OZTek 2011
Posted: March 12, 2011 Filed under: Shows 2 CommentsToday was the first day of the OZTek diving show in Sydney, Australia. I did one talk today about the physiology of deep freediving and how that is providing interesting insights and parallels with technical diving. For anyone that does not know what technical diving is, you can read more about it here. In a nutshell, it is diving that is conducted beyond the “recreational” envelope. In future posts there will be more discussion about these differences and what they are, but for now I will keep it simple.
The importance of this show to Australia is that it is the only diving show that occurs here that draws an international audience and speakers. Also, the lack of a recreational show draws recreational divers on mass. It is an interesting mix of interests and backgrounds that makes it a lot of fun.
Talks range from the truly technical to more informative ones that link techniques and innovations back to more mainstream diving. Jill Heinerth presented on the safety and issues surrounding the growth of rebreather diving and increased participation by divers with this equipment. I was able to sit in on it and enjoyed the presentation. Interestingly, we have some common themes that run through our ideas about how to help divers be better at all levels.
Jill Heinerth speaking about rebreather safety.
It can be difficult to pick which of the three presentations to attend each hour. Unfortunately, Dr. Simon Mitchell was presenting at the same time I was and I missed his talk. He was presenting on carbon dioxide and its effects on divers with information on new technologies for detecting it within rebreathers. We exchanged slide sets so we can see what we missed.
Michael Menduno, of AQUACorps fame (one of the first widely published technical diving specific magazine), opened the show with a fun and memory jogging review of the very beginning days of the practice. He is the person that coined the term “technical diving” because if the similarities to technical climbing. The term stuck.
- Michael explaining where the origins for coining the term “technical diving” came from.
Tomorrow brings another full program and I will be speaking about Precision Diving.
The speakers of OZTek 2011
Precision Diving 
Grant-so good to spend time with you!! I love your ideas! And you have so many of them!! Keep up the great work!
There were so many talks I wanted to go to that I hadseveral clashes on both days. I chose to go to your lecture about precision diving and I enjoyed it very much! Good tips on the breathing techniques, so thank you very much. I had a great time.