In January 2011 I received an application from a young US woman Delainya Kazarian for a freediving course. One of the first things I do with a new student is explore their personal objectives and expectations and their aquatic history. Delainya was a surfer and was interested in improving her breathold in case she was held down by a big one.
But when we discussed her history it emerged that she had been a synchronised swimmer and also a competitive swimmer an excellent pedigree for a freediver !
I had just finished training a young Mexican girl Estrella Navarro Holm, also a swimmer who had broken by a huge amount all the Mexican National female records and looked as if she was ready to debut on the international scene, so I was very interested in Delainya.
The question was was she interested in Free dive competition or was surfing all- consuming for her. I decided to play it slowly. She came to La Paz in Febuary. I had already decided that the normal 2 star AIDA freediving course was not suitable for her needs, and together we constructed a plan.
Her performance initially in the pool showed promise. She made the necessary changes to her style to adapt from a surface swimmer to an underwater swimmer. Mentally she appeared strong and had a competitive streak. As I worked more with her I gradually allowed myself to believe that we had an American girl here with real potential .For some years the US female team had remained pretty much the same and were certainly not world beaters! Only in 2010.
To 2011 had new faces with real promise begun to emerge, and I thought Delainya might be a very promising prospect to join them. There is in 2012 an International team competition in France in Nice, this was a tempting objective.
Delainya came down from San Francisco a total of 4 times to train with Maria Teresa and myself a total of 18 water sessions and so far these are her performance results… Performances Realized but not yet in a competition:
- Static (breath hold)- 5 minutes 30 seconds
- FIM (Free Immersion)- 58 meters
- CNF (Constant Weight No Fins) – 39 meters
- CWT(Constant Weight) -47 meters
Her Free Immersion depth (per competition records) is the deepest Free Immersion dive by an American woman in 2011 and the 2nd deepest of all time by an American woman.
I am of course excited by these results and believe that if she keeps up the discipline of her training perhaps perhaps there will be a woman on this side of the Atlantic that can give the Europeans a run for ther money.
We have to look at these results in consideration of the fact they were achieved in an almost incredibly brief period of time and at a time of the year when the sea conditions were far from ideal and very often Delainya was in borrowed equipment.
Just received a very nice letter from Delainya which I enclose.
Hi Aharon,
When I realized I wanted to explore training in the depth disciplines as a freediver as well as increase my breath hold times for surfing big waves, I did extensive research into who the best freedive trainers/coaches in the world are. As a result of my research I found “Freedivers” in La Paz. MT and Aharon Solomons have trained countless international champions and record holders. Not to mention the fact that they are international champions themselves. National Teams from all over the world send team members to train with MT an Aharon Solomons so the athlete can get to the “next level”. They are known as the trainer/coaches that world-class athletes go to if they have a block and can’t get any further. MT and Aharon explore with the athlete whatever that block might be and get the athlete past it.
Educating the athlete on the physiology, physics, psychology and philosophy of freediving are part of the training. Yoga, meditation, and exploring the human potential and personal development are also aspects of the training. MT and Aharon have also helped me to recognize and remove any old self limiting beliefs.
I have been training with Freedivers in La Paz since February 2011 and in 4 separate training sessions I had a total of 18 days of water based training. My Free Immersion depth (per competition records) is the deepest Free Immersion dive by an American woman in 2011 and the 2nd deepest of all time by an American woman. Â
I am very excited to continue training with MT and Aharon Solomons and look forward to what depths I might achieve next.
Delainya
Well done, Delainya! Good luck! 🙂