apnea Archives - Kaizen Freediving

Australian National Record holder Amber Bourke!

14.11.2017sergeyvladivostok

We would like to introduce our today’s guest Amber Bourke, ex-World Champion, and multi-time Australian National record holder!

amber6 Amber, thank you for finding time to reply some of our questions.

1. Amber, I know that you were a professional synchronized swimmer and even represent Australia at FINA World Championship in 2007. How you ended up in Freediving?

I actually injured my hip which kind or ended my synchro days. I tried out for the 2008 Olympics but missed out on a spot on the team and after that decided that it was time to move on.

2. You achieved a lot both in swimming and now in Freediving. Can you compare training approach in both sports?

Training is actually very similar. I definitely trained much longer hours as a amber8 synchronized swimmer but with freediving I believe it’s more about quality over quantity.

3. Our huge congratulations on your great performance this year in CNF. Are you concentrating mainly on this discipline in your depth training?

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for CNF. I’m not sure why because breaststroke has always been my worst stroke. I think at the moment though I’m mostly focusing on it because my equalization is terrible and I haven’t been able to equalize deep enough to do decent CWT or FIM dives.

4. In 2015 you did 48 meters, 2016 – 58, 2017 – 68 (which is the new National Record!!!). Looks like you like number “8”. So, what to expect from you in 2018? 78 meters?

amber2 I actually didn’t realize that until you pointed it out. I really have to work on being less predictable! I think a lot of us freedivers subconsciously steer towards certain numbers. I don’t think of myself as a superstitious person but maybe I am! The number 8 just sounds so much better than 7 or 9…

5. What is a typical daily training routine for you? What kind of short/long term goals do you have now?

Up until this year, I’ve been working full time around training so I usually train in the pool 3-4 times after work during the week and then try to squeeze maybe some gym or yoga in during the week too. Then it is a matter of arriving at a destination with enough time before the competition to let your body adapt to the pressure and work on equalization. This year I took a gap year from work to travel and focus on freediving so that makes things a lot easier.

6. You also doing very well in a pool disciplines, actually you are 2017 Pool National Female Champion! So, what do you like to train more, pool or depth?

If it’s a choice between being in the ocean or being in a swimming pool every day I will amber5 always choose the ocean. However, I do enjoy training in the pool and sometimes it’s just more practical. In Brisbane where I live we don’t have easy access to depth like a lot of freedivers.

7. I saw a video on the YouTube (I think it is 2014), where you do DNF with no packing. Are you changed your approach since then or you still don’t pack?

I still don’t pack. Maybe one day I will but I always wanted to see how far I could get without packing and show new freedivers that there is a lot more you can learn to improve your freediving before you start packing.

8. Last year we all saw your amazing photo session with Ben Von Wong. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

amber7 The Von Wong shoot was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I’ve had in freediving. We were in these underwater caverns with sharks and I was wearing this crazy dress that was almost impossible to swim in. On top that the water wasn’t that warm and I was relying on a scuba diver for air. It was not easy but I’ve always enjoyed a challenge. I’d really like to participate in more of these projects in the future.

9. Freediving becoming more popular nowadays. What is your opinion about freediving development in the future?

I hope it becomes as popular if not more popular than scuba diving. The more people who freedive the easier it will be to find people to freedive with! I also hope that as freediving becomes more popular people will become more aware of the risks involved with holding your breath underwater and what to do in case of a hypoxic or shallow water blackout.

10. And at the end, what advice can you give to someone who just finished their first freediving course?

Find people to train with. The main reason I’ve stayed in the sport for so long is that I amber4 have a great group of people back home that I train with and that keeps me looking forward to training each week.

Freediving German National record holder Timothy Oehmigen

26.07.201726.07.2017sergeyvladivostok

Hey Timothy!

Our congratulations for you to become Freediving National Record holder for Germany in CWT on VB-2107! Thank you for finding some time to answer our questions and sharing your love for Freediving!

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself (where you was born and grew up, at what age you started swimming, what hobby you had before start freediving)

I am half German, half American. I grew up in Germany (south west part) close to Stuttgart, studied in Konstanz at Germany’s biggest and deepest lake (256m) and learned freediving there. Swimming I started early at around 5-6 years. I always liked to be in the water, although I didn’t join any swimming club or so. During school and university, my biggest hobby was not sport related but more music related. I was fascinated by going to concerts and music festivals. I also have been working until today in the concert business as a booking manager for part time.

