News – The Drake Sweet Foundation

Fox News 13 Tampa Bay

Following the tragic passing of Drake Sweet, his family started the Drake Sweet Foundation to educate people on free diving, spear fishing and other water related activities. The Sweet family talks about their foundation.

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Suncoast freediving instructor encourages training, caution in wake of recent incident

Freedivers do not rely on scuba equipment and can make surprisingly deep dives.(Janine Cianciolo)

By Raj Ghanekar (https://www.mysuncoast.com/authors/raj.ghanekar/)

Published: Mar. 18, 2025 at 7:50 PM EDT

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Friends and family of 36-year-old Drake Sweet are working to fund a continued search for him, after he disappeared while freediving off the Southwest Florida coast.

The U.S. Coast Guard told ABC 7 they suspended the search for Sweet Thursday evening, “pending new information.”

Friends of the Sweet family have started a GoFundMe campaign (https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-drake-sweet-home-continued-search-fund?cdn-cache=0)to help raise money for a private sector search. They report some of his gear has been found, but there have been no reported sightings of him.

ABC7 spoke with Janine Cianciolo, a St. Petersburg-based diving instructor, to learn more about the sport of freediving. She knows her way around the water, first donning scuba gear in 1975.

“I started scuba diving way back when I was a little kid in Cincinnati,” Cianciolo said. ”I traded babysitting with lessons with a neighbor who was a scuba-diving instructor.”

Four years ago, she picked up freediving, a sport where divers rely on holding their breaths for an extended period. She says the goal was stress relief.

But with it comes some critical safety considerations. Janine says freediving can be deceptively technical and requires proper training to do so safely.

“Free diving is not just holding your breath; if you don’t know the proper way to breathe, you can and will hurt yourself,” Cianciolo said. “You need to make sure you have all your emergency plans set up, have your first aid kit, have your oxygen onboard, know where the nearest medical treatment is.”

Resources

LMCs and Blackouts While Freediving: What Happened and Why?

https://www.hprc-online.org/physical-fitness/injury-prevention/prevent-shallow-water-blackout

Download the Spearfishing Checklist - Clean & Ready

Spearfishing Safety Tips

Underwater Hypoxic Blackout Prevention

Free Shallow Water Blackout Safety Course

Hypoxia in Freedivers:

Freedivers, who rely on breath-holding while submerged, are highly susceptible to hypoxic blackout due to decreasing oxygen levels. Warning signs include:

Dizziness or Lightheadedness: As oxygen levels drop, freedivers may feel faint or unsteady.
Numbness and Tingling: A lack of oxygen can cause unusual sensations in the limbs.
Visual Disturbances: Hypoxia may result in blurred vision or tunnel vision.
Physical Weakness: Movements that usually feel effortless can become difficult.
Blackout or Loss of Consciousness: In extreme cases, freedivers may lose consciousness, which can be life-threatening without a safety buddy.

Understanding hypoxia diving symptoms is essential for every diver. Proper training, monitoring oxygen levels, and diving with a buddy can significantly reduce the risks associated with low oxygen while diving.