Freediving as a musical installation - Berlin, Saturday 25th September

I will hold my breath as a part of a musical installation exploring the various physiological responsens which take place during apnea. The piece is called "The Body is a Vessel" and is created by the swiss composer Robin Meier. It will take place on Saturday 25th September 7pm at the kleine Wasserspeicher, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. The installation is a part of the SuperCollider Symposium 2010. More details to come :)

Ear infections, hopes and expectations

Since travelling to Okinawa, I had a small ear infection in my right ear. It hadn't given me any problems during the training, but after sitting around waiting for the CWT competition to happen, it decided to get worse to the point where it completely blocked me from leaving the surface. I kept trying to make it come around with ear drops etc, but I was unable to start in the competition. This left me in a sad state for the rest of the championships, as I had really wanted to do my 60m dive.

Static training (where I did 6'08!) had left me with slightly too big expectations, and I came up too early at 4'49 in yesterday's static competition. The guys did great though, with Bjarte setting a new national record for Norway with 6'31. Well done!

Today I played around in the nice 50m outside pool, testing some new monofins and getting my body going. I feel more positive again and hope to come up with a smile from my dynamic dive tomorrow. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...

White cards and delays

Bjarte made his dive today, getting a white card for the 75m and securing the first points for Norway. Well done! Apparently, the current was none excisting today, but instead the waves had picked up pretty good. The weather forecast has predicted strong wind tomorrow aswell, so the constant weight dives have been postponed. Hopefully we will get to dive on Monday 5th instead.

Instead of going diving, many of the athletes are taking an excursion to the aquarium (me included) to watch the whale sharks and many other creatures there.



While waiting for the deep dives, I've been doing statics to get some training. It seems to be going very well and my body is doing what it's supposed to! I did an easy 5'45 in the morning, and hope this will do some good for the static competition later.

Constant weight announcements

The official training is over and the announcements for constant weigth is out. Half of the athletes will compete tomorrow, on Saturday, and the rest on Sunday. The Norwegian team starts as follows:

3/7 - Bjarte Nygard, AP (announced performance): 75m, OT (official top): 11.32
4/7 - Steinar Schjager, AP: 70m, OT: 12:09
4/7 - Elisabeth Kristoffersen, AP: 60m, OT: 12:37

The weather was a little lighter today out on the boat, but the current is strong and the sea is a bit choppy. Scenery was beautiful though.

I am very happy to have a rest day before my deep dive, as I was a little sea sick and tired today at the training. But I had a nice 52 m dive yesterday, so I feel confident going for 60 for the competition.

The 2010 World Championship has started!

On Wednesday 30th June, all athletes, coaches and staff was ready to kick off the 2010 AIDA Team World Championship. At the opening ceremony, the teams were represented and welcomed to the first World Championship taking place in Asia (!). Although we are fewer teams than the last years, the competition will be fierce among top teams like Japan, Denmark and France. Our Norwegian team also looks strong and we are ready to give the others a real fight.

We are all staying at the Tokyo Dai-ichi Hotel in Okinawa, which (just to mention) has a 5 m deep pool where we freedivers are playing around. I have started my training in the pool with some statics, and yesterday on the 1st of July we also did our first official CWT training. The weather was a little rough, but everybody on the german and norwegian team made their dives :)

Today we are off for some more deep training, and the first competition day is tomorrow where half of the athletes are competing in CWT. More updates and announcements will follow...

Depth training for the World Championship

For us freedivers, training in the pool is all very well, but there is nothing which can compare with the ocean. I hadn't been deep diving since Dahab in April 2009, which made me feel like a fish on land. But, three weeks ago, I finally got to satisfy my longing for deep waters. Anna von Boetticher had invited a small bunch of freedivers for depth training in Nice, freediving heaven. And boy did we have a great time!

Anna and I got straight to business after arriving Thursday 20th May in the afternoon. We took the dingy out for a session just outside Nice harbour, which was our base for the first few days. I felt at home in the water almost right away, warming up with some frc's and dipping down to 42m.

The next morning Liv Phillip arrived, and we girls went training again: 45 and 46m for me :) Equalizing was fine, my legs were fine and I didn't even feel any tightness in the chest. This was very promissing! In the afternoon, Martin and Andy (friend of Anna) arrived, and we measured our training rope properly. 100m should be good for this time...

Saturday morning started with stretching, followed by a very nice dive session. My warm-up hang was getting longer, and I felt ready for a deeper dive. With Martin safetying, I went down to 50m and came up with a big smile. Afterwards, we had breakfast, lifted the anchor and sailed away. The weather was only too good, blue sky and sunshine. Not really enough wind, but I guess you can't have it all.


