Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Technical Freediving in Hollywood Revealed

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On Monday 18th May, Performance Freediving International Founder Kirk Krack caused a splash on the online chat show “Coming Clean with the Dirty Dozen” hosted by Aron Arngrímsson of The Dirty Dozen Expeditions.

During the show, Kirk revealed his experience with decompression illness (DCI) after technical freediving this January. While not elaborating during the show, Kirk described how he had been diving around the 100m/328ft depth mark on his scooter before he noticed symptoms of DCI. Kirk announced he will be addressing the topic in an upcoming webinar, details coming soon.

The first Hollywood film Kirk introduced technical freediving to was “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation” during a scene where actor Tom Cruise was facing a long breath hold. After training with Kirk, the results were positive, and today Kirk Krack is on the back end of 31 months of filming James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels in Los Angeles and New Zealand.

According to Kirk:

“James’ vision of the alien underwater world is going to blow everyone away.”

In “Coming Clean with the Dirty Dozen,” each episode of the show encourages audience participation through submitting questions. DeeprBlue.com Founder Stephan Whelan asked in the online comments:

“Considering how much technical freediving is coming to the fore in discussions, do you see it being taught by freediving and mainstream agencies in the future?”

 To which Kirk replied:

“Oh, absolutely so. I feel comfortable and confident that with my background in mixed gas diving and hyperbarics, and safety being my thing, the task is to make sure that the right education system supports technical freediving because there are a lot of advantages and can be the right tool for the job, but there are certainly some hazards to consider.”

Breathing mix during a turn around in Truk Lagoon.
Breathing mix during a turn around in Truk Lagoon.

Kirk is in the process of developing an educational system based around technical freediving practices with standards & procedures and thorough support materials.  Although this new way has been met with some contempt in the industry by a number of other agency heads, he is hopeful that specialty will grow.

Episode #9: Kirk Krack; Technical Freediving in Hollywood

Don’t miss the last two episodes of the season, featuring Gabriel Pineda, Director of Sales and Marketing at Shearwater Research and technical diving pioneer Kevin Gurr, respectively.   

Previous guests include Jill Heinerth, Matt Jevon, Richie Kholer, SJ Alice Bennett, Stephan Whelan and Mark Evans to name but a few.

Catch up on all previous episodes over on the DDE Youtube Channel, don’t forget to hit subscribe and click the notification bell to keep bringing the finest explorers into your living room each week.  

Podcasts more your thing? “Coming Clean with the Dirty Dozen” is also now available on SpotifyApple and Google.

(Photos courtesy of Kirk Krack.)

Victoria Brown
Victoria Brownhttp://www.deeperblue.com
Victoria is a staff writer for DeeperBlue.com. Avidly exploring the underworld since she was twelve, Victoria has been a professional diver for sixteen years and is now based back in the UK following many years touring the snowiest peaks and deepest green seas. From safety diving on media projects to creating content for the coolest brands in the diving industry, she has diving written all over her. Topside she can be found flying about on her bicycle or taking snaps of Sharky the cat.

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