Tuesday, March 19, 2024
FreedivingBehind the Scenes with Carol Schrappe, Continental Record Holder VWT

Behind the Scenes with Carol Schrappe, Continental Record Holder VWT

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Carolina Schrappe is a world-class athlete. She is also an indefatigable mother of three. She is a devoted sister. And she is an astute business owner. In her myriad roles Carol is a wonderful role model for her adoring fans, young and old, around the world. Amidst all of her awe-inducing underwater achievements, what may prove to be her most inspiring quality is her ability to find resiliency through vulnerability. While the Brazilian powerhouse (of Lebanese & German descent) is unparalleled in her country as the most innovative & experienced water woman — Schrappe has numerous national records and multi-disciplinary freediving titles under her belt; she is the only person in all South America (let alone female) who teaches both technical diving and directs the instruction of all Performance Freediving International courses, and she is a trusted coach to other record-setting Brazilians — what makes her even more appealing than all of her accolades is her spirit of “stick-to-it-tiveness”. Despite any physical or mental challenges she may face, it would seem that short-term failures actually fuel Carol’s desire to succeed in the long run.

Carol is an Acquanauta (photo by Den GC)
One of Carol’s tools of the underwater trade (photo by Den GC)

Schrappe’s most recent accomplishment was an incredible dive to 101 meters under variable weight (VWT) at the Bonaire DeepSea Challenge. (You can watch a video of her white-card dive below). The doe-eyed, golden-haired, bronzed-limbed beauty from Curitiba, Brazil was kind enough to share the inner-workings of the days before and the attempts leading up to her eventual record-setting performance. What many people don’t know is that Carol tried and failed her first two-times this year, before finding that the third time was a charm in her quest for a new continental record.

Carolina’s first attempt ended up as an aborted-dive at a -68m. Call it a case of pre-performance jitters, Schrappe was only more determined to see it through the next day. However, on the very next day, Neptune decided to stir the pot and the attempt had to be cancelled due to safety issues, as the current was too strong to proceed. These types of hiccups can sometimes make or break the focus of a high-performance athlete. In her second official attempt on the third day, Carol made the 101m depth in a dive time of two minutes and :26 seconds flat. Unfortunately for Schrappe she received a red card for that valiant attempt as she inadvertently forgot to remove her nose clip during the technically critical surface protocol.

Carol ascending to her destiny (photo by Den GC)
Carol ascending to her destiny (photo by Den GC)

“I was so happy to have performed my dive without any big difficulties, so when I arrived at the surface I made the protocol and was already eagerly smiling when I realized that I had forgotten to remove the nose clip. An unforgivable failure for someone like me who has not missed this element in many, many years of competition.”

On the fourth day and her official third attempt, Carol’s warm-up dives felt great, but the safety team was concerned as they noticed that another current was steadily increasing. (While current is not typical in Bonaire, hurricanes Irma and Maria were still playing havoc on land and at sea.) Intrepid in the face of this uncertainty, Carol and the organizers decided to forge ahead, as the current did not feel too overwhelming for the team’s liking, the dive was on! A 10-minute countdown started, and at the eight minute mark a sentinel rebreather safety-diver, Paul Kirby, began his descent to the established depth of 101 meters (if and when Carol reached the bottom she would not be alone.) With about 5 minutes to go before official top, Carol tuned out everything from the external world and began her routine of breathing & relaxation. As the last :30 seconds were counted down Schrappe packed her lungs full of air in final preparation for the dive. She released the brake and began a destined descent.

A woman's determination is no match for Neptune (photo by Den GC)
A woman’s determination is no match for Neptune (photo by Den GC)

“The equalization was surprisingly good! (this aspect has been my biggest difficulty so far) In fact, it felt to me as if it were the easiest equalization of the entire training season, and everything that was supposed to happen … happened. I got to 101 m with enough air to equalize and even more to spare!”

Carol was pleasantly surprised by the ease in which she performed a technique that can otherwise be vexing to someone of her athletic prowess. No matter how much conditioning in strength, athleticism & mental focus a freediver may have, sometimes all it takes is an uncooperative inner ear or mouth-fill spill to foil a dive.

“It amazes me that I need a rebreather, three bail-out tanks, three different gasses and about 90 minutes to do the dive that Carolina can do on a breath-hold in 2 mins. LOL!” shared technical safety-diver Paul Kirby. “There is a lot of training and focus and dedication required for both of us to be able to sustain ourselves at those sorts of depths in our different ways. It is very rewarding to be able to share that amazing moment with someone who has the same passion for the deep. It is an honor to be able to witness Carolina’s endeavors as she pushes the boundaries of the sport of apnea.”
Carol Schrappe bate novo recorde Sul-americano de mergulho Livre 101 metros de profundidade

Conditions beyond her control did not deter Schrappe from her goal. It is in the moments of “uh oh” something has gone wrong, that an athlete’s mettle, preparation and focus shine through. Carol was luminescent.

“Despite the fact that this dive took longer than anticipated, because there was so much current pushing the cable, which slowed my descent, I felt the rest of the dive was super smooth. Swimming under my own propulsion on the way up, the first half of the ascent was very calm, but as I neared the half-way mark up (around -50m) I could really feel the current getting stronger and so my fin-kicks were getting harder and harder! Ultimately, I arrived back at the platform to cleanly perform the surface protocol for which I received a white card after 30 seconds. It was a huge relief and a personal sense of duty fulfilled. Seeing my final dive time of 2’58, I noticed that it was an additional :33 seconds longer than the previous one. I was very surprised and at the same time I was happy. Happy to have won another challenge! I now know that equalization is no longer a problem and I am convinced that I can do deeper dives given the extra time. I look forward to training more, to learning how to better adapt my body to the depth. And yes I already have the next challenge in my focus.”

A white card for Carol (photo by Den GC)
A white card for Carolina of Brazil and a new Continental Record for South America (photo by Den GC)

All photos courtesy of Den GC

Francesca Koe
Francesca Koehttps://www.deeperblue.com/
An active ocean advocate, VP of U.S. Freediving, a multi-agency dive instructor, PFI Safety Supervisor and AIDA judge, Francesca also serves as the Editor-At-Large here at DeeperBlue.com. You can usually find Francesca diving in the kelp, hanging out at the Farallones with sharky friends, or trying to improve upon her own PB's.

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