In the afternoon I tried variable weight for the first time, hanging on to the bottom weight down to 54m and swimming up. It felt SO easy! More like a rollercoaster ride, as I was getting pretty fast, both down and up again. It was so much fun!

Sunday 23.May was my birthday, and it turned out to be the best one I've ever had: Morning dive to 60m, loving every bit of it. This is why I freedive... Blueberry pancakes for breakfast followed by some sunbathing. Afternoon variable weight to 60m having fun! Then birthday cake, champagne, presents and wonderful company. Thank you guys!

On Monday I was too tired to do a proper dive and I turned early at 52m (going for 64m). As a final treat, I got to climb the mast and enjoy a wonderful view. In the afternoon, Martin and I had to say goodbye and got dropped off in Cannes.

Hopefully I will manage to stay in shape up to Okinawa and I'm looking forward to going down into the deep sea soon.

Lazy blogger lately and WCh Team

I'm sorry for this long time without any updates. I've been busy finishing my third and last year at Aarhus University, reading for my last exams and writing my bachelor report. Except for the normal pool trainings, I haven't done much exciting. But this is bound to change very soon.
I'm off to Japan 24th July to take part in the AIDA Team World Championship, which is held in Okinawa this year. We are participating with a mixed norwegian team this time, consisting of Steinar Schjager, Bjarte Nygard and myself. As a mixed team, we will take part in the men's competition. The disciplines are constant weight, static and dynamic apnea. More updates will also be found on the page of AIDA Norway.

Freediver on NRK's "Glimt av Norge"

Last year I had a couple of reporters from NRK (National TV of Norway) filming me in the pool and at my home town in Gjøvik, Norway. This was put together with interviews and underwater shots from Egypt by Stig Severinsen and Martin Müller. The result was a program about the freediver Elisabeth for the program series "Glimt av Norge" (Glimps of Norway). It was shown on Tuesday 31st March on NRK1.

Final day at the Polish Championship, 21st March

The Warsaw Mermaid is a great symbol for a beautiful city hosting a great freediving competition!

The championship was over on Saturday, but two disciplines remained: The One Breath static competition wih a head-to-head final, and the DNF Only competition. The athmosphere at the pool was more relaxed and there were only 16 competitors, which allowed time to chat and have some fun.

I must confess that I didn't have the same competitive instinct after wining yesterday. I was simply very satisfied with the dives and not to forget the amazing prices, and didn't have the proper focus on my DNF dive, where I came up after only 54m. There were some great performances though, among them a new polish record by Alexandra Sulkiewicz with 104m in DNF and Robert Cetler beating everybody with ease in STA.

The competition was a great success with good organizers, lot's of helpers and generous sponsors. I'd come back any time! The final results from Saturday and Sunday can be found here.

1st place at Polish Freediving Championship, 20th March

In static I had a very relaxed dive, floating around all the way to 5 min. Then coach Rune helped me push up to a final time of 5'31. I came up completely clean and got a white card, which was a great start of the day. Motivation was on top, and I enjoyed hanging out at the pool and watching the other performances (and sleeping a bit).

The pool was 25m long, which is not ideal for dynamic, but similar to my training conditions in Gellerup. The first lane I was so relaxed I almost forgot the turn and nearly bumped my head, but just got it. After 100m I could feel my legs and the fact that I hadn't had so much to eat since breakfast, but I kept swiming. I came up at 151m, with heavy legs and a big smile. I secured the 1st place in the competition and already looking forward for DNF tomorrow.

We finished off the day with dinner and a fully packed prize seremony. I won a Mares Nemo Excel Dive Computer, a Sporasub bag and a Panda Anit-virus program. Olga Martinez Alvarez took second place for the women and Veronika Szalontayova third. For the men, it Robert Cetler won (with a 8'42 in STA!), Rune Hallum Sørensen took second place and Sergio Martinez Alvarez third place.

Upcoming: Polish competition 20.-21.March

This weekend I will be competing at the Polish Freediving Championship, which is an open AIDA pool competition. On Saturday 20.March I will compete in STA and DYN, while on Sunday 21.March I have a special chance to improve my DNF record in the DNF Only competition.

I will post updates and results as soon after the competition as possible. I'm looking forward to travelling to Polen for the first time and to have some nice dives.

Dynamic under ice

Denmark has had an unusual cold winter with plenty of snow and ice. This opened up a great chance to go ICE DIVING again, almost exactly one year after my first try at Oslo Ice Challenge.

Knudsø (Knud's Lake) in Ry had a nice layer of 38 cm thick ice. The Danish lakes are not really deep enough for CWT dives, so this time we went for distance instead. Stig Severinsen was going for a Guiness World Record in DNF under ice in only his swim trunks. I was going to try DYN under ice for the first time.