2. Do you remember when and how you tried Freediving for the first time? And why did you like it?

I joined a beginner course in the lake of Konstanz. I could hold my breath 3 minutes and go to 20m and I realized fast how challenging this sport is, which I liked. I had lots of trouble with equalization though and I was not able to dive head first. As soon as I learned how to Frenzel, things got more serious. I had my first competition also in the lake and soon went for more and more competitions.

3. How did you come up with the idea to become a Freediving instructor? How did you manage to arrange your time between teaching and competing on such a high level?

It was basically important for me to become an instructor to learn more about teaching. I found it interesting and I hoped to gain life experience from teaching and responsibility you have as an instructor in the water. At the same time, I realized that through teaching you can also learn a lot since you start reading more about freediving (due to students questions which you fail to answer) and on the other hand building your own teaching style. Of course, teaching and competing at the same time is hard, but it can be also a nice balance. After a few days of teaching, you really like to go deep again. And motivation is so important for deep diving. My best pre training + competition was actually my first national record with 91m free immersion. And exactly during that period, I had lots of courses. I used the day offs for training and each and every dive was nice, clean and a relaxed dive. 80m, 82m, 84m, 86m, 88m and then finally 91m.

4. Once again congratulations with NR for Germany (CWT 93 meters)! Are you looking forward to reaching magic 100 meters mark any soon? 😉 If yes, what it will mean for you?

Of course, 100m is a nice number, but for me, it is also more important to be good in the other disciplines and do nice dives. If I can reach a 100m one time just by having a good run, it will not be worth it. I would like to hit a 100m and claim that I can do it again. But for this, my body and my mind need to be ready enough. At the moment it is not and that is important to know to remain on a healthy road towards success.

5. On VB-2017 you made an attempt of 67 CNF. What happened during this dive? Why did you decide to make an early turn? Are you looking for becoming NR in this discipline as well in the future?

I had argued with board colleagues from AIDA Germany which did not let me dive in peace. At the board, there is somebody who really tries to work against me and such battles are not a good place for a freedivers mind. But yes, I plan to dive deeper in CNF. I personally think that there I have great potentials since hypoxia is no topic for me and my technique looks okay. Actually, I just broke the NR with 67m a few days ago in a competition in Panglao, Philippines.

6. Coming back to training, are you splitting equally your time between different disciplines? Any pool or strength training?

I like to switch between the disciplines. All disciplines have their pros and cons. FIM is relaxed and easy to equalize deep. Descend is the easiest for me. On the other hand, you need good apnea and a strong mind since you are deep and you only have the rope to get up. CWT is fast, you enjoy the speed and the power behind the monofin. On the other side, you need a good technique to not become lactic and to be able to keep the relaxation which is needed for deep equalization. CNF is physically hard and the detail is most important. On the other hand, it is not so deep and the numbers seem to be more double for the mind.

If I am in the water for training, I try to avoid work out. Nevertheless, I see work out also as an important part to remain strong. Especially when you are already getting skinny you can’t effort to lose the power you need for freediving. If I have a few days or weeks off from freediving, I like to train in the gym or at home to build up strength. Pool training is nice for technique and mental training.

7. I saw that you started crowd funding campaign to go to Freediving World Championship 2017. Wish you to reach this goal and hope our readers decide to support you! Can you say a couple of words why this is so important for you? (interview was taken a month ago, so Tim already manages to get enough money to go!!!)

That is easy: Because it is very expensive to go there this year, especially when you are coming from Europe and also if you already attended Vertical Blue in that year. I do not have the money to go or if I would need to work and have no time for training. The announcement that the World Championship will take place in Roatan came quite late this time. So I decided to register for Vertical Blue and see if I can finance Roatan somehow. I saw that other athlete already successfully funded themselves with crowd funding. On one hand I know it might not be so nice to ask for money, but on the other hand, I believe that those who support me really like to do that. I always feel happy to give support if I can and I want.

8. Did freediving become more popular in Germany since you have started practicing it?

I don’t know. I worked for a bit more than a year at the board at AIDA Germany, but the problem is that it is led mainly by bureaucrats who have no idea about freediving. Germany is, for example, the only country who still has lake records and it is also recognizing No Limit records. Media will not distinguish between a 100m No Limit and a 100m Constant Weight or a 130m DNF World Record (in the lake) or a real world record of 244m. What Germany needs is stories and a nice representation of the sport. Many people still believe that it is an extreme sport for adrenaline freaks. Some people take the advantage and sell themselves as such ones and simply misrepresent the sport. But there are also others who are invited into talk shows and give very nice examples for how nice freediving can be. I hope that especially competitive freediving can be more established.

