CNF Archives - Kaizen Freediving

Freediving National records’ breaker from Barbados, Alex Davis!

13.06.201713.06.2017sergeyvladivostok

Hey, Alex!

Big congratulations for your outstanding performance on VB-2107! Thank you for finding some time to answer our questions!

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself

Thank you Sergey, I am originally from Cornwall in the UK and moved to Barbados in 2011 with my wife. Growing up in a seaside town (Perranporth) I was always in the sea surfing, swimming, Jr life-saving club or fishing but the water is very cold and murky so I never really got into diving. When I moved to Barbados I found warm (28C) seas with visibility exceeding 30m on some days! I instantly got into spearfishing and the deep started calling me. I wanted to freedive deeper, stay longer, hunt better fish and it just went from there. In 2013 I set up ‘Spearfishing Barbados’ offering guided spearfishing tours around Barbados which have been growing every year. In 2015 I went to train with Vertical Blue (Jonathan Sunnex & Will Trubridge) where I completed my AIDA Instructor course and at the same time setting a PB of 62m with bi-fins. I opened Barbados’ first freediving school at the beginning of 2016 and run AIDA courses weekday and weekend all year round.

2. What about freediving? When and how you try it for the first time? And why did you like it?

I got into spearfishing through a mutual friend who took me out and let me follow and watch. I remember diving down to 30ft and instantly turning and heading back for the surface! However, it was at this time I discovered I could equalize handsfree and spent as much time as possible freediving whenever I could. I really enjoy the peace and quiet you find when freediving and much prefer it to scuba. Being able to just walk down to the end of the road with fins and a mask and go diving for hours was an amazing experience each and every time.

3. How often do you train? What is your normal training routine?

Because of the spearfishing tours and freediving courses, I dive quite a bit already, anywhere from 3-7 days a week I am in the water freediving. In the lead up to VB, I supplemented my work schedule with pool training working on my monofin and no-fins technique as well as CO2 tolerance. Some days I would spearfish for 3 hours then go and do an hour or two at the pool in the evening working on just technique.

Two great sessions I do in the pool are over/under – you swim 25m on the surface, touch the wall and then start 25m DYN, reach the other side and immediately go back to 25m on the surface. Another training session which helped was to perform a STA followed by DYN – 1-minute static then 50m DYN with short rests.

ALWAYS TRAIN WITH A BUDDY!

4. You showed very impressive results on all three depth disciplines! Do you split training time equally between them?

Thank you! In the lead up to VB I had 3 weeks at Deans Blue Hole and would dive FIM, CWT then CNF followed by a day of rest. I had spent a lot of time in the pool training for CWT and CNF so felt very strong diving to depth in those disciplines. 50m CNF was actually a PB for me, I had done 48m in training, about a week before which felt great so decided to round it off to 50m and I surfaced strong with lots of energy left for more. During training, I had progressed very well in CWT and FIM making small improvements every day. After each training session, I would go home, export the dive data from my watch and analyze my profile making sure my descent speed was correct and making notes on what felt good and what could be improved to take into the next session.

5. Why decide to compete in the first place? Are you going to do it again?

After opening my freediving school I wanted to try my hand at a competition and also represent the country which I had made home for the last 6+yrs. There were no National Records for Barbados for men at this point so any white card performance would claim an NR, however I wanted to really give it my best shot and get white cards I would be proud of. Yes, I am scheduled to compete later this year at Blue Element 2017 in Dominica (October 13^th – 21^st) with my old Instructor Trainer Jonny Sunnex! My goals for this comp are to extend my CNF record and hopefully add a few more meters on to my CWT and FIM records.

6. It was your first competition, how you manage the stress? Or it was not stressful at all?

Yes, this was my first ever competition and I would say I was more stressed during training than I was during my official dives. During training you have to co-ordinate with other persons schedule so you will always have to compromise. When training you want to be respectful of everyone’s time so often take it in turns which means your warm ups usually take longer and by the time you do your target dive you may even be too cold.

