Nick Pelios
Freediver, Creator
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Nick Pelios
Freediver, Creator
As the Aida Freediving World Cup 2021 is only a few days away, where some of the globe's deepest freedivers will compete for a place on the podium, we spoke to Alchemy Athletes Thibault Guignes & Alena Konecna and asked them a few things about the upcoming competition. Here's a sneak peek into their thoughts and training before this grand tournament!
Thibault: I am mostly excited. It is going to be a great event with many inspiring Freedivers such as Homar Leuci, Alena Konecna, William Winran, Antonio Mogarevo, Alice Modolo, Natalia Zharkova etc. Egypt has been one of the few places where people could dive with no restriction in 2020-2021, so the community is strong, and everyone here has been looking forward to this competition. A lot of the athletes joining the competition are already on-site, training. The team of Andrea Zuccari in Freediving World is fun, experienced, and very professional. The setup for big depth is great so I have no doubt it is going to be a great event. This competition is also a test for me as this year I am training very differently, working with coaches and it will be a good way to spot my progress and the work left to do. We are still early in the season and I am trying to be very progressive in training and in competition.
Alena: This competition is different from the previous ones because I have my lovely daughter with me. Normally I train for several weeks prior to an event like this on my own, I steadily increase the depth of the training dives to suit the target depth in competition. As a competitive candidate / traveling mother with a daughter, it’s a little harder to focus without distractions. Child care and extreme sports require a level head and good planning.
Thibault: I will be competing in Constant Weight Bifins and in Free Immersion, maybe also other disciplines for fun, but my objectives are in CWTB and FIM.
Alena: In this competition, there are 4 different disciplines; Free immersion, Constant Weight Bi-fins, Constant Weight Monofin and Constant Weight No Fins. If you wish to have a top 10 placement, it is required to score points in all 4 disciplines. My strongest discipline is Constant Weight Bi-fins and Free immersion, so I have to concentrate on my training at the other 2.
Thibault: I have been working a lot on mental preparation this year and with a very different approach to depth. I worked with a mental coach in one-on-one sessions, as well as practicing a routine every day. In terms of depth adaptation, equalization, hypoxia, technique, I am ready for any dive. I just needed a bit of "mind gym" to get there in my head as well.
I took advantage of the winter in Dahab to work out and run a lot, mostly because I love it. In the Philippines where I live, it is so humid and hot, that I don’t run much there. It was a real pleasure to get into it again. And I believe that being fit is a big plus for freediving.
I also kept a regular stretching routine, mostly full-body stretching. On the recommendation of Andrea Zuccari, I introduced this year some back-bending stretching that was a bit missing in my routines so far. This year is the first year I am getting coached. My coaches are Nicholas Kouvaras for the general coaching and Katie Lincz for the mental preparation part. We changed my approach to deep dives a lot. The idea this year is to do less, but go deeper.
I trained in Dahab with some dive buddies (Denis Grosmaire, Benjamin Boehme, Stella Abbas) but just a little bit as I was working a lot these past couple of months. So mostly dry training and mental preparation. I did a few sessions in the Blue Hole in Dahab but depth is limited to 90m there and water in winter was a little bit cold for a diver like me used to Philippines' warm waters, so I stayed very conservative. Around 2.5 weeks before the competition I moved to Sharm el Sheikh to train for myself and have access to more depth. I have been diving with Freediving World team. Tito and Dunia are amazing safety dives that put great vibes on the platform while completely focusing on each freediver’s safety. They have experience of deep freedivers' training.
Alena: My training involves both physical and mental training. My physical training is largely cardiovascular, running, rowing, gym sessions, and obviously freediving in “Deepspot”. The mental training involves meditation and mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques. The beginning of my training starts at the Deepspot swimming pool in Poland with consultation from the knowledgeable Nicholas Kouvaras, a really great teacher, where you can find a perfect depth for training. Closer to the date of the competition it is important to find a training center in the local country. Here in Egypt I train at the famous Freediving World under the supervision of great legends in the freediving community, like Andrea Zucchari.
Thibault: I am not on a specific diet. I make sure I eat healthily and balance meals. I stay hydrated with some rehydration salts from time to time. The air here in Egypt is so dry, it is easy to get dehydrated without noticing it. I also check regularly that I have all the right minerals in my blood as I had a history of lack of Potassium in the past. You will be surprised to hear that I reduced drastically my consumption of coke zero lately! From several liters a day to one or two glasses per day.
Alena: Personally I don’t change my diet specifically for a competition.
Thibault: This competition is a step towards my main objectives of this year, so we decided with my coaches to stay pretty shallow compared with what I am doing in training. The idea is to repeat fewer deep dives and plan proper peaks of performance in Vertical Blue in July and a bit later in the year. So both for bifins and Free Immersion, it will be very enjoyable and comfortable dives.
My target is to refine my competition routines with a specific focus on the hour before the dive and on the stress management of the day prior to the competition. I also have technical objectives in terms of dive time, technique refining etc. It is definitely a preparation competition.
Alena: Since this is a competition at the start of the freediving season, my goal is to dive safely without physical problems and most importantly to dive with a clear mind. Of course, we try to set new personal records, however, this is done usually at the end of the season after many months of training and competitions.