Words Dr Joel Menzies
Photo: Andrew Shield
Lit up, thrashed, pumped, rag dolled, Huey’s underwater disco! The list could go on forever. There has been a moment in every surfer’s life where they have been caught out: the rogue wave; the 10-wave mega set; the poke-your-nose-on-take-off only to be catapulted head first into the flats, which have magically become concrete; the rip that’s not strong enough to get you out the back, but just strong enough to keep you in the impact zone; the lip that pile drives your head into your spine. Why does water feel like concrete?
Most surfers have their limit. There are a few exceptions – those who want to hit the ocean in its most tyrannic and monstrous states (Mark Healey comes to mind). For the rest of us mere mortals, there is a point where we say no. We go looking for the protected bay. Mutterings in the car park often overhear, “It’s a better wave”, “The wind is better”, and the occasional honest “F**K that!”. Our personal limit is shaped by where we surf, whom we surf with, personality, experience and the desire for different styles of waves.
Many surfers have a story of “when I thought I was going to drown”, and it’s always a horrifying situation – one that keeps some out of the water for a very, very long time. The single most important thing to do when we find ourselves under the oceans giant watery hammer is to stay relaxed. An understanding of the physiology behind what drives our desire to breathe can go a long way in maintaining a relaxed approach to the thrashing of your life. It can help avoid panic, and once you can do that, the “I almost drowned” feeling is gone.
Mark Healey’s two wave Mavericks hold down.
We need oxygen. Simple fact. We breathe it in, it’s used in our cells during energy production, and carbon dioxide is one of the products of aerobic metabolism. The good news is that our bodies are well equipped to deal with periods of no breathing.
Bored now? Well pay attention, because this is the important bit – when you hold your breath that initial desire to breathe comes from a rising CO2 level. It is responsible for that feeling of your diaphragm contracting, the stomach muscles tensing, that lump in the back of your throat. In an untrained person it comes on whilst their red blood cells are still over 95% saturated with oxygen! That’s right, you want to breath, but you’ve got oxygen for days. Well not days, but definitely a couple of minutes. The faster your heart rate, the faster your O2 is consumed. So reeeeelllaaaxxxxx whilst Huey goes Mr Miyagi on your arse and makes you kick yourself in the back of the head.
The point I’m making is that most surfers will never experience a hold down longer than 10-15 seconds, max. It feels like an eternity, but this is well within any normal surfers physiological capabilities. If you are copping hold-downs beyond 15 seconds, you are surfing some heavy stuff and this article would be old news to you – or maybe you are just a human submarine (I’m pretty sure Mark Healey is a nuclear powered submarine disguised as a human).
And apparently, so is Benjamin Sanchis.
When you pop up and grab that life sustaining breath, the reason it feels so good is because you are blowing off that CO2, your O2 levels are likely still close to 100%.
So! Now that you are armed with this knowledge, please don’t rush off to Jaws for the next monster paddle session thinking you are going to own it – you won’t, and you will die. Use it to make your current wipe outs easier, and build from there. There are several free diving and surf breath holding courses available. You will be taught how to train safely and always with a buddy. It could make your current surfing more enjoyable, or, if you are so inclined, it could allow you to start exploring some bigger stuff with confidence.
So next time you’ve been mowed down/pounded/ripped up, just remember that whilst you are not a submarine, YOU HAVE GOT THIS! It’s just 15 seconds and some pesky C02. You’ve gotta pay to play, right?
And here, ladies and gents, is our in-house doc, Joel Menzies, putting his money where his mouth is over the past week in Indonesia. Or at least his survival, rather than his money. Onya Joel!