On competition days I would arrive at the Blue Hole at least 1hr before OT to check in and almost every day my resting heart rate was 100BPM! Haha! Once I got my suit on and clipped my lanyard to the warm up line however I was totally relaxed and actually my warm up dives where better/more relaxed than the ones during training. On the comp line during my countdown I breathed with my snorkel until 1min before OT which helped to tune out noises and other distractions with my eyes closed. I would then finish my breathe up vertically on the line, keeping my eyes closed and just listening to the announcer. On my very first dive of the comp (76m FIM) I was completely relaxed all the way to the bottom plate but once I had that tag in my hand all of the nerves finally caught up with me and my contractions started the moment I turned. The first dive was always going to be my hardest and after this one things got easier and more relaxed with each dive.

7. What do you think about VB? Anything what you think can be improved?

VB, as we all know, is one of [if not THE] top competition each year and the organization is absolutely spot on as well as the safety team being very professional and courteous. During the closing ceremony, Will even mentioned that throughout the entire competition there was not a single delay in the schedule which is a testament to the professionalism and organization of this event. Having not yet experienced any other competition I cannot really say if I think there is anything that can be improved but I think everyone at VB is on point.

8. Tell us about your future plans and how do you see freediving in the future?

My plans moving forward are to continue growing my freediving school here in Barbados and attract more people to the island wanting to learn, both from around the Caribbean and all over the globe. I have already had students come over from nearby islands to train as well as going myself to Grenada earlier this year to teach a group of avid divers and spearos so the sport of Freediving is definitely on the up! I think more people are going to move from scuba to freediving as time goes on as well as people who just really enjoy snorkeling wanting to learn more about freediving and improve their ability and enjoyment underwater. We also actively promote the hunting of Lion fish and regularly give talks in Barbados informing people about this invasive species and why we need more freedivers out there removing them – and eating them!

Follow Alex on his Instagram and Facebook and don’t forget to subscribe to our blog to get more stories from Freedivers about Freediving 😉

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.

UK Freediving National Record Holder (CNF) Dean Chaouche

25.01.201725.01.2017sergeyvladivostok

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

I believe the very first time I found out about freediving was through a documentary that was hosted by Tanya Streeter. At the time I was very young and not in the position to go out and find a course at my own leisure, though I remember thinking that this must one of those very unique activities only reserved for a special few people. dean3

I later stumbled across “Freedive Gili” while I was searching for a Yoga classes, at the time I was in New Zealand and I’d broken both my wrists, I decided to book flights to Indonesia once my wrists had healed, plus I also needed things to look forward to and this happened to be one of them. The course took place around April 2012 and originally this was meant to be a single course and afterwards I’d planned on surfing around Lombok and Sumatra, I ended up surfing a bit of Lombok but after only 2 weeks I returned back to the school and since then I haven’t looked back. I completed SSI level 2, 3 and a period of personal diving and assisting. Eventually I completed my Instructor course there and was lucky enough to be offered a job, so there I remained for roughly a year and a half.

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

dean2 My favorite discipline in frediving has to be CNF. It is also without a doubt the most rewarding for me as the sense of accomplishment I feel after a deep no fins dive is incomparable compared to the other disciplines. It’s down to the simple fact that we are achieving great depths by simple using our arms and legs, William Trubridge puts it best when refers to no fins “as a true measure of humans aqua potential”. I also love the feeling that if gives me when I’m moving through the water.

I wouldn’t say I had a discipline that I didn’t like as they’re all great in their own manner. I personally don’t enjoy pool disciplines not nearly as much as depth but that’s normal considering that I began freediving with depth and that predominantly that’s what I do. I can see myself in the near future participating more with pool and I’m sure that I’ll find aspects that I really enjoy once I have more experience.

My training approach or frequency of training would completely depend on what stage of the training that I’m in. Gone are the days where freedivers believe that only depth diving will give you greater depth, this and the fact that not everyone has easy access to depth, so this leads us to adopt cross training plans and stages in our training. I would have quite a fixed plan about what I train each day and the amount, I work by micro cycle’s of 3 days on 1 day off. This may change closer to a peak or competition once I start diving max depths. I also like to maintain a certain amount of flexibility in order to slightly tailor what I’m training in tune with what I feel that I need to work on the most. dean5

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

At the beginning it would seem that I’d be trying something new each session, but as my training became more refined I found that less and less changes were present. Now when I begin a training stint I usually have one or two aspects which I’d like to improve on or incorporate so that I’m not drastically changing what I do but at the same time not letting my freediving become stagnant, which is very important.

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?

