Apnea: Death of Loïc Leferme
Death of Loïc Leferme
April 12, 2007
I am sad. I read these lines. Read them.
Le Monde of April 11, 2007 Article by Sophie Greuil NICE (Reuters) - World record holder Loïc Leferme, 36, an apneist, died Wednesday midday due to a cardiac incident following an accident during a training session in the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer. A father of two children, this native of Dunkerque loved to pursue world records in "no limit" diving, descending to depths beyond imagination.
On October 30, 2004, this extraordinary athlete with long blond hair had dived to 171 meters, a depth reached this morning before he had an accident, likely at depth, before being retrieved 20 meters from the surface. During his ascent, a problem with the safety line would have caused his decompression accident.
This morning, in a bay that has become "Mecca" for apneists because of its depth and lack of current, Loïc Leferme was training to try to beat, in July, the world record of 183 meters held by Austrian Herbert Nitsch since last summer. Since November, the apneist with the "gueuse" had been training twice a week for this new record.
Sometimes, this giant of the great blue dared to express his gentle dream of reaching "one day, why not" the crazy barrier of 200 meters.
Record holder in free immersion, the Monegasque Pierre Frolla is stunned by the death of his friend:
- Loïc was not an apneist who wanted to do things at any cost. He never took any risks. He would never have gone beyond his limits. He was the one who could have gone to 200 meters. And above all, he was surrounded by the best team there is," said the Monegasque to Reuters.
This accident, Pierre Frolla sees "as a stupid day, only a coincidence of circumstances." "It's too unfair," he says. Stunned by the death of his friend who helped him climb the ranks in apnea, the Monegasque admits "having billions of images in my head with him. The best one would be of my beginning when we lay at 40 meters underwater and looked at the sun piercing the waves."
Finally, Pierre Frolla pays tribute to him by quoting him:
- My friend Loïc said: "The more time you spend on the surface, the less you spend at the bottom." Goodbye, my friend!
A practitioner of dynamic apnea, the Hyérois Stéphane Mifsud already finds himself speaking of Loïc Leferme in the past tense:
- In France, there were three great names in apnea: Jacques Mayol, Loïc Leferme, and me trying to follow in their footsteps. Two have already flown away, taken by their passion." The death of Loïc is tragic. I don't understand. For a long time, I have followed his very cautious progress, step by step. Like me, his success was progressive, so today, it certainly affects me, it may even question certain things in my practice."
Le Monde of April 11, 2007 Article by Sophie Greuil NICE (Reuters) - World record holder Loïc Leferme, 36, an apneist, died Wednesday midday due to a cardiac incident following an accident during a training session in the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer. A father of two children, this native of Dunkerque loved to pursue world records in "no limit" diving, descending to depths beyond imagination.
On October 30, 2004, this extraordinary athlete with long blond hair had dived to 171 meters, a depth reached this morning before he had an accident, likely at depth, before being retrieved 20 meters from the surface. During his ascent, a problem with the safety line would have caused his decompression accident.
This morning, in a bay that has become "Mecca" for apneists because of its depth and lack of current, Loïc Leferme was training to try to beat, in July, the world record of 183 meters held by Austrian Herbert Nitsch since last summer. Since November, the apneist with the "gueuse" had been training twice a week for this new record.
Sometimes, this giant of the great blue dared to express his gentle dream of reaching "one day, why not" the crazy barrier of 200 meters.
Record holder in free immersion, the Monegasque Pierre Frolla is stunned by the death of his friend:
- Loïc was not an apneist who wanted to do things at any cost. He never took any risks. He would never have gone beyond his limits. He was the one who could have gone to 200 meters. And above all, he was surrounded by the best team there is," said the Monegasque to Reuters.
This accident, Pierre Frolla sees "as a stupid day, only a coincidence of circumstances." "It's too unfair," he says. Stunned by the death of his friend who helped him climb the ranks in apnea, the Monegasque admits "having billions of images in my head with him. The best one would be of my beginning when we lay at 40 meters underwater and looked at the sun piercing the waves."
Finally, Pierre Frolla pays tribute to him by quoting him:
- My friend Loïc said: "The more time you spend on the surface, the less you spend at the bottom." Goodbye, my friend!
A practitioner of dynamic apnea, the Hyérois Stéphane Mifsud already finds himself speaking of Loïc Leferme in the past tense:
- In France, there were three great names in apnea: Jacques Mayol, Loïc Leferme, and me trying to follow in their footsteps. Two have already flown away, taken by their passion." The death of Loïc is tragic. I don't understand. For a long time, I have followed his very cautious progress, step by step. Like me, his success was progressive, so today, it certainly affects me, it may even question certain things in my practice."
Take a look at an article that the newspaper Libération dedicated to Loïc Leferme
and, more generally, go to the menu of my file "dangers". See in particular the death of Audrey Mestre, that of Jean-Christophe Lafaille
deaths on the altar of the extreme
Even bigger: Loïc Leferme is a "marketing product." His image: the extreme, self-overcoming, mastering one's body and mind. All that combined with a "concern for safety." But even more, Leferme is associated with a campaign to raise awareness about lung diseases (an advertisement that appeared in Telerama). Read it, it speaks for itself
:
I have always loved adventure, the wind of the open sea, the light playing on the deck of a wreck, the touch of the limestone of a cliff. I loved the nights of safari where you hear lions roaring, the walks with the Maasai. I loved the breath of air that carries a fragile crew of tubes and canvas under the clouds. I loved seeing the giant manta rays play with these tiny humans that we are. I have devoured life with my teeth since I was a child, and I intend to continue until my last breath.
But this is not adventure. It was just a terrible game with death, with the media lurking like voyeurs. You were taken in, little man, by those who sell danger as a product, like vultures.
*- There is the death of Leferme. Are we going to do something about it?
- Let's see. Do we have images?
- Yes, we have images. There are some good shots.
- But apnea, we...