Hello from London

[AjayT]

Hello,

new to the forums, and based in central London.

Been doing static and dynamic apnea in local pool for a few months, and am about AIDA 2 star level.

Would be great to meet other freedivers in London - will be doing AIDA 2 star cert very soon, so should be able to buddy within a month or so.

All the best,

Ajay

 

[BatRay]

Welcome to Deeperblue! I recommend that you look at other Intro and Greets threads, and/or the UK/Ireland regional subforum if you haven't done so already. Our membership does include some folks from London, so you have a good chance of finding other divers in your area.

 

[AjayT]

Welcome to Deeperblue! I recommend that you look at other Intro and Greets threads, and/or the UK/Ireland regional subforum if you haven't done so already. Our membership does include some folks from London, so you have a good chance of finding other divers in your area.

Thanks a lot for the advice BatRay.

There's so many cool people on Deeperblue, looking forward to meeting divers from all over the world, as well as London

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Welcome to DB @AjayT - another Londoner! There is a very strong freediving presence in London - best check out www.britishfreediving.org - who did you train with?

Remember that you must never dive or train alone so find a local club and instructor before training any further.

 

[AjayT]

Welcome to DB @AjayT - another Londoner! There is a very strong freediving presence in London - best check out www.britishfreediving.org - who did you train with?

Remember that you must never dive or train alone so find a local club and instructor before training any further.

Hi Stephan, thanks a lot for the BFA link!

I'm not sure yet who I'll do my AIDA 2 star cert with yet, it really just depends on when an available course can fit me in? Probably, do it with Adam Drzazga, (the BFA chairman) of Blue Water Freediving?

My local pool has been quite supportive, the lifeguards agreed to watch over me and let me train up to the standards needed for the pool part of the AIDA ** cert. Just 40m dynamic with swim training fins, a 2 min static, and brick retrieval from 4m - we agree not to go beyond that. I never get out of my comfort zone, and did a national pools lifeguard course recently so that helps too.

Really looking forward to getting the cert and being able to join a local club and get more training.

 

[Stephan Whelan]

@AjayT - Adam is a great guy and well worth doing your course with.

I don't mean to scare you but DO NOT TRAIN ALONE. Life guards do not count as if you blacked out, by the time they notice you it may be too late. You MUST have a buddy directly watching over you. No buddy, no training.

This is VERY important - Please do not underestimate how easy it is to blackout.

Please read this article: https://www.deeperblue.com/safety-for-freediving/

Get onto a course ASAP and join a club - I don't want to read about you in the papers.

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Here is a list of BFA clubs: http://britishfreediving.org/index.asp?sec=4

 

[rascolor]

Hello,

new to the forums, and based in central London.

Been doing static and dynamic apnea in local pool for a few months, and am about AIDA 2 star level.

Would be great to meet other freedivers in London - will be doing AIDA 2 star cert very soon, so should be able to buddy within a month or so.

All the best,

Ajay

Hi Ajay
Hope you well
I'm glad that you chose to start Freediving with Blue Water Freediving School and we will help you as much as we can to ensure you will enjoy and practice Safe Freediving in day to day training

Bud first I like to point that practice Any Freediving Activities alone could be very dangerous specialy if practiced by inexperience and untrain person

Firstly life guard in a pool is not experienced in rescue or practicing Freediving therefore we can not rely on them to help you or advise you in any way.

I appreciate that you like to get better before starting your course bud wot you do it the pool it may not be wot you need for the course, the are much better and safest way to practice before you attent the course

PleSe contact me and I'm more than happy to help you
Wishing you all the best

Never Freediver Alone
Adam Drzazga

 

[georgemiller]

HI Ajay,
We are so lucky to have so many active clubs in London. You can see a full list here:
http://www.britishfreediving.org/index.asp?sec=4
I know I am repeating what Adam and Stephen have already told you, but it is so important to never freedive without a trained buddy. NEVER FREE DIVE ALONE! There is a club session almost every night of the week in London, so you will have plenty of company from qualified buddies!
We look forward to seeing you at one of our club sessions. If you need any more info you can email me at clubs@britishfreediving.org

Kind regards
Georgina Miller
BFA clubs.

 

[AjayT]

Hi Georgina, Adam and Stephen,

to say that the London freediving community is responsible and supportive is an understatement !!! Four well respected people telling me within a few hours not to dive alone speaks for itself.

Thanks for setting me straight about the effectiveness of pool lifeguards to buddy for apnea training in pools. I've done the NPL course and there's nothing really in it about shallow water blackout, or how to spot someone whose doing apnea who's getting close to blackout. So definitely don't rely on them for your backup!

Probably the biggest reason not to do apnea in a pool without a trained buddy, as Liv Philip pointed out to me is, if you do have an accident it could stop pools letting trained buddy pairs and clubs use their facilities, and that's not fair, , as that could/would be you in a few months time.

I guess distance swimming with slow/rare breathing in cool (unheated) water will bring about some of the same adaptations as doing apnea would, and is much safer?

http://molchanova.ru/en/article/methods-freediver-training

It's fun, and sort of meditative too

 

[Eyesreach]

If you are ever in WA state USA let us know. I recently started with a friend of mine at work. We have only been going a month and have made strides. We absolutely need each other as dive buddies since it makes us not only work a little harder and push your boundaries but also keeps us in check. Safety first.
People ask me if I am crazy, but with all the checks and balances we have as a team we mitigate the risk immensely.
Most of all have fun, push yourself to new depths(with a divebuddy) and good luck!

Sent from my KYOCERA-E6560 using Tapatalk

 

[AjayT]

We absolutely need each other as dive buddies since it makes us not only work a little harder and push your boundaries but also keeps us in check. Safety first.

Hi, Eyesreach ! How are you? Hope you're well and safe! I'll definitely get in touch if I'm close by.

Are you guys diving deep in openwater? London sucks because it's a long drive to the coast, so getting safety training and joining a club that regularly goes on trips to dive vertically is what I'm working towards at present - I'm in it for the long term.

It's great that you have buddy who you work with, and I guess who knows and trusts you. Are you guys planning on joining a club and doing an AIDA course?

Getting advice from the experienced divers in London has really calmed me down and shifted my focus - like you said, safety first As long as I stay safe, keep the people I'm looking out for safe, and am happy, that's my goal now, and all I really expect from my training/diving.

Improvements in times and distances will just accumulate through repetition and training. If they don't its not a big deal - if you have a good time and don't hurt yourself or the people around you, life's good

One thing I can say for sure is, meditation, cold open water swimming and apnea training (on dry land now), have really calmed me down and cleared my mind - they're the best and most effective things I've every done for my mental and physical health.


All the best,

Ajay