Ever since I was a child, I’ve been attracted by the sea. I wasn’t scared of it and felt so confidant that when I was only three years old I almost drowned. As a result my parents decided that I should enrol in a swimming academy. As a teenager, I would go to the small beach on 16th Street in Miramar, Havana, and compete with the boys to see who could go farther or deeper. I practiced synchronized swimming and became the captain of the Cuban national team for twelve years. After a short time as a model for underwater photography—which served rid myself of my aqualung and prove to myself that I could go down 38 meters without assistance—early in 1997 I began practicing apnea, the voluntary interruption of breathing, which, for us, goes hand in hand with diving as deep as possible. I retired in 2002. In her cosy home in El Mégano—one of a string of beaches to the east of Havana close to the ocean she loves so much—Déborah Andollo warmly and unassumingly welcomes us. She has set sixteen world records in the four apnea diving categories; has been included among the top 100 Cuban athletes of the 20th century; was awarded the Marine Oscar in 1996 and selected Best World Diver in 1997. She is the undisputed star of a sport which is so competitive that, in her own words, “either you´re a champion or you´re nothing”. She is currently the Vice-President of the Ibero-American Underwater Activities Federation and President of its Scientific Committee, and has been given a number of nicknames, of which her favourite is “Neptune’s Sweetheart”. Born on 9th May, 1967, of average height, seemingly fragile yet bursting with energy, naturally elegant and distinguished; her pleasant conversation easily flows into her passion for diving. The first records go back to 1950 when Italian diver Raimondo Bucher went down 22 metres and ten years later, in 1960, French diver Jacques Mayol dropped to 100 metres. Apnea is an ancient practice: the earliest references go back to 4,500 bc when Japanese women divers—called amas—were forced to search for pearls along the sea floor. In Ancient Greece, apnea was used in wars, and in pre-Columbian Peru, to search for food - as very probably our own indigenous populations did too. For me it is something spiritual, which not only demands, as with any other sport, the willpower to give up many pleasures along with the resolve to train and study, but also an enormous control of the mind, a great capacity for introspection, a profound knowledge of oneself and one’s ability, and knowing when or not to surpass certain limits. It also requires an essential disposition to feel oneself in harmony with Nature. In Cuba, the practice of deep apnea has two high points, first in the 1980s with diver Pipín Ferreira and in the 1990s with myself. It’s a very expensive sport that requires support teams with divers, doctors, boats, hyperbaric chambers, and other facilities, and still hasn’t been recognized by the Cuban Olympic Committee. Along with my work at the Federation, I also run an apnea and scuba diving academy with courses that certify instructors in Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. This requires that I brush up on what I learned at the Higher Institute for Physical Culture, besides preparing new subject matter, developing methodologies, and doing research. Another topic which the Cuban champion has a passionate interest in is environmental education and she is actively involved in a great number of projects and programs aimed at the protection of the environment.
Considering her many interests and the passion she puts into everything she does, we wanted to know if Deborah Andollo has any free time. I am, luckily, a very busy woman. I enjoy looking after my son Ernestico, whom so many times I had to leave behind during training or competitions. I study and organize the courses I teach. I attend meetings at the INDER (National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation), and do public relations for the Federation. I may also carry out other activities, such as the organization of the First National Festival of Underwater Photography, which was held from 5-6 May, 2007 in Havana, or the organization of competitions as part of the training of our young athletes. I do housework, swim, jog with my husband, and practice gymnastics. I attend yoga classes three times a week. I read many magazines about scuba diving, apnea, underwater fishing, as well as books on psychology, yoga and meditation. I give lectures on the protection of the environment and take part in films or other audiovisual media associated with the environment. And I still take time out for gardening, listening to music, reading—mainly novels and testimonies—and dancing, especially Cuban music. Someday, I don’t know when, I’ll take up handicrafts, which I love. Can it be that Yemayá - grateful to she who zealously watches over her realm, and who prefers to see with the eyes of the soul - has bestowed on her seemingly favourite daughter the gift of multiplying time? |
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