Lubomir Stefanoff :: freediving and UW photography » Lubomir Stefanoff

Freediving/having fun at Dianabad swimming pool

Lubomir Stefanoff — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:27:00 +0000

For the past two weeks we’ve been training at Dianabad outdoor pool in Sofia. Water is getting warmer (was 20-22 degrees last week), so I might try a longer dive with my new Blueseventy suit (thank you, Eric and Sanne!). Ivo made another UW video – check it out:

P.S The Orca wetusit isn’t mine, I just borrowed it from a friend for a test swim

Finally some real freediving

Lubomir Stefanoff — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:19:52 +0000

Can’t really believe I started open water freediving in May…usually March is good month to open the season, especially if one has the opportunity to travel to ‘warmer’ destinations.

We chose Thassos again and spent 4 days freediving there, surprised by the low visibility (it was much better at the same time last year). I went without any expectations – my goal being just to have fun. Although I haven’t dived for a few months I felt really good in the water and increased the depth each day – just to see how far I can go comfortably. On the last day I did an easy 40m CWT dive, which felt fantastic. Honestly, I would have gone a bit further if I hadn’t hit the bottom at 40 meters – equalization was OK and I had plenty of air left for coming up. Next time I’ll try 42-45 to see if my ears are fine and then proceed to greater depths – the season has just started, there is a lot of time for ‘deep’ diving…

Here is a short video from Thassos. Cameraman: Ivo Zagorchinov. Enjoy!

One more thing – my Greek friend Dimitrios reminded me today that ‘loving’ apnea is probably the most important factor – how simple and true…Thank you Dimitrios, sometimes we seem to forget the most obvious things!

Song of the Sea video by Ivozag

Lubomir Stefanoff — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:59:48 +0000

Here you can find out what I missed by not going to Thassos for the Easter holidays (too much work…) Ivozag – remember that name – I’m sure he’ll become a quite good underwater videographer. Stay tuned for the next video coming in May, featuring Luigi ( my new Glidefin)!

2010:Goals in freediving

Lubomir Stefanoff — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:20:12 +0000

I’ve never fully understood the practice of setting goals only in the beginning of the new year… Setting, achieving and monitoring set goals is a continuous process. Still, I’d like to share my ‘bigger’ freediving goals for 2010. I’ve thought them over since late November when I started a more organized training.

0) Have fun, travel a lot, meet new people, improve constantly

1) CWT – 60 + m

2) DYN – 150+ m

3) DNF – 100+ m

4) STA – 6+ minutes

I know that these goals are ambitious, but at the same time they ARE achievable. I remember what Wolfang Güllich (among the greatest sport climbers of all time, died in 1992) said about training: ‘The hardest part of the training is making the decision to start training at all”. Nicely said. It really turns down to finding and understanding your motivation and devising a plan to lead you along the way. I guess that’s how it works, considering my experience with committing to a set of goals…

Back to basic training

Lubomir Stefanoff — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:06:12 +0000

It’s been a while since I last wrote in my freediving blog. I’ve been quite busy recently and didn’t keep my promise to post regularly…
Anyway, what I am up to at the moment? I’m taking a step back from freediving and doing longer apneas. Well, I still might go once a month to Greece or the Black Sea for some easy freediving. Now I started the basic training – swimming and running regularly, almost no breath holds…
I’m trying to do good aerobic workouts in the pool – totaling 3-3,5 km for the moment. I haven’t done pure swimming for quite a while, and I’ve forgotten how much fun it is (I can feel the water much better without a wetsuit). A triathlon coach (the president of the Bulgarian Triathlon Federation) is advising me how to structure my training and that makes a big difference! I hope that in 2-3 months I’ll see the results…
As far as running is concerned, I’m a complete newbie and my technique is far from perfect, but I’m catching up on that. In a month when my body would be adapted to the training load, I’ll insert some apnea exercises (controlled breathing) and gradually my training will be more focused on anaerobic exercises…till mid summer, when I plan to freedive a lot!
Well, that’s for now…I’ll keep you updated about my progress in swimming and running.

Skandalopetra in Porto Koufo

Lubomir Stefanoff — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:47:32 +0000

In the beginning of September Nikolas Trikilis inivited us to the Skandalopetra event in Porto Koufo. We didn’t hesitate much, just borrowed a friend’s car (thanks Boko!) and took the 6 hour drive on Thursday night. The event was the First Panhellenic Skandalopetra championship, organized by Nikolas Trikilis and the Freediving Association of Thessaloniki.
For 3 days we had the opportunity to try Skandalopetra diving and enjoy the company of some great freedivers and friends. We want to thank them for the hospitality and the great time we had (Nikolas, Dimitris and the other divers that participated)! The event was organized very professionally (it’s usual, since Nikolas is behind it) – and we all felt safe while diving despite our (the Bulgarian group) limited experience with Skandalopetra. Well, that’s the nature of this type of diving – it’s really safe and enjoyable (I won’t describe the safety features here, if you want to find out more check out the Skandalopetra group in Facebook).
I still need more practice in order to do decent dives with the petra. I don’t feel very comfortable with the noseclip (I think I overequalize my ears) and no wetsuit…I couldn’t concentrate well during the dive and reached only 15 meters…my right ear betrayed me several times. On Sunday I went with Vov for an early constant weight session and did easy 25 m dives without any EQ problems, but later with the Skandalopetra I’ve got the same feeling in my ear…Anyway, it was fun. Peter was doing great dives (I’ll make a short video about the whole event when I have the time). With Peter we’ll order a real petra (9-10 kgs) and will practice more .

