengthy planning is spent ensuring timing and positioning of the scuba safety team, calculating every minute to coincide with freediver’s top times (start times) and to avoid becoming victim to the ‘rapture of the deep’ (decompression illness).

Faults in this stand-alone system were acknowledged when Audrey Mestre became a victim attempting a world record sled dive to 171 metres. Ms Mestre’s pony-bottle, used to fill a balloon at depth, ran out of air on her ascent. She was positioned too deep below the surface to swim and was also missing a scuba diver at a crucial point. The bottom diver struggled to ascend in time to pass Ms Mestre up the line of support, but after nearly nine minutes underwater, she was unable to be resuscitated.

It was at this point that the counter ballast and lanyard system was born.

The lanyard consists of a metre long plastic coated wire. One end has a Velcro strap which can be attached to one’s wrist, belt or ankle, and the other has a carabiner with a large diameter so it can run freely up and down the dive line so as not to hinder the athlete’s performance in any way.

The rope or dive line is threaded through a pulley and weighted on both ends. A weight approximately 5-15kg is placed underneath a base plate and lowered to the nominated depth for each diver, the opposite end is weighted more heavily (15 - 40kg approx) and held by a brake on a surface platform. Should the diver fail to return in their nominated time, the brake is released by the surface support crew sending the heavier weight plummeting down. The lighter end with the base plate then races towards the surface, catching the diver by the carabiner and bringing them up within reach of the safety freedivers for assistance.

Lanyards have enabled divers to do away with wearing masks as they can now wear nose clips and fluid goggles. No longer does a diver have to descend with one hand on their nose to equalise. They also have the reassurance of being in contact with the line at all stages in the dive and are able to streamline themselves for greater speed through the water.

The lanyard is compulsory in all international competitions and is standard practise here in New Zealand when training for depth. However reliance on one system alone is not advised. Planning your session and discussing your intentions with your buddy prior to entering the water could help save your life. And don’t be afraid to seek out professionals or enrol in a recognised freediving programme such as No Bubbles for advice on safe diving practises. See you at the top!