9. Tell us about your personal Freediving plans and how you see freediving in the future in general?

I plan to take part in Honduras at the AIDA World Championship. I hope I can hit new PBs there and I am also looking forward to this competition in general. Freediving becomes more and more popular for sure. With this, the freediving world faces a difficult task, which is making/keeping competitions safe and professional. At the last two World Championships of AIDA, there were huge and embarrassing mistakes happening, which in my personal opinion also happened due to arrogance by the judges and not listening to the athletes. I hope that those mistakes will not happen again and that the administration at AIDA will start working properly again.

PADI AmbassaDiver Adam Stern, the deepest man in Australia.

20.05.201720.05.2017sergeyvladivostok

We would like to introduce our today’s guest Adam Stern. Multiple Australian national record holder, rising star in Freediving with recent achievements of 100 meters (CWT)!

Adam, thank you for finding time to reply some of our questions.

1. I know that you started your Freediving (at least officially) during your time on Koh Tao, Thailand. What was the most difficult part of the first course? And why you signed up for the next level?

I was just backpacking around Asia and I was on Koh Tao, Thailand at that time, doing my PADI Advanced Open Water course. And once I saw a freediving center – Apnea Total and thought that it was cool and took a course and kept training with them.

I remember I did my first dive to 20 meters and it was easy and I did another one and it was a little bit more challenging and I did another one and I was cold and tired and I remember on the last dive I had a lot of contractions but in the Apnea Total course we weren’t taught what contractions were so I was very surprised at the horrible feeling.

2. Do you remember the moment when you realized that freediving is not only a hobby for a few weeks but something more important?

It happened when I was training in Roatan and one day reached 70 meters deep. I was just training for fun and it was all going well. When I reached that depth I was thinking wow I’m getting better in this, might be I should see what happen if I take it more seriously. After that, I came home and started training more seriously in a pool and then went to Dahab and started depth training there.

3. You are well known for your competition performance (Vertical Blue 2016 and Blue Element 2016 is just to name a few of them). But do you remember your first competition? Now, when you get more experience with it, is it easier to manage stress during competition? If it is not a big secret, what are your future plans as a competitive Freediver?

It was a mini comp in Dahab in 2013. I announced a dive 15 meters shallower than my PB just to have a nice competition experience. In my first few competitions I was quite nervous but now it doesn’t stress me at all and I’m definitely enjoying competing more and more the more I do it.

My future plan is always just to get deeper and deeper! 🙂 My target in freediving is always to progress, always to hit PB depths. I will do that for as long as I am enjoying training and competing in freediving. I could say things like Oh, I would like a world record! And I would love nothing more than a world record. But I find that large and far away goals are not that effective as having many small, short-term goals. So the goal for me is always simply a PB. Every single time I train or I do training cycle I want to PB.

4. To be able to compete on the highest level you obviously need to be in a great shape. How do you manage to combine teaching and training?

I am the competitive diver and my focus was and always will be on my own training and competitions. So, I have to structure my business around that. Basically what I do is dedicate a period of time to teaching and a period of time where I’m not teaching at all, just training.

My training schedule is quite complex and depends on which phase of training I am in. I break my training at base training and depth training.

My base training is training in the gym 5 days a week. I train CrossFit which is high-intensity interval training. I also train three days a week in a pool mostly doing dynamic tables. I mostly do hypoxic tables which are actually CO2 tables to the point of hypoxia. This base training period makes up about 2 thirds of my training cycle.

Then I go to a location to start diving deep. The frequency of my dives depends on how deep I’m diving. When I am above 80 meters it’s three days and one day off, between 80 and 95 – two days and one day off. And then any deeper than that it’s one day and one day off. My training in structured and I almost never cancel dives or leave it up to how I feel in the morning. I like to just get up and get it done.

Obviously, if I am tired and I need a rest, then I rest. But besides this, I don’t give my mood any power over me. If my body feels good and it’s time to go to dive or time to go to the gym or to the pool – I go. There was countless time where I’ve had no desire to train but I make myself train.

5. And why did you decide to start teaching freediving at the first place? Why PADI? What is your favorite PADI Freediving course to teach?

In the beginning, I was not really interested in becoming an instructor. I just wanted to make some cash while leaving in Dahab at the time. And then I realized that I really enjoy teaching, I fell in love with it and still love teaching. When PADI launched their freediving program I knew they had the biggest market potential and the largest reach. They had the largest potential to actually expand the freediving industry more than any other company that have ever been involved in freediving. So, I stepped in to be involved in this expansion, to be in a front line, and to help growing freediving as a sport and as an adventure activity.

