Despite the fact that the first freediving organization was founded more than 20 years ago there is still a relatively small amount of people involved in this amazing water activity (especially in comparison to scuba diving or swimming) on a constant basis.
Why? Part of this is fear. Fear of unknown. Is it risky? Is it bad for your health?
Second – “why” – How it benefits me? Why I should try it?
And it is quite difficult to find any information about freediving especially when you’re looking to learn how to train, how to do it in a safe way, and what you need to avoid. On Youtube you can find tons of videos about swimming and very little (close to zero actually) about free diving training…
But before you start practicing freediving, I do recommend you to take at least a beginner freediving course. It doesn’t matter which organization, PADI/SSI/AIDA/CMAS, it’s up to you. You will learn general theory, safety issue, and of course techniques for proper freediving.
Second – you should understand that freediving is a potentially dangerous activity if you are doing it the wrong way (we will cover safety on our next topic). So, there are some rules which you should follow:
- Never free dive alone! Even (or especially) in the swimming pool.
- Be conservative with your progress! There is no reason why you should push yourself too hard. Slow and safe progress is better than fast but risky!
- Free dive only with someone who knows what to do if something goes wrong.
- Consider taking an EFR course to be sure that you know what to do in case of emergency.
But it is too early to be scared. The fact is that if you follow safety rules free diving becomes one of the safest water activities!
OK, you’ve done freediving course. On the course you received essential freediving theory. Now you know how to breath before and after free dive and about physiology. You tried new skills in a swimming pool such as static and dynamic apnea. And of course you dove for the first time quite deep under water, on a single breath!!
For some of you this might be a one time, crazy experience during your holiday and probably you will never try it again. But some of you will be hooked and decide to keep going! You want to become real free diver!
But… your vacation is over. You come back to you home city and aren’t near warm ocean or even a lake. But you’re not giving up easily and find a local swimming pool. So, how you are going to train? With whom? How do you motivate yourself? What goals do you want to achieve? And what is more important – how to be safe?
That’s what this blog would be all about.
You’ll learn free diving theory, how to train “dry”, in the pool, or in open water. And of course, constant safety reminders!