In Greek, “Apnea” means “Without air” and free-diving is called “Apnea”. Free-diving is similar to snorkeling, but divers need to hold their breath if they go in deep water. Free-diving doesn't need tools for breathing. Free-divers hold their breath until going up to the surface of the sea instead of using an air tank. Therefore, the most important part of free-diving is learning to breathe well. Most people can free-dive since it doesn’t need a snorkel or scuba tank. However, free-divers condition their mind and body before going free-diving.
Pile of shells around dwellings of the Stone Age prove that people caught food under the water. Free-diving started by getting food or trading items, but it has developed as leisure, with divers taking photos today. Today, free-diving is widely practiced as a leisure sport like snorkeling and spearfishing. Anyone can go to the sea and see all kinds of sea animals. Also, free-divers can feel peaceful in the water. Free-diving has grown in the past 10 years by many people want to be with nature.
Learning to breathe is the most important part of free-diving practice. The way of staying in the water longer is to practice breathing slow and deep. Divers breathe in for 5 seconds and breathe out for 10-15 seconds. To avoid over-breathing, they breathe out for a long time more than breathing in. Free-divers practice how to breath in the water, and they can start free-diving when they have a pulse under 80/bpm.
Free diving to great depth is especially dangerous, but any diver who is not well trained can panic, or otherwise fail to return to the surface before they use up the oxygen in their body. They can lose consciousness from anoxia and drown. Professional free-divers can go in the water over 400 feet without any tools for breathing. But some free-divers die. On November. 17, 2013, Nick Mevoli blacked out after trying free-diving at a Bahamas competition. He never woke up again.
Unlike scuba-diving, free-diving needs several basic tools for seeing, breathing, and moving well in the water. Free diving equipment includes a mask, snorkel, fins, wetsuit and weightbelt. Free-diving tools help free-divers to experience more in the water.
Free-divers choose a lightweight mask to fit their faces to swim comfortably in the water.
Another important tool is a snorkel which helps free-divers breathe when swimming close to the surface of the water. It is good to choose a flexible snorkel to avoid biting too hard and to focus on relaxing.
In addition, free-divers need a good fin for swimming better with small effort. Fins help free-divers to reduce using their energy and the heart rate. It helps to travel farther too.
Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae (born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky; April 22, 1926 – August 5, 2018) was an American actress, comedian, singer, and dancer who was known for her role as Edna Garrett in "Diff'rent Strokes" and in "The Facts of Life". She was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Comedy in 1982.
Rae was born on April 22, 1926 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Jewish-Russian parents. She was raised in Milwaukee and in Shorewood, Wisconsin. Rae studied at Shorewood High School and at Northwestern University. She was married to John Strauss from 1951 until they divorced. They had two children.
In April 2017, Rae was diagnosed with bone cancer. She died in Los Angeles, California on August 5, 2018 from the disease, aged 92.
Nedra Volz
Nedra Volz (Nedra Gordonier, June 18, 1908 – January 20, 2003) was an American actress and comedian. She is known for her role as Housekeeper Adelaide Brubaker in "Diff'rent Strokes".
Volz was born on June 18, 1908 in Montrose, Iowa. She was raised in Des Moines, Iowa. Volz was married to Oren Volz from 1944 until his death in 1987. They had three children.
Volz died on January 30, 2003 in her home in Mesa, Arizona from Alzheimer's disease, aged 94.
Parasailing
Parasailing is a sport. Parasailers are put into a harness that is attached to a parachute. They hold on to a rope and are towed at high speeds behind a vehicle (usually a boat, but sometimes a truck on land). The parachute helps them rise up into the air behind the vehicle. People parasail for the thrill and also to get a good, high view of the scenery around them.
Parasailing is a popular recreational activity that was developed in the 1960s.
Dangers include falling too fast while in the air with injuries upon landing.
The Milk Maid
The Milk Maid is an oil painting by Johannes Vermeer. It was painted about 1660. It measures 45.5 cm (17.9 in) x 41 cm (16.1 in). It hangs in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Zbrasov aragonite caves
The Zbrašov aragonite caves are in the Přerov district of the Czech Republic. It is a protected area of national importance. The caves were created by both surface water and underground spring water. The protected area includes the caves as well as the surrounding forests. The natural underground springs of warm mineral water are rich in carbon dioxide. They are used for spas in the nearby willage and spa resort of Teplice nad Bečvou.
The caves are filled with aragonite and stalagmites which look like geysers. Other formations look like doughnuts. The bottom levels of the cave are filled with carbon dioxide. The temperature stays at 14°C all year, and the caves are the warmest underground places in the Czech Republic. The caves were discovered in 1912 and opened for the public in 1926.
The Zbrašov aragonite caves are on the bank of the Bečva River. It is at an altitude of 250–310 meters above sea level. It is part of large karst area which includes also Hranická gap. This is the deepest hole in the Czech Republic. It is across the river Bečva under the National Nature Reserve at Hůrka.
Many of the buildings in the area threaten the karst system. Work is in progress to connect them to a sewerage system and remove all the septic tanks and cess pools.
In December 1912, workers at a local quarry uncovered a crack in the rocks. There was warm air coming out of the cracks. Brothers, Josef and Chrome Čeněk, were interested in the karst formations in the area. They made the opening bigger, and in January 1913, climbed down a rope 42m into the dark underground space. The rope broke and both men were trapped in the cave. Their lamp was also broken in the fall, so they had to wait eight hours in the dark to be rescued. Over the next few years many other parts of the 1,322m cave system were explored.
A new entrance into the cave was dug from the Bečva valley. Electric lighting was installed in the cave and in 1926 it was open to the public. In 2002–2005 the caves were renovated. The paths and wiring were renewed. A huge amount of rock was removed. This rock debris had filled some natural cavities and hallways. It had been created at the time of original works and for economic reasons had not been carried out of the caves. During this renovation some parts of the system returned to their original form.
The geology of the area is made up of large blocks of rock. Valleys are short and form along the fault lines between these blocks. There is a layer of Devonian limestone more than 500m thick. This is covered with a younger layer Miocene sediments.