My favorite course to teach is the instructor course. It is the most intensive and interesting course to teach. And I can work very closely with divers who are diving at a high level.

6. In your opinion – what are the main qualities which freediving instructor should have?

Someone who has expert knowledge in Freediving, who has expert skills in freediving, and very high-level teaching skills. Every instructor is different and teaches in their own way. Every instructor’s style may work or may not work with different students so there is no such thing as the perfect instructor.

7. What do you think, who can apply for PADI Freediver course (level of fitness or age)? Is it a course for everyone or you should be somehow prepared for it?

Anyone can apply and join PADI freediving course! Obviously, you need a reasonable level of fitness, let’s say you should be able to swim continually 200 meters or snorkeling 300 meters. If you can, you then you’re absolutely ready for the course. I believe everyone can do it. Obviously, if you have issues with your heart etc you should get checked my a doctor before you sign on for a course but apart from medical limitations, everyone can do it.

8. Now freediving slowly comes to be “in trend”, probably same like it was with yoga 10 years ago. More freediving centers, more students…What are the pros and cons of it?

The increase of freedivers and the growth of the freediving industry is fantastic. I love freediving soo much that I love to see more and more people doing it. The only issue with the freediving explosion is that there are some parts of the world where people are choosing not to take freediving courses which are so dangerous and in the end will only reflect badly on us all.

9. What is your opinion about freediving development in the future? What is the best way for it?

I would love to see it as big as a scuba diving. I think right now what is popular worldwide is all kinds of adventure sports, adventure activities, adventure travel. Freediving is all about adventure! People like to have a challenge. I see freediving constantly growing but what I want to see is the amateur sport of freediving became professional. A professional sport with paid athletes. It’s happening slowly. Now we have more divers than ever who can dive over 100m and the gap between the world’s elite professional divers and those aspiring to be is closing.

10. What could be your contribution, as a PADI Ambassador, in this process?

My goal as a PADI ambassador promotes freediving as much as possible, especially safe diving practices and promote PADI courses which I personally believe is the best and safest way to learn freediving.

11. And at the end, what advice can you give to someone who just finished their first freediving course?

Go and have some fun! Go deep snorkeling, go freediving in beautiful locations, explore the Ocean. You can just literally go anywhere and just check out what is beneath the surface! You don’t need any preparation, just go!

And when you’re ready to go for an advanced course! You’ll dive deeper, hold your breath longer, improve your knowledge of freediving safety and learn so so much more about your body, which is the most important.

The advice I would give to people getting into freediving as a sport. I would tell them, don’t take it too seriously! Have fun! If you are not having fun there is no point doing it anyway. Enjoy freediving. Enjoy the sensation of being in the water and have a wonderful, wonderful time. Never push yourself.

You can also follow Adam on his Facebook, Instagram and Youtube chanel to get more inspiration as well as tons of useful information for your Freediving!

Finalist of Australian Depth National Freediving Championship 2016 Trista Fontana

26.03.2017sergeyvladivostok

1. Do you remember how and when did you find out about freediving? What made you start freediving? What were your 1st steps in this sport?

94B0D4FDCFA443858E3F58A386CF5F76 I was traveling through Egypt along the Red Sea doing a lot of SCUBA diving and some other travelers I had met had gone up to Dahab and dived this little spot called the Blue Hole, I had seen the photos and it looked amazing so decided to make my way there to go SCUBA dive it. Around the same time, one of my best mates from Australia, who was also, my SCUBA buddy had just learned to freedive and had been sending me a lot of emails trying to persuade me to do a course as he needed a buddy. Originally I had very little interest in it, I could barely reach the bottom of a 4m pool and just from playing in the pool with friends I knew I had a terrible breath hold

After having enough of being called a “tankerwanker” and “bubbleblower” I jumped onto google to see if this tiny town called Dahab had any instructors that could teach me anything about this obscure sport called freediving. Now my scuba gear sits collecting dust and out of service

2. What is your favorite discipline in freediving and which one you don’t like? And could you explain why?

I think it depends on which day you ask me, My CNF technique is terrible but I do enjoy the challenge when I do it and I find it fun. It is something I would really like to work more on this year when I get back to the water.

