14 year old aspiring freediver

[Ethan humphries]

Hello everyone!im 14 years old and am absolutely obsessed with freediving even though I have barely tried it.im looking for any tips or advice you might have about freediving because I know very little about it.im also wondering if its bad for my body because of my age.?also wondering if people freedive in Maine and if so where.

 

[Mr. X]

Hi Ethan,
Welcome. It's good to see a new generation coming along. I think we all get a little worried when youngsters join the forum, for fear of accidents and law suits. You are right to be cautious because of your age, some of the discussions and information on this forum and others may be inappropriate for somebody of your age. I believe there a few other forum members of your age though.

I hesitate to offer any advice for fear of lawsuits. Certainly you should ensure that the adults who are responsible for you (i.e. parents/guardians) know and are supportive of your interest. Your parents/guardians and you should expect to spend some time learning about freediving and its inherent risks and dangers. Forum members offer opinions but most are not qualified to provide advice. At your age, your parents/guardians should seek out age-appropriate training from qualified, adult instructors. There are some dangers which are not obvious or well-known, for example Shallow Water Blackout, which you & your parents/guardians should find out about and understand before embarking on training or diving. This in turn should influence how, where and with whom one trains & dives.



I would encourage you to have you parents post to the forum on your behalf, that way you will "train them up" at the same time. We try to keep an eye on the DeeperBlue forum but public forums are also not necessarily safe places for young or otherwise vulnerable people. (You can report any "dodgy" posts using the buttons shown at the top right of each post.)

 

[Ethan humphries]

Thanks for the info,I'll definitely learn more about it before I do any serious freediving.

 

[Tall Paul]

Hi Ethan,

Welcome to the forum. My freediving teacher successfully taught someone of 12 to freedive, but her father was also a freediver, and so understood the issues and was able to sign the legal documents and releases that were necessary.

My advice is to approach reputable teachers in established clubs, inform your parents that you're doing so, and all meet up to check their qualifications and get to know each other and discuss what you're going to be doing before you sign up for anything.

Having said that, why not? Many people under 18 go horseriding, which is much more dangerous, but they too must have parental permission.

Hope this helps,

Paul.