That’s quite simple, I enjoy my training. I enjoy the feeling that little by little I’m improving and conditioning my body to perform how I would like myself to perform. It gives me pleasure to see small increments of change which collect over time and result in a big improvement. I also try and focus on the session at hand, not about the sessions that are coming or the sessions that have been, only what’s happening that day. It’s harder than it sounds as we all like to dream, but what matters most is what we’re doing in the present.

dean1 I think this is circumstantial to the individual. Some people can eat dairy until the cows come home and they wouldn’t see a problem with equalising, however this isn’t the case for everyone. Personally I can afford to eat a little dairy here and there but I avoid it for reasons other than equalising. I’d personally find that when I drink even a little bit of alcohol it congests me more than any kind of food. I wouldn’t say I followed a strict diet, however I would try and eat as much alkaline forming foods to counter the acidity that occurs in our body from freediving and training hard.

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

Money is definitely an issue for most freedivers and I’m certainly no exception. I try to make enough money to fund my training through instructing, although this is always a balancing act due to the fact that it’s very difficult to train and teach at the same time. So I only ever allow myself to take the minimum amount of time out of my training for instructing. I’ve recently been lucky enough to find a regular sponsor from a former student of mine Bentinho Massaro who has generously decided to offer me a regular income to supplement my training and way of life. He has just started a free spiritual academy online called trifinity academy, check it out via this link https://www.trinfinityacademy.com, it’s well worth a look.

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

I try not to have a specific target in mind as I find that this is limiting in a way, if I did have a target I wouldn’t really discuss it with anyone as this also creates a sense of reward for something that I haven’t already achieved. If I had to say what I’d like to achieve it would be to continue with the progress that I’ve seen in myself while continuing to enjoy what I do with the same enthusiasm.

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

Before Freediving I was quite an avid surfer, I still like to get a surf trip in here and there but it’s become a little sparse since I’ve decided to dedicate more time to training. I also enjoy snowboarding and I’m keen to hopefully get back on the slopes again maybe next winter. I’ve been practicing yoga a little longer than freediving and I’d say that I love it just as much. dean4

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

To enjoy the learning process as much as possible and not to try and progress to fast, it’s easier said than done and I’m the first to admit that I was guilty of that. If I had another opportunity to begin again I’m sure I’d take it a little slower, try and learn as much as possible before making rash judgments. But most of all enjoy!

Follow Dean on his Facebook page and Instagram for more inspiration!

UK Freediving Champion 2016 (STA) Adam Drzazga about Freediving

16.01.201717.01.2017sergeyvladivostok

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 started my Freediving journey in 2009 as a spearo in the Caribbean Island of Jamaica, where I discovered the beauty of underwater world.

After a couple of years or so I decided that’s is about time to improve my abilities so I signed up to take a Freediving Course.

I remember my surprise, when I realised I didn’t know anything about the sport, I had wasted 2 years hesitating about taking the course.

I then decided to enter into the pure discipline of Freediving, and with each year I started Freediving more than Spear fishing until the point where I was just Freediving and training on a daily basis.

Freediving changed my life, it give me the right input to discover and enjoy my life in a whole new way, experiencing many amazing things and learning new and valuable techniques.

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

I have to say that static is my favourite discipline, despite it being one of the most difficult disciplines to master, especially mentally.

It has its beauty even though most of freedivers hate it, I enjoy the challenge it brings, even after the worst static with massive, unpleasant contractions, when you take your first breath again ,that’s a moment of joy and satisfaction. Then my motivation is renewed.

Nowadays I mainly concentrate on static to discover my true potential and with bit of help and a lot of training I may just achieve my goal.

The discipline I like the least is CNF and that is probably because I never really train for it, living in the UK makes depth training difficult as there are only a few places to train and the distance you have to travel to train makes it challenging.

Our training is usually scheduled around work, my 9-5 job is in the construction industry as a supervisor. Being a father of my children Tiger and Jade and running our family business Blue Water Freediving School where we train and teach our students.

Training could be difficult sometimes, at times we have to adapt it to suit the life style we are currently living. If training is forced it can become unpleasant and we are unable to train in that way in the long term, to keep it positive it is crucial to find the right balance to fit your training into your daily life.

The Static discipline is very stressful to the body and it has to be trained with the right approach, to eliminate overtraining I train between 5 to 6 days a week depending on the time of my training cycle.