Also FIM I love the feeling of the water on my feet as I’m pulling through the water and the glide and you propel through the water especially coming back up A768F3CCE5DD4F49991E784D192CC806

3. Tell please few words about your freediving training approach: How many times a week do you train? And do you have a fixed schedule or you just wake up in the morning, look into a mirror and depending on your mood, body condition or weather decide what to do today?

When I am training I do now try to follow a 3:1 dive days to rest day rotation with a longer 2-3 break every so often. There are training days where I wake up and feel I’m not in it physically or mentally. In the past, I have tried to push past these thinking that they were just barriers and I was just getting in my own head. So I would still go out and dive, I would not achieve anything I wanted and this just lead me to become frustrated and have a negative session and this would carry on to the following days. Now experience has shown me that I need to listen to my body and take a break and reset the mind.

But in regards to each training session I now pick one task I wasn’t to work on each session and not make it about a depth achievement. Be it my mouth fill, streamlining, relaxation. You get these things right then the depth happens naturally

4. And how often do you try something new in your freediving training?

B8BA0BA6806E4134909835A5B7566CE0 As often as possible, I still consider myself a beginner in the scheme of things and I am always watching others see what works for them, picking people’s brains. Freediving is still a relatively new sport and each person has many different variations on what works for them. I think also part of being a great instructor is knowing and understanding the many different methods available and being able to adapt them to your students needs rather than just teaching what works for you. For this reason, even though I am an instructor I still seek out the guidance of others and looking to expand my own skill set

5. The next question – what makes you day after day to go to train in a pool/sea? What motivates you to train hard? How do you fight humans’ laziness?

My love for freediving is my motivation. I don’t train in the pool and that is simply because I don’t like it and I don’t find it fun. I freedive because I love the feeling when I’m in the ocean, not because I want to be the best. I have found this mindset has been important in my progress. There has been a time where I did make it about progress and the numbers and I started to come undone. I stopped enjoying the training, I stopped making progress. So when you enjoy something in that manner it is easy to get out of bed every day

6. Do you believe that some food products could influence the ability to equalize? Like gluten or lactose, for example, create more mucus which is not good for equalizing? Do you personally follow any diet?

I haven’t noticed a problem too much with my equalisation…yet. I do however notice that gluten and/or lactose do create extra mucus. I noticed this quite by accident when I inadvertently removed it from my diet whilst staying in Bali at their diet is very low in gluten and lactose and then was craving a pizza covered in cheese one night. It wasn’t something I was aware of prior to excluding it. So now I am more conscious of what I’m eating in the days leading up to dives

7. Let’s talk about money 🙂 Do you have any support from sports community of your country or may be some trade brand?

I think this is the dream of all competitive freedivers, currently like most divers I am completely self-funded. Last year I was told by my university that I would be ineligible to apply for a sports grant to compete at nationals because freediving was not considered a sport by the university, but apparently, Dragon Boat racing was

8. What about your targets in freediving? What would you like to achieve and how deep would you like to get?

It’s funny people always ask how deep do you want to go and how deep can you go. Whenever someone asks me about my depths I always try to avoid the question, especially on social media or if its someone I don’t know. Freediving has become a personal journey for me and I feel that the depths in no way reflect my path. Sure I share the depths with my friends and those I’m diving with, they are there on that journey with me. The depth isn’t about why I dive, it’s the enjoyment and the journey so I will keep diving as long as I keep enjoying it, who knows at what depth that enjoyment will stop.

9. What do you do except freediving? Do you have any hobbies?

Surfing has become my little side addiction, which is perfect for where I live in Perth, Australia. Means I can still get into the ocean fix and keep my fitness and strength up at the same time. Also, I’m not so great at it so my breath holds also get a run

10. What would you advise to people, who just discovered this sport?

Enjoy the moments not the numbers. I think also finding the right instructor or dive buddy for how you like to train is also important. Everybody trains and dives differently and what works for one person will not for the next. Find what works for you

Follow Trista on her Instagram

Freediving National Record holder for Argentina (CWT/CNF) Julia Mouce Dominguez

25.02.2017sergeyvladivostok

1. Do you remember how and when did you find out about freediving? What made you to start freediving? What were your 1^st steps in this sport?

I found out about freediving on Koh Tao, Thailand 8 years ago. I discovered Apnea Total, I think it was the first freediving school I had ever seen. When I saw videos I immediately signed up for the first two courses…and I wasn’t disappointed. I continued with the master course and even lost all my flights. I was freediving 3 months. When I came back to Spain to normal life I was so depressed of being out of water that when they offered me to come back to do the instructor course and stay for working in Thailand I couldn’t believe my luck. Freediving changed my life!

