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Published on: January 28, 2020
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Trends in competitive freediving accidents.
Jérémie Allinger1, Oleg Melikhov2,3, Frédéric Lemaître1
1CETAPS UR 3832 Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Rouen, Rouen, France.
Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine
|December 15, 2024
Summary
Freediving without fins, in both pool (dynamic no-fins) and depth (constant weight no-fins) disciplines, presents the highest risk for loss of consciousness (LOC) incidents. Safety measures should prioritize these high-risk freediving activities.
Area of Science:
- Physiology
- Sports Science
- Diving Medicine
Background:
- Competitive freediving involves inherent risks, necessitating a thorough understanding of safety issues.
- Minimizing risks for athletes requires data-driven insights into incident occurrence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the occurrence and identify high-risk disciplines for loss of consciousness (LOC) and pulmonary barotrauma (PBt) in competitive freediving.
- To provide recommendations for enhanced safety protocols in specific freediving disciplines.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 988 competitive freediving events from 2019-2023, encompassing 38,789 performances.
- Statistical analysis of incident rates for LOC and PBt across various freediving disciplines, including risk ratio calculations.
Main Results:
- The overall incident rate in competitive freediving (LOCs and PBt) was 3.43% between 2019-2023.
- Dynamic no-fins (DNF) and constant weight no-fins (CNF) disciplines showed significantly higher risk ratios for LOC.
- No specific discipline exhibited a higher risk for pulmonary barotrauma (PBt).
Conclusions:
- Freediving disciplines without fins, specifically DNF and CNF, are associated with the highest risk of LOC.
- Organizers and safety teams should implement heightened vigilance and specific safety measures for no-fin freediving disciplines.
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