All my training plans are usually set according to events I plan on competing in. I train in advance to participate.

Being a father I’ve learnt that you can adapt to train in all conditions and that could be during your lunch break at work or between cooking a dinner and relaxing with your family.

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

Every year I like to add something new to my training, to satisfy my curiosity and learn new techniques or just try a new approach to training.

What works for you may not work for others, that’s why it is very important to try different techniques and discover what works for you and your body.

This year I’m trying a couple of new exercises and I hope I will see positive results in the next few months.

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?

Good question, motivation is sometimes hard to find along with that positive attitude towards your training.

A positive attitude is super important otherwise you come to a point where you hate the sport and it will become a punishment instead of positive experience.

I try to gain my motivation from all the angles. Success is great and brings in good vibes but failure could be an even stronger motivational tool for the mind. The constant quest of discovering your mind and body’s potential is what keeps me going, that and of course with support of my kids ,my partner Shirley and family make it all a complete unit.

In the last few years I have been looking into role of my diet, I became a dietician to gain more knowledge of the subject, I have to say that this is something that has changed my approach in training. In my opinion, it is super important and plays a huge role in performance, from equalisations to contractions and general body functions.

To expect the maximum from the body we need to fill it up with right fuel to gain maximum performance.

On my performance day or training sessions, I would eat specific foods at particular times before training and that could make the difference in when the contractions begin.

Our bodies react differently to the food we eat and yes you could make your dive harder by consuming certain products as dairy or gluten, which will produce more mucus and in turn make a equalisation more difficult and challenging.

But we have to understand that all the good food is only a part of complete circle 🙂

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

Well to simplify it, most Freedivers are self funded, even when competing for your Country. We have no sponsorship or support to help cover the costs of training.

Freediving is still a young sport and in the eyes of public is relatively small that makes it more difficult to find sponsors to fund your daily training or events.

I’m lucky enough to have contacts with the manufacturers of high quality freediving equipment, Molchanoves and Elios who’s equipment I use to train .

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

I have my own little goals that I would like to achieve this year, I’d like to dedicate my training purely to static to see my full potential.

Depth that is another challenge. I’m still working on mastering my equalisation and if I have a bit of spare time this year, I’d like to see if I can train further on equalisation.

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

Freediving is a big part of our Family life, both me and my partner Shirley train when we can, that’s means a whole family trip with the kids to the lake where we can do a small training session ,or we just train in our home. Some of the things we do from home is our stretching session, body weight training and dry breath-hold training.

Freediving makes our life and our body’s healthier and happier.

As a family we love camping ,fossil hunting ,mushroom picking, or just casual trip to the beach when we can just let it all go and relax.

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

Buckle up as Freediving will give you tons of fun, friends and adventures.

Remember Never Dive Alone ,train hard but be smart ,enjoy the moment ,and most importantly have fun.

The right attitude will take you further and deeper than you think!

Dive Safe;)

Экс чемпион мира во фридайвинге (CNF) Майкл Ришан о фридайвинге в его жизни

12.01.201718.01.2017sergeyvladivostok

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

О фридайвинге я узнал впервые в 1999 году, когда увидел на ТВ краткий обзор о парне, кажется, из Австралии, который пытался побить рекорд 190м DYN и отключился. Я тогда еще подумал, что это, наверное, опасно, а фридайверы – просто чудики, и я никогда не смог бы так.) В 2007 я снова наткнулся на фридайвинг в одном из дайверских журналов и это меня подтолкнуло попробовать базовый курс фридайвинга на выходных и снова у меня сложилось какое-то смешанное впечатление о фридайвинге,но я продолжал учится и со временем распродал все свое снаряжение для скуба дайвинга и продолжал нырять уже только на задержке дыхания. Я не собирался участвовать в соревнованиях ни в каком спорте, так как в детстве соревновался в плаванье и много времени провел в бассейне. Но мои результаты улучшились очень быстро и я решил попробовать. mich2

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

Больше всего мне нравится динамика без ласт, потому что я предпочитаю глубинные дисциплины вне помещения. И я думаю, это более природная и чистая дисциплина, где все зависит только от тела человека.