2. What is your favorite discipline in freediving and which one you don’t like? And could you explain why?

julia7 My favorite discipline is free immersion and CNF. Free Immersion, because it is slow and you can really feel changes of buoyancy when you are pulling yourself up and down. CNF because it is fun, it requires technique and high level of fitness.

3. Tell please few words about your freediving trainings approach: How many times a week do you train? And do you have a fixed schedule or you just wake up in the morning, look into mirror and depending on your mood, body condition or weather decide what to do today?

I like to train 3 days and rest 1. I normally plan my trains, but I think it is necessary to be flexible and adapt to body and mind conditions. I like to mix trains, firstly because I only like nice dives, don’t see any point in suffering. At all trainings I go out of my comfort zone. Trainings are efficient, not more than 6 dives, but they should all count.

4. And how often do you try something new in your freediving trainings?

I do try new things when i feel that they have a meaning. There is a hell amount of bullshit around in internet, everybody knows how to teach equalization and there are many confusing information. We should use information which can be used at our level of freediving. I don’t understand why people who can’t get comfortable to 45 meters are taught mouthful technique. For example I taught myself hands free to be able to understand what my students felt at depths. julia6

5. The next question – what makes you day after day to go to train in a pool/sea? What motivates you to train hard? How do you fight humans’ laziness?

I would never train in pool =) , but going to train in the ocean is easy. I built my school and platform so I could train. I think it is very easy not to be lazy when you have a passion for the sport you practice.

6. Do you believe that some food products could influence the ability to equalize? Like gluten or lactose for example create more mucus which is not good for equalizing? Do you personally follow any diet?

julia3 I’m very blessed for equalization. I’ve never had problems with it, so lactose and other products don’t really affect me. I just eat what anybody would consider as a healthy diet. I consider that tobacco and alcohol are the most harmful. I avoid any kind of sugar and life on Bali doesn’t include a lot of dairy in diet.

7. Let’s talk about money. Do you have any support from sports community of your country or may be some trade brand?

HAHAHAHAHA! I’m Argentinian, if its not football….! I have always supported myself for freediving , I am sponsored with wet suits by Elios.

8. What about your targets in freediving? What would you like to achieve and how deep would you like to get?

I would like to go as deep as I can, no need to fix limits. I believe that only with practice I will get very deep. I am not in a rush and I do it for myself so I don’t like to talk about my PBs.

9. What do you do except freediving? Do you have any hobbies?

Yes, I like many other sports and I work out every day, non related to freediving exercises. Living on Bali I would love to take more time to learn proper surfing. I also practice SUP.

10. What would you advise to people, who just discovered this sport?

To take time to get to love it. To focus on relaxation , rather than numbers. To use what they learn to see marine life and promote awareness of the marine environment.

Фридайвер, совершивший погружение на 65 метров на Северном Полюсе, Константин Новиков

08.02.201709.02.2017sergeyvladivostok

1. Как и когда вы узнали о фридайвинге? Почему решили заняться этим спортом и каковы были первые шаги?

Само слово «фридайвинг» я услышал в 2003 году. Не уверен точно, возможно оно было и раньше где-то в подсознании, ведь в нашей стране уже был известен этот спорт к тому времени. Правильнее сказать так: я осознал, что есть такой вид подводной активности именно тогда. 15995997_1229125380469012_1676265536_n

Моя работа была связана с подводной деятельностью, плюс к тому моменту я уже около 10 лет увлекался подводной охотой. Захотелось систематизировать свои знания о задержке дыхания и о тренировках. В 2004 году мы организовали курс по фридайвингу в нашем подводном клубе МГУ, который провела, приглашенная нами Юлия Петрик, ну и конечно сами учились на этом курсе. Про тренировки я не узнал чего-то нового, но появилось желание начать эксперименты над собой. По-настоящему я понял, что такое для меня фридайвинг в 2008 году, познакомившись с Умберто Пелиццари.

2. Какая самая любимая и нелюбимая дисциплина во фридайвинге? И если возможно объяснить, то почему?

