During my scholarship year and even prior, there have been many times where I just wanted to jump in the water and dive down without the extra burden of a heavy tank, the BCD and all the weight. It’s true that SCUBA diving can be a LOT on your body. This holds especially true if you get into the more serious parts of SCUBA like side mounts, rebreathers, doubles, tech diving, and dry suit stuff. Even though the water does lighten the some of the load once you finally get in and out, it can be a struggle. It’s times like that I find myself wondering how my transformation from a super cool merman into a wet pack mule must look. I’m sure that whether you are a newer or older diver you’ve felt this transformation too. I think that is why there is something special about diving in the ocean without the extra burden of a heavy tank or a bulky BCD. It’s extremely freeing and can be really fun! Enter the world of Freediving.
Freediving isn’t just for feeling less bulky underwater though. The art of holding your breath at depth, or freediving, has been around for centuries and while it started as a way to gather food, it has evolved into many different things over the years, including a competitive sport, a way to deal with stress, a fun recreational activity, or a way to hunt for game. For myself, I wanted to gain more control over my breathing, my body and mind and so that I could be the best diver I could be.
It was for that exact reason that I decided to join former OWUSS Rolex Scholar Leah Potts and her partner Scott Sanders in this upcoming freediving class. For them, it was a break from constantly carrying around all their heavy gear. I had first met Leah while I was diving the Mark V in North Carolina. She and Scott just happened to be at the same quarry teaching a rebreather class there. What are the odds? As I spoke with her, she mentioned an intermediate freediving course they were going to be taking in Palm Beach Florida and invited me along. After looking at my calendar, I realized that I was scheduled to do a photography course in the same area right after the Freediver class would be over. It was perfect timing! Once we talked about it more, Leah sent me all the information and before I knew it we were embarking on a journey down into Florida.
When the time came, I finally purchased my flight and flew into Palm Beach, Florida. Leah and Scott were way too cool and flew their own plane down (which I got to see first hand) with a special friend of theirs named Alan, who was also joining us for the class. Even though I was sad that I couldn’t fly with them because of all my bags, I ended up arriving five hours earlier, which was a healthy amount of time to get the rest of my online coursework done for the class.
Leah and Scott’s Plane!
After finishing my e-learning and getting settled in I finally got to meet the whole gang. It was me, Leah, Alan and Scott. Though Scott was technically at the quarry when I initially met Leah, I didn’t get to see or talk to him much since he was teaching a class at the time, so it was nice to finally get to know him in person. It was great to see Leah again, too, and meet Alan for the first time. Alan was one of the main reasons we were all there, as it was a big goal of his to not only become a freediving instructor, but also to break a world record for the most time walking underwater, which would require many of the skills this class offered. He was the only one of us to have done the beginner freediving course prior and so it was great to hear about his experiences with the other class to get an idea of what to expect. After talking with everyone a bit more it became apparent that we were all excited to get started with this class.
Since our class was only for five days, not to mention the fact that we were all pretty decent swimmers and divers, we figured it would be better to skip over the beginner course and start with the intermediate freediving course. This would allow us to maximize our time, dive deeper, accomplish more skills, and truly test ourselves from the get-go. Our instructor was Virgil Price from Florida Freedivers. Through Performance Freediving International, or PFI, which is an organization that works in tandem with SDI (Scuba Diving International), TDI (Technical Diving International), and ERDI (Emergency Response Diving International), Virgil has taught all kinds of people the joys of freediving and now it was our turn! Virgil was a very down-to-earth and easy-going guy as well as a complete animal lover! He had a ferret, birds, and two lovely black labs named Delilah and Dizzy. During our lecture, it was so fun (especially for Leah and I) to have Delilah and Dizzy zooming around us! Despite the fun distraction that the dogs provided, Virgil gave us our full first lesson about freediving.
Thanks, PFI, SDI, and TDI for the gear!
We learned about static apneas (safely holding your head underwater for as long as you can), negative breath holds, safety and buddy procedures, purges, ventilation breathing, recovery breaths, as well as the physics and physiology behind freediving. It was so interesting to learn more about how the body works, especially underwater. Perhaps one of the most fascinating parts of of what we learned about was the Mammalian dive reflex. This phenomenon is a vestigial part of our physiology that activates during immersion and allows us to slow our heart rate, direct blood to vital organs, and release oxygen-carrying red blood cells stored in the spleen to the rest of the body. It was going to be a lot but we took it one step at a time.
We started in the pool with breathing exercises, rescue operations, and then proceeded to do static apneas which is the process of lying face-down in the pool in a completely relaxed state and holding your breath for as long as you can. We started with a one-minute breath-hold then went to a two-minute and finally went to a three-minute hold. It was difficult, but for me especially. I had trouble following the rescue procedures and had to do them several times. Then while everyone else completed the objective goal time of three mins, I could only make it to 2 mins and 30 seconds. Even with Virgil’s saint-like patience and everyone’s support around me, I seemed to struggle with everything (granted I had stayed up the night before which is not recommended). It was discouraging. All the excitement I had before had evaporated and was replaced with doubt. What if I couldn’t do this?