The set up was very professional and the scuba safety crew from N.O.W. divers had full control over the holes, lines and cameras. The holes had been made at the following positions: 0m (starting hole), 25m, 50m, 60m and 70m. This gave the freedivers different options to surface. Two lines had been set up over the entire lane: One line for visual reference at 3-4m depth and one just underneeth the ice to clip the lanyard onto.

Stig went in first and did an amazing (and freezing) performance of 72m, coming up with a smile on his cold face. 1min 30 sek in 0 degree water didn't seem to have troubled him too much. Kurt, Rune, Mark, Jesper and I all got to test the water afterwards, while the scuba divers were still in the water to look after us.

On my first try, I was struggling with orientation. I was trying to stay down with my buoyant suit, but the lanyard held me back. It took two short dives to figure out that the best idea was to swim up-side down and face the ice. That way I could also see the holes better, and plan my surfacing. I finished off with a sweet 50m dive, and I'm eager to do this again! The day had been perfect, with a bright blue sky and great atmosphere. Big thanks to all the people being part of it and to Morten Bjørn Larsen for the pictures.

Physiological experiment at Lanchester University

Some time back I got an email from a scientist at Lanchester University. He was looking for freediving volunteers for his current physiology project, involving cardiovascular regulation and control by breathing. After learning a little about the experiments and the hypothesis, I booked my flight for Friday 26th February. I was gonna be a test bunny :)


The whole set-up was very professionel, and the tests were all non-invasive. The only thing I had to do was lying still and at times hold my breath. After being all wired up of course! The responsible for the experiment had even learned "blow-tap-talk" in order to wake up any blackout victims (although it's very hard to push that far on dry land...).


It was a fun experience, and it's always interesting to learn more about what happens in the body during breath hold. We had some interesting discussions, and I'm very glad I took the trip.

1st place at Berlin Masters Cup, 20th Feb.

My first competition of this year, the Berlin Masters Cup, was a great experience and lot's of fun. I hadn't had the normal amount of training, as I've been busy with my studies lately, so it was exciting to see what I could do. With great help from Anna von Boetticher, I got two good trainings before the competition and the strangest thing happened: I was enjoying static!

I did a very comfortable and strong 5'14 in STA at the competition (video coming soon), and was walking around smiling the rest of the day. The dynamic was just gonna be a nice swim to secure my place for the overall ranking, and I came up after 136m. Afterwards I was a little unhappy that I didn't do more, so I'm very eager for another competition now. Finally some good motivation again!

It was the 12th time Berlin Masters Cup was happening, and it was one of my first great competitions back in 2007. This year it was dominated by alot of germans, as well as some great polish diver and the usual danish dynamic guys. The competition was the Indoor German Championship as well, and the new champions are Sergio Martinez Alvarez and Barbara Jeschke.

Monofin course in Berlin, 19th Feburary

I will be giving a monofin course in Berlin, the day before the 12th Berlin Master competition. The course will be in english, but with german translations when necessary.

The course is open for beginners and more experienced freedivers, as the level will be adapted to the participants. You don't have to have your own monofin either, but a pair of rubber training fins or similar would be good.


The course will focus on teaching you the basic, most important movement principles for monofinning and also give you some good tips to develop further. There will be follow up courses after about 3 months to take you to the next step, if you like.

Preliminary schedual:
17:00 - Dry session: Introduction to monofin technique, videos of common mistakes, different styles and monofins.
17:45 - On land: Stretching and strength exercises spesific for monofin technique
18:00 - In water: Practicing movement without fins, with small fins and at last with the monofin. Video before and after, to give the students useful feedback. In water exercises for training programs.
20:00 - Out of the water, final feedback with watching the video from the pool session.

The total duration of the course is ~4 hours and the price is 35 euro. You will need to bring swim gear, fins (small fins + monofin when possible) and comfortable wear for the dry exercises.

To sign up, please send an email to: elisabethskn@hotmail.com

Plans for 2010

We have just started a new, exciting year and I'm already planning and dreaming about all the freediving I want to do!

Berlin Master - competition + monofin course - 19.-20. February
Bizzy Blue Hole (inshalla)- Dahab, Egypt - 17.-30. April
3rd Mediterranean Freediving World Cup, Greece, - 14.-20. June
Team World Championship - Okinawa, Japan - 30. June-10.July

Most important is to get a female team (or a team at all) for the team WCh. Norway hasn't competed in team since 2006, but we have come a long way since then :) And travelling to Japan to freedive would be a dream come true. So, fingers crossed for some sponsors to come along...

Gjøvik Sports Award 2009

The freediving year of 2009 finished off very well, as I got a letter saying that I had won a sports award from my home town Gjøvik. It was the first time they gave out "Gjøvik kommunes Idrettspris", so it was even a little bit historic. I'm very honored to recieve the price and hope for a good year in 2010 as well.