Freediver Rally in Giewartów - report

The Freedivers Rally, organised by the Freediving Poland Association, took place once again on 1-3 September 2017 in Giewartów, on the Powidzkie Lake.

The history of the beginning of the “Rally” is so long that it is difficult to assign a specific date to it. In this place “Zlot” took place for the second year in a row. The centrally located city is an ideal place to meet freediving enthusiasts, beginners with Polish record holders, experienced instructors and a whole bunch of experienced freedivers from different parts of the country.

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The programme of the rally included some activities on land, such as social talks and training lectures, e.g. on safety in freediving performed by the Polish record holder Robert Cetler, human physiology issues entitled “Is freediving harmful to health? “Dr Marcin Baranowski, and other useful lectures such as freediving certification or underwater photography.

In addition to theoretical classes, participants could experience practice under the guidance of instructors and experienced freedivers. Still on land, Marcin Rutkowski, presented a series of stretching exercises to prepare for better adaptation of the chest, back, and breathing muscles for breath-hold diving. The purpose of these exercises is to relieve tension and increase the range of work of respiratory muscles before and during the dive in order for the body to respond safely to the prevailing pressure under water.

And in the water, the participants had a choice of either diving by the rope to reach the depths, perfecting the technical elements and levelling the pressure or exploring the underwater attractions that are sunken in the coastal area.

During the diving sessions, the participants also had the opportunity to test the “Roorka” – Maciej Chuchla’s innovative computer, which instead of showing, speaks the depth, dive time and many other commands, which we just set beforehand using special software. More about this device can be found in the latest issue of #DIVERS24

More than 30 freedivers took part in the event, which is nothing compared to the number of freediving enthusiasts in Poland. Each year, the number of training sessions conducted by freediving instructors increases, so we can only expect that the size of the “Freedivers Rally” will also grow year by year. We already encourage you to book your time for the first weekend of September 2018 and meet the whole “cream” of Polish freediving.

Photos: Patrycja Radiowska-Polak