I noticed that it’s the second year in row that I do Skandalopetra diving around my birthday (after last year in Lindos). So, that’s what I wish for myself in 2010 – I want to participate in Skandlopetra games/event again with those guys .

P.S More Skandalopetra pics from Porto Koufo coming soon on Facebook.

Old school Russian monofin

Lubomir Stefanoff — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:59:08 +0000

Today I tried my new monofin – a genuine Russian monofin for finswimming, made some 10 years ago or even more… It’s a gift from Stefan Todorov (renowned underwater video operator and former champion in underwater orienteering). I turned 25 a few days ago and that was a great surprise
The monofin was crafted from first class fiberglass material. The rubber footpockets are a bit damaged but that could be easily fixed.
This morning I tested it in the pool. The footpockes are fairly tight (maximizing efficiency) but still feel great, as if the monofin is an extension of the feet! Only I have to wear some fabric (special socks for finswimming?) to prevent blisters. The blade is a bit stiff – it’s designed for fin swimming, not dynamic apnea (supposed to be ‘long’ distance), but we’ll modify it soon.
I had not planned a training session for today, just wanted to try out the new equipment. I did an easy 50 m and felt great…the glide is longer compared to my Waterway Nemo Wing monofin. I rested for just over a minute and did another 50m…and soon I ended my 20th lap (50m) with 1:20 rest intervals inbetween, feeling really good and confident. I did not count the number of kicks…that’s on my to-do list for next week. I can clearly see the difference between open-heel footpockets (no socks necessary) and closed ones (similar to Omer Millenium). Can’t wait to try a 100+ meters dynamic with it!
Well, did I mention that I’ve got TWO Russian fins, not just one…The other one has a little crack right on the edge and I’ll delegate the repair works and experimentation to Volodya (spearfisherman/retired military pilot with innovative and ‘crazy’ ideas about [mono]fins design).

Enough about monofins… Tomorrow we’re heading to Porto Koufo for the Skandalopetra event…I’d better do some equalization exercises now. Stay tuned for some pics and the story behind them.

Thassos underwater

Lubomir Stefanoff — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:24:18 +0000

For those of you who wondered why I and other friends go often for freediving in Thassos – check out this video from Ivan Totev (fellow [scuba]diver). Well, it’s not just about the easily accessible depths and being only 350 km from Sofia…

Any clues what’s that creature at 6:40-8:16?

Leaderfins ‘carbon’ blades

Lubomir Stefanoff — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:45:00 +0000

I haven’t written for a while in my blog – everything is fine, I’m training and diving.
Some time ago a friend of mine broke his stereo fins – Leaderfins Carbon blades with Omer footpockets. It’s definitely not a pleasant experience to break a 260 EUR fins, but it was completely his fault and he admitted it.
The interesting thing is what he found out after he broke the fin:
As you can see, white layers of material (definitely fiberglass) significantly outnumber the black layers (carbon). It turned out that the ‘Carbon blades’ are not made from carbon, but from another, less expensive and lower quality material. It’s ironic, cause my friend had used those fins for two years considering them to be made from carbon…
Here is the description of these fins on Leaderfins’ website:
‘Carbon stereoblades with the angle in front of the blade.
The blades are available in 4 standard levels of stiffness, however we can add more stiffness upon request
The blades measurements are 20cm x 75 cm, but we can customize the dimensions according to your special request.
You can choose different kind of design for the end of the blade.
All our blades come with a one-year full warranty for materials and craftsmanship.’
I don’t see any hint pointing to the fact that they are putting more fiberglass than carbon in their ‘carbon’ blades!
Can we rely at the product’s description on the manufacturer’s website? Or we’d better break our fins to find out the truth about the materials used?
We have to do a thorough research on consumer opinion before we buy any ‘carbon blades’, especially if they are made by Leaderfins…
I got to go to the pool for my dynamic apnea session. Feel free to spread the word about the Leaderfins crap. Maybe they’ll learn a good lesson.

Plans for the summer

Lubomir Stefanoff — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:57:26 +0000

This week I’ll go freediving…in the pool. Again, second weekend in a row. I really need to go to the sea, but that will happen in two weeks maybe. I just have lots of work to do (that’s why I don’t have the time to blog). I plan 2-3 weekend freediving trips in August and hopefully I’ll get 10 days off in the end of September/beginning of October for visiting some great Greek islands.
Meanwhile I’ll continue working on my idea to dive in mountain lakes above 2000 m. I need to receive a special permission, plan a weekend with at least two fellow freedivers and go there and dive. I have some experience with mountain lakes – it’s a bit cold, but a 7 mm wetsuit and thick gloves will do. It’s a ‘cool’ experience – one is beneath some great peaks and at the same time it’s a great place for freediving. Well, there aren’t many underwater inhabitants, but still the view from the surface is magnificent and worth carrying the equipment. I plan to do deeper dives and hopefully my ears won’t complain about depth and water temperature. Anyone tried Docs Pro plugs? I might order a pair of them from the UK.
Before going to the deep lakes I want to get comfortable with 35-40 m constant weight dives, maybe a new pb (40+ mtrs) will boost my confidence. I’ve resumed some good stretching exercises that are said to help the body cope better with depth.
Well, I’m late – I have to do some dry static exercises now…I’m experimenting with more intense ‘workouts’ that are short and…not boring at all.