Interview with FII Founder Martin Stepanek on COVID-19 and Freediving

This new way of life is extremely challenging for everyone, in nearly every direction, be it health, work, relationships, or sports and hobbies. Things have changed dramatically and will probably keep changing for some time, so it's important to keep that in mind when setting new goals. Everyone's access to facilities or the outdoors varies greatly, but staying fit and physically and mentally healthy should still be one of the highest priorities. Whatever your situation allows you to work on, consistency is key. This is a great time to get in your best cardio shape, so when you get back to freediving, you can dive all day long and recover quickly. You will be able to start logging in the mileage and work on your E.Q. or adaptation, gradually increasing the depth. Or, you can finally get the noodle-like shoulder flexibility that you never had the time for. Or, work on anaerobic capacity for your glutes and quads to do some mind-blowing bi-fins dives when you get back out there. This is the time to work on things that your life and freediving schedule didn't allow you to work on before.

This is an incredibly stressful time for all of us, what are some ways freediving training can help us better manage our stress?

For the luckier ones of us who can actually go out and freedive, it is rather simple. We all are familiar with the amazing effects of freediving on our psyche and stress relief. Freedive as much as you can; your mind and body will thank you for it. The rest of us can benefit from dedicating a little time every day (or every other day) to actively doing something freediving related. By actively, I don't mean watching YouTube videos the whole day; that's passive and, while initially motivating, it eventually turns into the opposite. Freediving gives us tools like breathing exercises, cross-training, tolerance tables, stretching, learning, etc. These tools are scientifically proven to manage stress on their own, but for us they are also part of what we have always loved to do. They help us maintain our identity and stay centered.

Doctors have described the COVID-19 virus aggressively attacking the respiratory system and damaging lung tissue.  How do you see COVID-19 affecting our ability to freedive after contracting the virus?

As with many aspects of COVID-19 at the moment, it is very difficult to know. While we're still learning a lot about the virus and the illness every day, there are still a lot of unknowns. The damage to the lung tissue seems to be very similar to that caused by severe pneumonia. If the recovery of the lung tissue follows the same path, in my opinion, the majority of previously healthy individuals who did not have any other underlying medical issues prior to contracting the virus, should not see any effect on their freediving abilities after a full recovery and catching up on their training. Naturally, many variables could play a role in different outcomes, such as severity and longevity of the damage during the sickness, significant presence of blood clots, genetic pre-dispositions, being a world-class athlete versus being an average spearo, etc.

Many experts are suggesting the rules of social distancing could be in place until a vaccine is developed. How do you see the reentry into the sport of freediving and spearfishing when maintaining an arm's reach distance to your buddy is so paramount for safety?

Just as arm's reach is the cornerstone of freediving safety, social distancing is the cornerstone of pandemic safety. We can't compromise either. We all have to listen to the medical experts, freedivers, and spearos included. It is a very likely scenario that the rules of social distancing, and perhaps additional measures, will be with us for some time. They will also most likely adapt in order to slowly get the world moving again. I expect the changes will be different in different places, sometimes easing up the rules and sometimes tightening them again. I think it will be a balancing act in progress. We, as a freediving community, have to be ready to adapt to work within those rules as they change.

During your competitive career, you broke thirteen world records. What are some tips for maintaining motivation during forced breaks?

Unplanned breaks in training are very hard on any athlete, whether you’re a pro or a recreational enthusiast. However, breaks are more common than people realize. We are currently dealing with COVID-19, but, essentially, the mindset for an athlete should not be any different now than during an injury, event rescheduling, moving houses, etc. After absorbing the shock that all short-term plans, dreams, and strategies have changed, it is important to focus on the bigger picture. Why am I doing this, and what is my ultimate long-term goal? With that in mind, I ask myself how I can move forward in the current circumstances. There is always something: cross-training, distance learning, breathing exercises, stretching—anything, as long as it benefits what I love to do. That becomes my new short-term goal, and I hold myself accountable for progress. Instead of feeling unmotivated by something that I cannot change, I celebrate the opportunity to become better at something that I would normally have overlooked or didn't put enough time into in my normal training. The new "edge" or "advantage" that I am building keeps me going and motivated during long breaks from normal activities.

And lastly, many of us are wondering what it'll be like to freedive after such a long break! What are some things we should be aware of when we are able to start depth training again, and how do we safely get back to our prior depths as fast as possible?

I think many people will be surprised how quickly their breath-hold abilities return after a long break. The biggest loss usually comes from loss of adaptation, mainly diaphragm/chest flexibility, and then perhaps fitness as well, depending on the type of freediving. Keep in mind you can minimize these losses with consistent dry training. After resuming freediving, I'd recommend starting diving no deeper than 50% of the depth that you were diving before the long break. For the fastest, safest way to progress back to where you were before the break, use the F.I.I. CBS-GONE evaluation tool to increase your depth.

Do you have a question for Martin? Leave it in the comments!