[shoutatthesky]

Well I am just back from my first freediving course. I thought I had a reasonable knowledge of basic freediving but I learned so much more and filled in some gaps in my knowledge.
The course was run by 'NO BUBBLES' in Auckland, New Zealand, by Patrick Preisig and Fran Rose. Both highly experienced divers and awesome teachers. There were about 9 students altogether so the instructor/student ratio was really good.
We started Friday evening with a three hour talk covering such subjects as history, equipment, physiology, safety, training procedures, etc. I could have kept talking all night as it was all so fascinating. A lot of the material I had been through before but not with real world class freedivers. Alas, we had to go home and sleep if we were to make the most of our time in the pool the next day.

Day Two: A 9am start at the pool. Feeling slightly weird not having had my usual 3 double shot coffees, just a couple of bananas and some water. That was soon forgotten as we got started. First we went through some of the fundamentals of breathing with Fran graciously stripping to her bikini top to give us a better view of the breathing muscles. Once our heart rates had gotten back to normal we started on learning the major breathing areas of belly, diapragm, chest, shoulders, and throat. I have been doing breathing for freediving based on what I have learned from yoga in years past, but already I could feel more air getting into my lungs by virtue of a few subtle movements well explained. After a few demonstrations we split into pairs and did some timed breathing excercises, e.g. 6 in, 32 hold, 12 out.
Then it was time to get into the pool for some static work. Fran and Patrick took us through the hows, whys, and whats of static apnea. We went through a series of breath holds leading up to a max. attempt. I had started out the year with the goal of surpassing the five minute mark and managed that and a little more. I think everyone amazed themselves by their abilities.
After a rest it was time for some work on dynamic with fins. We all had a play around with the different kicking styles to make sure we could do them all and to show the instructors just how bad our technique was. Patrick was able to point out some subtle yet significant changes for me to make to my own style.
Everyone was from different levels of experience but we fitted in together well as a class and this was encouraged by Patrick and Fran's relaxed yet comprehensive style.
After a few relays and fine tuning of weight and technique we all attempted a PB. I got a dissapointing 76 m. If I had been fresh I may have done more but at least I now have the tools to work on getting further. I forget the class best but it was not far from 100m. Everyone did an exceptional job and we all celebrated by having a bit of a play around with some mono fins. Somewhere in amongst all this we did some work on rescue techniques. At the end of the day I was thoroughly exhausted and just wanted to eat and sleep.

Day 3: Another 9am start for a go at some breathing exercises and a static session. We were talked through as before on rests, and holds except for the last which was to be another max. attempt. We all knew that if we pushed too hard and suffered a BO then we would miss out on out deep water session that afternoon so this was a more relaxed affair and a chance for us to get used to the protocols and body sensations of static apnea. I did a comfortable 4 mins eager to get to the deep water.

Our deep water site was a freshwater lake called Lake Pupuke with an effective depth of 56m. We entered from the shore and out to Patrick's homemade line platform - basically two inflatable tubes with an aluminium structure holding a pulley and a 'rope lock'. All attached to a rope and base plate and weighted with about 20kg's.
There was quite a strong wind blowing the whole structure along and causing the rope to sit at an angle. I had never done any constant weight before so anything was good enough for me but soon after I had I gotten out to the rig I discovered I couldn't equalize in my left ear. I played around with it making sure to let all the air out and wriggling my jaw every way I could and this managed to get it happening. Then I would do a dive and it would seize up again. In the end I only managed a very dissapointing 16m. Overall the class results were good with quite a few getting into the 20's and further.

The course was the first freediving course I have been on so I can't make any comparisons but Patrick and Fran really seemed to know their subject and how to teach it. Now I have to get to the pool as often as possible and work on integrating their advice into my practice. There is a lot of work to do but now I have a much clearer picture of what needs doing.
Thanks for the great time Patrick and Fran - see you at the next course or maybe I will be competing along side you before long?