Dynamic dives

To summarize the two dynamic dives in Riga I can say that I have done and will do better. Common to these two dives is that I felt I had lack of energy. This new experience is good to have with me before the Swedish Champinionships.

The boundary between being fully conscious, and being in a dream in a world beyond time and space never feels as narrow as when I compete in DYN.

DNF – 114 m – Yellow card

Usally my announcement is high reffering to my personal bests. I also like to play with the numbers when making announcement. For this competition my announcements were: STA: 5:17min, DNF: 117m, DYN: 177m. The lack of energy in my DNF-dive made me want to go to my annunced performance and not longer. I thought I did but my maths while performing was obviously not the best. “Half the length of the pool is 15 meters, hence I need only one more stroke to achieve my AP.” …I thought.
This was actually the first yellow card for me. The dive didn’t go as I expected but I learned some things on the way. One thing I learned: 25 divided in two is 12,5 (not 15…).

DYN – 181 m – White card

For some reason I was perhaps a bit overconfident when I last fall signed up for the contest and made my announcement. I put an AP to 177 meters. Which is quite high considering how many dives I have done over 177 meters. If I think carefully, it’s probably not more than two. I got to start last of all 51 athletes, men as women, alone in my heat. I’m confident on my 150 meters and 177 meters means just some more kicks. Since I started last, I had full control of what was required of me. I had it with me when OT approached.

OT 11:47

OT was 11:47 and my nose went down below the surface a few seconds later. The water in the 50-metre pool was soft and comfortable, the kicks felt like a dream. The boundary between being fully conscious, here and now and being in a dream in a world beyond time and space never feels as narrow as when I compete in DYN. It is a feeling that is difficult to describe. I usually compare it to a circle which you can look at as having infinitely many edges or none at all. Infinity or zero. Total opposite but a hairline limit. The minutes during the performance are special. I spend several hours in the pool only for this and in a few minutes I’ll get everything out of them. I turned on the 50 and at 100 meters and felt that the location was under control. There would be no problem reaching my AP. At the turn of the 150 I had the last kicks to see a mark of 175 meters. There I knew that if I just slipped a few meters to I had it, my AP. 175 meter mark turned out. I kicked a few extra times. I went up. Surface protokoll OK. 181 meters. White card and a second place in DYN and the combination.

Be kind to your self, be kind to others.

Nicole Edensbo, 2019-02-21
Gothenburg, Sweden