Если говорить о спортивном фридайвинге, то самой любимой дисциплиной для меня является FIM – свободное погружение. Именно в этой дисциплине я могу максимально расслабиться и уйти глубоко в себя, не нужно фокусироваться на положении тела относительно троса, думать о технике, все внимание уходит на осознание и оценку своих ощущений. Именно в этой дисциплине я ближе всего с морем. Мне нравятся все дисциплины и способы погружения под воду. А вот если говорить о тех, в которых я реже ныряю, то это дисциплина CNF – ныряние в глубину без ласт. Причина в том, что я не пловец, и недостатки в технике делают эту дисциплину для меня наиболее травмоопасной. Последнее время я стал так же недолюбливать NoLimits – погружение в глубину без ограничений. Кстати сначала я очень любил эту дисциплину. Причина та же – травмоопасность. Если не говорить о фридайвинге как о спорте, то самое любимое занятие – это фотоохота, подводная фотография с задержкой дыхания.

3. Не могли бы в нескольких словах рассказать о своем подходе к тренировками. Как часто в неделю занимаетесь тренировками? Следуюте плану тренировок или импровизируете опираясь на настроение/самочувствие/внешние факторы?

15996295_1229125270469023_2124051757_n Я не спортсмен. Тренировки для меня – способ, впоследствии комфортно нырять под воду, не мучиться, не бороться. Занимаюсь фактически каждый день. Когда в городе: это сухие тренировки, тренировки в бассейне, ментальные треннинги. Если я у моря, то там само собой добавляются занятия на глубине.

4. Как часто экспериментируете в своих тренировках и пробуете что-то новое?

Я аналитик по складу характера и ума, мне нравится экспериментировать и оценивать результаты экспериментов над собой. Видимо долгие годы работы биологом наложили сильный отпечаток на восприятие мира. Всё, что я смог достигнуть в смысле метров и секунд – продукт моих методических наработок и анализа. У меня никогда не было тренера.

5. Что мотивирует к тренировкам? Как справляетесь с обычной человеческой ленью/отсутствием желания идти на тренировку?

Мотивация мне уже не нужна. Я воспринимаю фридайвинг неотъемлемой частью своей жизни, одним из способов быть ближе к морю. Это моя работа, досуг, хобби, увлечение. Каждый день, не замечая этого, ты делаешь что-то, что поддерживает тебя в форме или улучшает навыки.

10620488_826061214110154_4623396148653516100_o — Фото Андрея Сидорова

6. Следуете ли какой-либо диете? Что думаете насчет исключения тех или иных продуктов для избежания проблем с продувкой?

Не ем мясо уже больше 7 лет. Последние несколько месяцев контролирую режим питания и калорийность, веду дневник. Чтобы не было проблем с продувкой, как мне кажется, нужно просто тренироваться, уделять этому такое же внимание как и тренировкам на технику движения, выносливость или силу.

7. Вопрос о деньгах 🙂 Спонсирует ли кто-либо ваши выступления?

Нет. Участие во всех турнирах оплачивал сам. Сейчас считаю для себя это бесполезной тратой средств. Всё, что хотел получить от выступлений на соревнованиях, я получил.

8. Каковы ваши цели во фридайвинге? Какие краткосрочные и долгосрочные цели ставите перед собой?

66877_501818029866421_1007995624_n Сейчас у меня нет целей во фридайвинге, как это принято понимать. Мне не интересно увеличивать глубину или время задержки дыхания. Это мой образ жизни. Какова цель в жизни? Каждый решает сам. Моя цель – гуманизация. Я стараюсь реализовать данный принцип через образование и просвещение. Мне кажется, фридайвинг очень хорошо вписывается в мою жизнь с этой точки зрения. Возможно, я бы вписал фридайвинг в одну из моих очередных экстремальных задумок в высокой Арктике. Прошлые эксперименты были интересны с точки зрения осознания своих возможностей и возможностей своего организма.

9. Есть ли увлечения помимо фридайвинга? Как восстанавливаетесь после тренировок?

Я просто не отделяю фридайвинг от всего остального. Это одно большое увлечение – жить. Общаться с теми, с кем интересно, любить, учиться, учить, видеть красоту окружающего мира, показывать это другим, тренироваться, тренировать, нырять, не нырять. Всё происходит само собой. Ну хорошо, если выделить, например, всякие странные для обывателя активности, и назвать их хобби, то последние годы меня занимают: работа с металлом в кузне – ковка, армрестлинг, фотография. Эти, скажем так увлечения позволяют переключиться, отдохнуть.

10. Чтобы посоветовали людям, которые только открыли для себя мир фридайвинга (или только собираются это сделать)?

Главный совет – попытаться понять зачем вам это нужно. Дальше терпение. Терпение нужно, чтобы избежать травм.

