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Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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BonoApnea1986

New Member
Jan 10, 2015
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Hey guys.

So i am new to this forum so excuse if I’m posting in the wrong place. But i post because i am after a bit of advice from the more experienced and in no means want to start which is better etc.

So about me, I come from an elite competitive swimming background representing my country in both the 50m and 200m freestyle disciplines. have worked as a part time lifeguard in my home on the sunny coast, Australia and well just quit me medical degree for a change of career. I have no formal free dive quals but since growing up in the water have basically done it playing around. I tried the scuba thing and got my dive master but choose not to go on to OWSI as i found that contrary to belief of those not in the scuba crowd anyone can do it as long as they have a sense of adventure and the money, a lot of scuba guys drink heavily, smoke and it wasn’t my scene, maybe a bad experience. But anyhow more recently being persistent in my goals have found the sport of free diving and keenly interested. With no formal training i have static of 4.29, mainly due to my swimming background i think and i can swim 100m underwater without fins. I tested myself because i read the requirements for what it takes to be a instructor and wanted to see how far i needed to go. :) So basically after my introduction i am after opinions form people who are in the know of good schools to go all the way to instructor with. I am spoilt for choice and i am happy to travel worldwide for it, also i was looking at aida but see SSI have more schools. in the end if i did choose AIDA would this be a detriment to finding work afterwards. any help would be greatly appreciated
 
Wow...so, there should have been some feedback by now...but insofar as what school or agency is "best", etc. keep this in mind; AIDA is the world sanctioning body...but there are numerous schools that offer world-class instruction. I can only speak to those programs I am most familiar with, but they are all world-class schools, run by champion performers in apnea. In the US/Canada, an SSI shop (Nick Fazah) Fahttp://www.ecdivers.com/freediving/, PFI http://www.performancefreediving.com/ (Kirk Krack), down in Florida http://immersionfreediving.com/ (Ted Harty), up in the Pacific NW, http://phase3freediving.com/ (Chris Bustad), Dean's Blue Hole, Bahamas, http://verticalblue.net/ (William Trubdridge)...so, if you aren't too busy, try them all out!
 
Make sure that whatever school you get qualified by can offer insurance in the market you intend to teach in. Besides that the differences between schools are debatable.

I was a serious competitive swimmer, too, my entire childhood and into college. A lot of the training can be easily effectively adapted for freediving although the physiology diverges at elite levels.
 
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It would be interesting to hear, how long does it take you to swim the 100m underwater? Since you're a very efficient swimmer, that's probably a lot easier for you than most people, and maybe only takes you about half the time. The static of 4'29" is nice, can build on that well.
 
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