The next morning I woke up early and practiced. I downloaded an app, watched some youtube videos, looked at the freediving blogs from scholars before me to find answers, and the more I saw the easier everyone else made it look. Eventually, I ended up planting my face in the tub to see how long I could hold my breath but each time was worse than the last. What was I doing wrong? How could I get better? The more I tried the more I worried. Today we were supposed to be going out to the ocean and diving down to 60 ft. How was I going to do this and in five days no less? Oy… We went out to the boat to meet Virgil and his two pups Dizzy and Delilah. However, this time there was a new member of our team, our awesome boat captain, Lucie Cardet! Lucie was in the middle of getting her captain’s license and was also a world record holder herself for the largest Red Grouper caught spearfishing (although we had to coax the info out of her)! With the whole gang together we sailed out off into the deep blue.
Lucie Cardet driving the boat
Once we got in the water we set up a float and lines that we could retract and extend. This was so that we could swim down to our target depth. Once we set up our line, we practiced our breathing and safety protocols. Finally, it was time to dive. Our first goal was to do some warm-ups, which meant going down the line to where we were comfortable, making sure we could equalize then climbing the line back up. Then we did some negative pressure dives, which is where you expel all your breath and dive down. Sounds crazy right?! However, this technique allows you to simulate diving at depth and can help you build diving stamina– and it was surprisingly kind of fun. Lastly, we attempted the sixty-foot dive…We lowered the plate. Everyone went before me and touched it with ease. However once it was my turn I stopped more than halfway down and came back up. I couldn’t do it and was upset with myself. In order to pass the class we had to at least reach 80ft! How was I going to do this? Once I came back up I literally asked Virgil. “Why do I suck so bad?”
All he said was that I just needed to relax, breathe, expel the nerves. It was helpful but also it was everything that I had already heard and had been telling myself. I was starting to get upset but we tried it again. Once my turn came around. I breathed in deep down into my stomach, closed my eyes, and dove. As I went down I could somewhat see the small plate that silently mocked me. Forsaking my instinctive urge to turn tail, I took a note from our favorite forgetful Disney fish and just… kept swimming until finally, I touched a white flat disk. YES! I had made it! Finally! The bad part was that now it was time to go back up. Crap… It was dreadful but on the way back I tucked my neck (as you are supposed to) and told myself that I would make it. I couldn’t look up because if I saw how far away I was, I might have thought it impossible, but soon my head burst to the surface! I had done it! YAY! After that, we went around several times, and as we continued, I began to hit the mark every time and was feeling better and more confident with each dive. It was great. I felt accomplished….but tomorrow was going to be even worse. Tomorrow was the dreaded 80ft dive.
A moon jelly watching my progress
The next day we went out on the boat, ate breakfast, and got everything set up. We did our warmups and got started with the 60ft dives. By this time we all were able to assess each other’s quirks. Alan often descended very slowly and was able to hold his breath ridiculously long. Scott often curved his back which was a result of his teaching and doing hundreds of tech dives. Leah had textbook-like form when she descended and I often did the opposite of Alan by descending and coming back up extremely fast as if I was swimming for my life! (I felt like I was.) But we completed the dives with relative ease. Then Virgil lowered the line to 80 ft and I remember dreading it. Moment of truth.
Many snacks (but mostly Cheez-its) saw their last days on this trip
When it was my turn I took a few long breaths, purged, did a deep inhalation and dove. I dove to a certain point, then sank till I reached the plate and once I settled down there, I then headed back up until I reached the surface and did my recovery breaths. It happened so smoothly and I was proud of myself, but Virgil wasn’t done with us yet. He lowered the rope even further. This time the plate was going to be at 100ft.
Descending into the depths of Florida
If I wasn’t in the Ocean I would have been sweating bullets. Alan went first. He went down to the point where I couldn’t see him anymore and finally came back up. Next up was me, but before I could go, Alan mentioned that the plate was actually only at 96 ft according to his computer and so Virgil lowered it even more. “Dang it, Alan!” I thought, but I faced the deep and did exactly what I had done before (although maybe a little faster). I submerged, equalized, dropped, touched the plate, and headed back up. It was terrifying and dark and I had no idea how much longer my breath could hold out. I closed my eyes and just swam up waiting for the moment of sweet release. I remember hearing my ears popping as the pressure of the deep slowly receded. I could feel my form slipping as I struggled towards the surface. I could see the light brightening behind my eyes and I just kept swimming until I heard the burst of waves that was my head hitting the surface. I took several breaths and finally relaxed. I had done it! I had passed the class and not only that, but I had been the first to reach 100ft and did it in literally three days! It was a far cry from the guy that couldn’t hold his breath for two and half minutes.
After the three days of the intermediate course, we then got started on the safety supervisor and instructor course. While I was already exhausted just getting through the intermediate freediving course, Alan, Leah, and Scott were going to be tackling the instructor training, too, and so I figured I might as well join the party. After that, we went back out to the ocean to do some drills. This time we did some new rescue procedures, including blackout procedures and rescue breaths. We learned some freediving pedagogy and did 60ft dives while holding our breath at the bottom for 20 seconds. Some of it was tough but the biggest difference with these courses was that this time I had no doubts. I knew I could do this and so I did.
After all was said and done, I swam away as a certified instructor for the Freediver beginner course! I have to give my thanks to Virgil who taught me everything I now know about freediving, Lucie for driving the boat, PFI for sponsoring me and providing the course, Florida Freedivers for the gear as well as Leah, Alan, and Scott, who supported me the whole way, even when victory seemed impossible.
