Sometimes, an extreme sport is just stupid. At least in my mind. Take, for instance, competitive free diving. In this sport, a person takes a deep breath at the surface, and then sees how far down they can go. I'm thinking that there are only two, maybe three outcomes here.
- Make the depth (Yeah)
- Turn back early (sigh)
- Drown (yikes!)
Maybe I'm conservative, but count me out for any sport where my options are succeed or drown. In the "no limit" version of the sport, competitors hang on to a heavy weight on a cable that will pull them to a depth much faster than they could swim to it. Then, when they hit bottom, they inflate a baloon that will (hopefully) haul them to the surface. Recently, a competitive free diver attempting to set a record drowned during her attempt. There were a couple of mechanical issues: The weight did not pull her down fast enough, and the air bag leaked, slowing her ascent as well. It was a very unfortunate "accident", but in my mind this was suicide.
Now, I have to admit, I might be a hypocrite here. I say that because I've been sky diving and I've bungie jumped. I think these are a little different. Sure, an equipment malfunction will result in death, just like the free divers. However, if the equipment works perfectly, I should have no problems. With free diving, even if the equipment works, there is always the chance that you might black out, or have medical trauma. And once that happens, you're hosed. Count me out of the free diving game.
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