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The Dive: A Story of Love and Obsession [Hardcover]

Pipin Ferreras (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)


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Book Description

July 27, 2004
The sea was our common home, and I felt our connection went back a very long way -- to a time that predated man's emergence from the water.

In 1996, Francisco "Pipín" Ferreras, a native Cuban and a world champion in the dangerous and controversial sport of free diving, met Audrey Mestre, a beautiful French marine biology student who had sought him out in Cabo San Lucas for her research. A passionate romance immediately bloomed between the two, and their love was bonded by a shared fascination with and devotion to the ocean. When the couple moved back to Miami, Audrey took up the sport herself and quickly proceeded to break the female world record (115 meters). They soon became free diving's power couple, testing the limits of their wills and bodies by descending to unthinkable depths, training and touring together, encouraging and motivating each other.

Then, on October 12, 2002, in a dive off the coast of the Dominican Republic, tragedy struck: Audrey's attempt to break the world record with a dive of 170 meters ended in her death. Suddenly, Pipín -- haunted by questions, reeling from the loss of his soul mate -- could no longer find solace in the sea that had always been his true home.

Now, for the first time, Pipín tells his story. He shares the heart-pounding adventure and fierce competition that fuel the sport of free diving and his own addiction to it. He addresses the controversy that has followed him throughout his career and that spun out of control after Audrey's death. And he relates the haunting story of his relationship with Audrey -- a unique and complicated tale of love and obsession taken to extreme depths.


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Free diving champion Ferreras sums up this dangerous sport: "it all boils down to one simple, overriding question: How deep can a man dive on a single breath of air?" In the 1950s, such dives without tanks became fiercely competitive in Italy. The rivalry of Jacques Mayol and Enzo Maiorca inspired The Big Blue, the 1988 movie that spawned mainstream interest in the sport. Amid this history, Cuban native Ferreras tells his story: "I grew up with the sea as my backyard." He defected to the U.S. in 1993, after breaking numerous diving records. On a trip to Mexico in the mid-'90s, he met marine biologist Audrey Mestre, who began dive training while their romance blossomed. Together, they produced a documentary TV series, expressed their love in tandem dives and married in 1999. "Audrey and I were happiest in that silent, mystical underworld, bathed in blue." That happiness ended with Audrey's tragic underwater death, and last year, Ferreras matched her 170-meter world record during a tribute dive on the first anniversary of her death. With fluid writing and vivid descriptions, this compelling autobiography explores emotional depths while detailing the sport's beauty, technologies, drama and dangers. 32 pages of color photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Ferreras is one of the giants in the sport of free diving, which involves plunging as deep under water as you dare to go, staying there as long as you can, and then rocketing back to the surface. Death by accidental drowning is not uncommon. In October 2003, the author matched the world record of 170 meters (roughly 560 feet) that had earlier been set by his wife, who died precisely a year earlier, while setting the record. This memoir is in many ways a classic love story with a couple of twists: man meets woman, falls in love, and introduces her to the thing he's dedicated his life to--the same thing that kills her. It's also a concise history of the sport of free diving and an introduction to many of its key participants. And it is, perhaps most of all, a story of a man's addiction to a lethal activity that has already killed the woman he loved. Sports memoirs are a dime a dozen, but this one stands apart. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow (July 27, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060564164
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060564162
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:
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2 star:
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1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A legend, August 5, 2004
By 
This review is from: The Dive: A Story of Love and Obsession (Hardcover)
Hi, I believe the people rating Pipin are being rather harsh with him. True Pipin doesn't give all the explanations, and yes it was a tragedy and for many of us see it as a mistake that took place in Dominican Republic. Its hard to find all the answers....

I am a freediver and I believe the book talks a lot about the history and events that many of us freedivers are interested in. Pipin Ferrera years ago, gave a name to the sport and that's why he is respected in our comunity.

For a person interested in freediving, I highly recomend this book.

Roberto Zuniga
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars No answers, November 17, 2008
A lot of the reviews say: "I wanted to find out about Audrey".

For those who are seeking what happened to Audrey, read "The Last Attempt" by Carlos Serra: a sad, but excellent book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing, January 7, 2008
This book reads like a nonfiction version of the 1988 Luc Besson film "The Big Blue". Haunting and tragic this is for people that have a serious love of diving and the ocean, and anyone who wants to know what its like to get inside of the head of someone obsessed and consumed by and extreme sport. Not a thrill seeker or adrenaline junkie Ferreras at times seems to be aquatic life form cursed to live his life on land, visiting his true home in brief, beautiful, and for his wife, ultimately tragic dives. Must read.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
On the morning of October 12, 2002, shortly after dawn, I awoke from uneasy dreams and turned to look at my beautiful wife, Audrey Mestre, fast asleep on the unfamiliar bed next to me. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pony tank, safety divers, tandem dive, free diving, free diver, weighted sled, lift bag, practice dive, big dive, eighty meters
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jean Pierre, Anne Marie, Constant Weight, Jacques Mayol, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico City, Audrey Mestre, Enzo Maiorca, Umberto Pelizzari, United States, Matt Briseno, Fort Lauderdale, Carlos Serra, Dominican Republic, Emilio Azcarraga, Fowey Light, Grand Cayman, Los Angeles, National Geographic, Ocean Men, Jesus God, Key Largo, Planet Ocean, Red Sea, Tata Lanza
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Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
Dive by Monty Halls
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