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

Раньше я тренировался чаще. Последние два года я больше занят на работе и в семье, так что тренироваться выходит лишь 3 раза в неделю и 5-6 раз в неделю в период соревнований и за 2-3 месяца до главных соревнований. В течении года у меня нет специальных тренировок – я занимаюсь фитнесом, бегом и один раз в неделю делаю тренировку в бассейне или хожу снорклить.

mich3 У меня смешанный подход. Я стараюсь придерживаться расписания, но прислушиваюсь к своему организму и в последнее время нужно подстраиваться больше под работу, семью и другие сферы жизни.)

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

Я стараюсь каждую тренировку сделать особенной в чем-то. Я могу делать одни и те же упражнения, но менять количество подходов, время отдыха, и я вношу изменения в зависимости от настроения и самочувствия

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

Я люблю море. Я тренируюсь на пределе в ограниченный период года. И когда наступает сезон, я этому рад. Возможно, если бы я тренировался постоянно весь год, у меня бы поубавилось рвения, но так как это лишь часть года мне это нравится.

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

Я думаю, что определенные продукты влияют на продувку. Но я не так строг к своей диете и в основном ем, что мне нравится.

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

mich1 Последние три года ситуация улучшилась, и чешские представители начали получать деньги от ассоциации чешских дайверов, от правительства, у нас также есть некоторая материальная поддержка от изготовителей дайверской снаряги, например от Salvimar, а некоторые дайверы находят персональную спонсорскую поддержку.

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

У меня нет никаких определенных цифр. Мне бы хотелось еще раз нырнуть на 80+ без ласт, и я хотел бы улучшить продувку, чтоб достигнуть своих реальных пределов в технике без ласт. Мой PB CWT – 103м – еще далеко не предел моих физических возможностей.

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

Фридайвинг – лишь одно из моих хобби. Другие хобби – рисование (см. MOJE_OBRAZY), дегустация хороших вин и моя семья)

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

mich5 Я бы посоветовал терпения, когда не получается чего-то достичь. Границы только у нас в голове. Также не стоит бездумно давить на себя, нужно наслаждаться погружениями, помня о безопасности и уважении к природе…

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100 meters deep Freediver and former World Record holder (CNF) Michal Risian

30.12.201630.12.2016sergeyvladivostok

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?

First time I saw freediving in 1999 on TV. There was very short spot about I guess Australian guy who was trying to brake DYN record. He swam around 190 m and had black out. I thought to myself, that it must be dangerous and that freediviers are freaks and I could never do this . In 2007 I read again article about freediving in one scuba diving magazine and this led me to try a basic weekend freediving course and again I had very mixed impression about freediving, but I kept trying that and later I sold my scuba equipment and kept diving only this way. I did not plan to compete in any sport because I used to compete in swimming when I was a child and spent a lot of time in pools. But I was improving very fast so I tried 🙂 mich5

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

I like CNF the most, because I like outdoor depth disciplines and I find this discipline the most natural and the most pure, dependent only on freediviers body.

I used to train more often. Last two years I am busier with my job and family so I use to train max 3 times a week and about 5-6 times a week during competition period and 2-3 months before the main competition. During the year I do not do too specific trainings, I do fitness, running and once a week pool training or outdoor snorkeling.

mich2 I have a mixed approach. I have been trying to keep the fixed schedule, but I listen to my body and lately I need to adjust my schedule to job and family and other parts of life 🙂

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

I try to make every training special in some way. I can do same excercises, but I try to change number of repetitions, time for breath up, and I do it as a like and as I feel that certain day.

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 like the sea. I do my hard training a limited period of the year. And when there is time for that, I like it. If I should do it every year maybe I would lose passion for that, but when it is only part of the year it is fun.

I believe it can affect equalization. But I am not so strict to my diet and I eat mostly what I like 🙂

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

Last 3 years it is better and Czech representatives have some money from the association of Czech divers, from government, we have also material support from some producers of diving equipment e.g. Salvimar and some divers get personal ways of sponsorship. mich3

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

I have no specific numbers. I like to dive 80+ meters in CNF once more and I want to master equalization techniques so I could achieve my real limits in CNF. My PB in CWT 103m is far from my physical limits.

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

Freediving is nothing more than one of my hobbies. Other hobby is painting (look here MOJE_OBRAZY), tasting good wines and my family 🙂

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

I would advise to be patient when something is hard to achieve, limits are only in our heads, furthermore not to push hard without thinking and enjoy diving with emphasis on safety and with respect to nature…

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