Больше информации о Константине можно найти на его странице в Facebook и в Instagram

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First human who was 100 meters deep on a single breath (both CWT and FIM) Carlos Coste

04.02.201704.02.2017sergeyvladivostok

1. Do you remember how and when did you find out about freediving? What made you to start freediving? What were your 1^st steps in this sport?

carlos5 From my childhood I was very curious about the ocean and non traditional sports and hobbies. I kept very close to the ocean doing bodyboarding-surf, observing, reading some books and watching TV documentaries. I think the first time I heard about freediving was when I watched Big Blue film, then my curiosity and interest increased more, a few years after a classmate in the University invited to me to join him to one pool training session in the Underwater Activities Club (UCV, Caracas 1996). I get hooked with that feeling of going deeper and longer every time I tried. Then I started train regularly freediving & spearfishing. I have been holding my breath with passion from that first pool freediving experience in 1996. carlos1

2. What is your favorite discipline in freediving and which one you don’t like? And could you explain why?

Constant weight & free immersion were my favorite ones in my first years, but in the last 3 years I have been enjoying and focus on CNF. I don´t like STA because it is boring as my best was 7.35 min in 2004. But I prefer the movement. I don’t like anymore the NLT, because it is totally assisted and too dangerous (I had a big accident in Egypt, 2006).

carlos2 In the last 3 years me and my wife Gaby have been living in Bonaire, where we founded and lead our Freediving school & training center DEEPSEA (www.deepseabonaire.com). I’m in the sea almost every day, mostly teaching. I organize my yearly schedule to have more training time 2-3 months before our annual event (Deepsea Challenge Sept 15-23th). My training plan increases the intensity 8 weeks before the Competition (3-4 sessions by week: pool, depth and gym), the rest of the year I train 2-3 times in the gym, pool or with my students. occasionally. Normally every session take around 60-90minutes.

4. And how often do you try something new in your freediving trainings?

It depends, if some new idea come to me or if I think a technique looks interesting I try it. It could happen 3 times by year or none.

5. The next question – what makes you day after day to go to train in a pool/sea? What motivates you to train hard? How do you fight humans’ laziness?

Interesting question! I had more than 20 years practicing freediving in a regular way. I renew my motivation every week, every month and every year! My motivation consists of having new targets to chase every year. I renew my objectives every year and after every competition or season I start to visualize them and work for it. Of course, the passion that I felt to train every day & week in my first years practicing freediving is not so powerful now 20 years later!, but with my 41 years old I keep training regulary improving myself!, I have now more diverse objectives, like developing my school, logistics, other disciplines like CNF and more. I enjoy that, It keeps me happy. carlos4

I think that freediving diet & equalization are very personal, and there isn´t the only one answer or formula for all freedivers. I think everyone has to test, and find which food is better to avoid. I don´t have a specific diet, but I can say that I´m 80% vegy, and I try to eat colorful and healthy.

7. Let’s talk about money. Do you have any support from sports community of your country or may be some trade brand?

The last 4 years it has been very hard for me to train like competitive athlete, mostly because the big crisis in my country. Me and my wife moved to Bonaire to start from zero our life in a safe place. During my career in the past I had private sponsorships and government support. Since about 8 years ago it has been almost impossible. In the last 4 years with the crisis and because of political reasons all support in Venezuela was destroyed.

carlos6 I had an international watch brand Oris supporting my career for 9 years. They launched four watches limited edition with my name. But they changed marketing strategy last year and don’t support me directly anymore.

Our school has increased step by step. We are recovering working hard with our freediving school, but it implies that I have to teach every day, because we need to pay the bills. Now it is so difficult, not enough time and resources to keep me as an elite international competitive athlete.

My wife has found some local support to develop our annual international competition on Bonaire Island Deepsea Challenge. At the moment, we are looking for sponsors for 2017 competitions, we are open to new proposals and brands.

8. What about your targets in freediving? What would you like to achieve and how deep would you like to get?

I have already achieved 12 World Records, many Continental and National Records during my career

I have been focused in CNF discipline for the last 3 years, getting South American Records and improving my performance every year, my last one and current SA Record is 69m. Now, I´m training to improve that performance. carlos3

As well I´d like to set new World Record in the caves (DYN) again. And I have another special project like books, TV serial, and more.

9. What do you do except freediving? Do you have any hobbies?

I like to travel with my wife, we love photography, I like to read and watch good movies.

10. What would you advise to people, who just discovered this sport?

I think, the best advice that I can give is: “take a good course to learn the basics, and invest some time & money in travelling around the world exploring cool freediving spots with a camera”.

You can follow Carlos on his Facabook page and Instagram