By Joanne Rodgers,
Bruce Peninsula Press
Freezing cold temperatures and the right wind are the perfect recipe for making an unforgettable winter here on the Bruce to go ice diving, say local ice divers Andrew and Lilly Ryzebol. The Ryzebols have been out on the ice most days this February.
Andrew has been diving for 10 years, while Lilly has been diving for 5 years. Their passion is ice diving in Georgian Bay to look at the ice formations, shipwrecks and unique geological features.
They explain that since they are freedivers, “we just use the air in our lungs that we take at the surface and go down to explore the underwater world.”
Sometimes we go under the ice without a wetsuit and simply wear our bathing suit.” They clarify “Drysuits are for winter scuba diving which require tanks. So it’s a lot simpler going under the ice without carrying a heavy tank. Scuba divers wear drysuits in cold water but these require tanks to properly adjust buoyancy so they are not an option for freedivers diving without tanks.”
On 11 February 2022, Andrew and Lilly were out on the ice in the Lion’s Head Harbour. With strong winds whipping over the bay, the water temperature of approximately 0.5C was about as cold as it can get in a freshwater lake before becoming ice. Since the ice was fairly thin they cut through the ice using an axe. For thicker ice, they would use an auger and ice saw. Then they remove all the thick chunks of ice and stack them around the hole.
“We always dive with a certified buddy and never go alone under the ice” they said. Andrew is always checking the weather systems to ensure it’s safe to be on the ice. “If the weather is good and the ice is safe, we place markers around our hole and sometimes we have a dive line as well. The beautiful clear waters of Georgian Bay also makes it safer to dive under the ice because you can clearly see the hole.”
For the February 11 dive, Andrew was geared up in a wetsuit with a mask, fins and weights as he prepared to enjoy the view of the ice formations while swimming under the surface ice. Later, Lilly also ventured into the icy water but clad only in a swimsuit and mask. Lilly wore a winter jacket over the swimsuit to keep warm while waiting to dive. With a 10 second warning to the safety crew to get ready, at about two seconds Lilly sheds the coat and prepares to enter the water; the safety diver will go down first. Depending on the cold, they might do one, two or three dives. On February 11, Lilly did only one dive due to the cold.
For each ice dive session they will typically be in the water for one to two hours in total, but each dive is only approximately one minute in, one minute out of the water. However, Andrew is able to stay under the ice for four minutes without moving and holding his breath while only wearing a swimsuit.
“We do regular training to hold our breath in the warm seasons when we do depth diving for about two to three minutes,” say the Ryzebols. Andrew is able to hold his breath underwater for over seven and a half minutes and Lilly can hold her breath for four and half minutes in warm waters. They say they never push their limits under the ice.
Since they are under the water for such short periods of time, even if their hole gets iced over, they say it is usually a thin skim, so easy to break through.
After their dive session, they focus diligently on getting warm. Sometimes they come up to the surface completely caked in ice. They usually warm up in their car, and only then are they able to get their gloves off.
Developed techniques for ice diving
Andrew’s first ice dive was at Tobermory in 2015. Andrew and friend Geoff Coombs had spent that summer diving, and as Fall approached and the water got colder, Andrew and Geoff were reluctant to end their diving adventures. In 2015, there were few ice divers worldwide, so Andrew and Geoff were largely self-taught when it came to ice diving and developed their own techniques.
Lilly says she came on later as a student in December 2017 and her first ice dive was in Lion’s Head.
Andrew says ice diving is gaining in popularity and now there are ice divers in Montreal, Calgary, Halifax, Norway, Finland, and Russia.
Interested in seeing more of Andrew and Lilly’s ice diving adventures? Visit their YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrooprFreediving
