Natalie Rudman is South Africa's deepest woman in CWTB. An athlete devoted to freediving and yoga, she recently took part in the spin-off mini-competition in Roatan, as the Caribbean Cup was postponed, freediving to -63m with her V3 carbon fins. Here's a small glimpse of what happened before and during the comp.
The Roatan Freediving School hosted a mini competition. Originally anticipating the Caribbean Cup, this competition had to be postponed to August due to travel restrictions imposed just after the announcement. For the freedivers who had already arrived, it was a relief to have the Mini competition announced. The list included Canada’s top freediver Sheena McNally and Korea’s Jung A Kim. All three ladies including myself achieved new bifin National records. All 3 of us diving in our Alchemy V3 fins.
Due to Covid, this was the first competition for some time for many of the athletes. For me, it was the first competition in over 2 years. My last competition being the Asian Cup in the Philippines in 2019. It was wonderful to have freedivers come together again, with common interests and goals and the usual freediving conversations about mindset and workouts. For the past 2 years, I had not dived past 50 meters, allowing my lungs and mind to adapt slowly back to depth. During covid, I had a minor surgery which also held me back. As the time approached to compete I started to dive deeper which required relearning the mouthful. This was probably the only challenge I had during my training coming up to the competition.
Conditions in Roatan are fantastic from April to around September. We had current on perhaps only two occasions and some surface chop on a few more. Apart from that, the conditions were excellent, the water very blue and warm. The visibility can be from 30 to 40 meters and it’s a very welcoming environment to dive in. As the time came closer to compete, I started to taper out workouts and spent more time resting. This is not my favorite part as I tend to get bored during rest days, but this is an as important part of training as any other part.
During training, I had a big focus on CWT with the monofin as it got me the deepest and I really enjoy the technique, but to mix up training and to keep it interesting I started to practice CWTB with my wonderful Alchemy V3 fins and on some days I did FIM. I rested for 3 days before the competition start day. Usually, I would take just 1 or 2 days rest before, but I did PB FIM dive and felt a little tired after, more than usual. From experience, I know not to push when I feel fatigued but to rather take the time off to recover fully and to come back to the water stronger.
I was a bit nervous coming into the competition, this is completely normal and the feelings can be expected. On day one of the competition the conditions were superb. I announced 63 Meters Bi-fins for the first day as I know this is an achievable depth and my EQ works just fine at this depth. There are always big nerves coming into a competition, especially on the first day. I really wanted to be confident in the dive. I always do two warms ups before a dive. I do a hang at 10 meters and a hang at 20 meters. The dives felt ok, the contractions came quite early, but this can be expected with the competition nerves lingering. As soon as I came to the line to start breathing and relaxing for my dive, I felt completely relaxed, like my body and mind knew exactly where I was going and what to do.
The first 20 meters felt smooth and I took my mouthfill, I waited for the next few alarms to signal me to freefall at around 40 meters as I slowed down my kicks. At around 40 I relaxed checking in with my chest to relax and holding my mouthfill. Being the first day and with the nerves I did swallow some of the mouthful but before I knew it I was at 63 meters, I grabbed the tag and I was ready to ascend. The ascent felt great and I felt so happy to be in the water, competing again, I felt kind of as though I was at home. Meeting the safeties always gives a good feeling, you are almost there. And I slowed down my kicks (being careful not to dolphin kick as this would count as a red card). For the last few meters, I stopped kicking and simply floated up. New National and Continental records achieved.
The nerves had subsided and so I announced confidently 68 Meters in Constant weight with the monofin. I did this dive in training. CWT is my favorite discipline at the moment, it's smooth and fast and I love the dolphin movements, I work especially hard in dry training in my yoga practice to create a flexible spine that will carry the movements in the water. Again there was complete confidence as I came to the line and had my relaxation phase before the dive.
There was a rest day and on the third day, I announced 65 Meters in Free Immersion. 3 Meters more than the previous SA National Record held by myself. I felt tired as I was not smart and did not rest the day before, using the time to bring a sailing vessel around. I tried to remain focused and let my body guide me as it knew what to do from training. The dive was a success and it felt amazing to have 3 new Records in the Bag. However, I felt more tired than the previous dives and decided to make the last day a resting day for myself. Also, I felt that I had achieved what I had set out to achieve and it’s always smarter to listen to your body and save the dive for another day.
In the end, the last day got canceled due to bad weather. I ended up coming first place overall for the ladies as I had completed 3 disciplines with white cards and my points added up. It was a wonderful surprise and a wonderful celebration. Many National records, many good vibes, happy smiling faces, and a successful competition here in Roatan, Honduras.
