How old were you (when you started freediving)?

[flyboy748]

Wow Adrian,
Great shot. Hopefully I can do the same for my son! He's four, and getting used to his mask/snorkel/fins in the pool over the winter. Gonna see if I can get him in the water next spring!

Aaron

 

[Adrian]

Thanks guys

Originally posted by flyboy748
. Gonna see if I can get him in the water next spring!
Aaron

Aaron,
Give him some motiviation and make it attractive for him, that way he won't be able to resist!

Adrian

 

[Matt & Annabel]

? freediving

OK, the question is not how old were you when you first held you breath longer than any other kid in the swimming pool and when you came up they were all playing Marco Polo.

The question is really how old were you when you first slapped on a pair of freedive extra long fins?

I was 49.

The next question is when do I hafta stop? I guess I can go as long and hopefully as deep as Deeper Bill, who can dive his age in meters!!!

see you in the blue, Annabel

 

[Adrian]

Getting down into the nitty gritty!

Originally posted by Matt & Annabel

I was 49.

Ha Ha, me too!

About stopping, in freediving I don't know, but the mother of a friend is 70 years old and has been doing scuba for years, deep scuba. The doctors have recommended her not to go any deeper than 50 meters! I don't think that's too bad. Our own bodies will let us know when to rein back. It'll be different for everyone.

Adrian

 

[Ron Brandt]

Adrian' Picture

That picture could have been of me in 1965 in front of a local lake.
My tan is not that good however

Yep,it was known as skin diving.Seemed that whenever we went on vacation we would stay at hotel's with a pool and I would try and stay on the bottom,or do laps underwater.

Allways came back with an ear infection after the trips.

Equalization? What equalization!

Ron

 

[shaneshac]

I've got a few pics like that too. In my fins, mask and waterwings

At age 4 my dad, who was also a spearo bought me a pair of cressi rondine (the blue ones with the yellow bird remember!!!) and a Nemrod mask. We used to swim out to 100 meters from the beach and we used to dive down to the sand and dig up clams and razor clams.

After that he made me a gaff with a broomstick handle and a large barbless fishing hook. We went octopus hunting.

Not a bad start. Thanks Dad

 

[holymackerel]

Wow, It's like taking a walk down my short term memory lane.. I got my first mask at the age 10. Snorked a bit till, age 16 got scuba certified, then quit until about 2 years ago-I am 29 now. It's wierd, after all these years of being around the water diving then surfing it was only last year that I became truely comfortable. Man what a difference it makes to be relaxed. I think this is why I feel the way I do about freediving, it's way more quite. Well, since it's been two years I have owned long fins.. I guess the answere is two years.

forgive the rant

 

[flyboy748]

Holymackrel,

Welcome to DeeperBlue! Actually though we like rants like that so rant away! No need to apoligize! Great to hear about your start. Always love to hear about a convert from the dark (scuba) side! Good point about the comfort level though. I started enjoying my freediving alot more as my comfort level increased.

Safe and happy diving!
Aaron

 

[rcerdena]

I started diving/spearfishing/holding the breath when I was 12 years old.

RCC

 

[sturgeon]

I was 31 when I first started freediving, now I'm 36. I got bored of SCUBA after about a year (and 300+ dives) and wanted more of a challenge. I started to feel really bad about shooting fish on tanks because it was getting way too easy so I turned to freediving and have never looked back!!!!!!!!

Scott

 

[holymackerel]

amen...

 

[Jeff06]

Started spearfishing at 30...
So many time wasted

@+
Jeff

 

[Johan]

I was around 27 when I started to learn enough and be able to go deep enough to call myself a freediver, but I do still have that yellow rubber Cressi Super-Pinochio ( yes... Pinochio...a mask with a nosepocket.. :duh ) that I got sometimes in the late seventies....but my orange rubber-fins are long gone now...:waterwork

Johan

 

[Alapaki]

Im 23 now, but my first experience with freediving was at about 21. I believe I started out at Hanauma bay. I'm not much of a deep diver but i went down to about 30 feet when these scuba divers caught me by surprise and snapped a photo of me. I thought it was really something to be at their depth without the use of a tank.

 

[newadven]

This is my first post since I signed up yesterday on New Years Eve. Happy New Year everyone!!

As far as I can remember I started free diving about age 8 or so. I used to scare my mom half to death whenever we went to the beach because I would disappear from the surface of the water and not appear until about one minute later and 50 or so feet away. After a while she got used to me doing this. Now I scare my wife the same way as she watches me from shore. Of course I have taught all my five children the fun of free diving and they also all enjoy it a lot.

One main reason I enjoy it so much is what can be found on the bottom. That is where I spend most of the time. Get there quick, look around and find stuff, and then up for more air to do it again. I can stay in the water all day if I'm finding anything interesting. I have already hit most of the beaches in Florida and have found just about all the shells Florida has to offer. Now I am exploring the rivers and springs here in the Tallahassee area. So far I have found some ancient pottery and some bones in one of the rivers here.

I can't wait for spring time to go out again and explore some more. Two of my sons can't wait to go either.

I'm a fish out of water.

Greg

 

[flyboy748]

Welcome to DeeperBlue Greg! You'll find lots of useful and fun info here!

Happy New year!

Aaron

 

[^Milan^]

i only started about 1 year ago and im not really that good at it... more started it due to my love for snorkelling. I'd be happy even being able to break the 20m mark atm i can get to about 13m which is usually enough in the area's i spear.

 

[FreeFloat]

I started last summer. So far my PB's haven't been all that fantasic but hey, I just learned to equalize as well. Now I just need to improve my breath-hold......

 

[Spearman]

I started when I was 14, with a bad experience, getting caught in breaking waves in a rocky bottom and getting my hands full of sea urchin spines.:waterwork

Anyway... despite the bad experience I loved the few things I had seen underwater and took a freediving course shortly after. Then I got into spearfishing and have been practicing ever since.

 

[naiad]

I learned to swim when I was 12 (before that I was fearless but hopeless!!) and started off doing doggy-paddle, but when it came to learning proper strokes, I could not get the breathing right. I soon figured out that by swimming underwater, I could go faster, and the breathing problem was solved!

After a gap of about 10 years, I went back to swimming regularly (yes, I did manage to learn proper breathing). One day last year I was at my local pool and there was hardly anyone around, it was late and I was bored, so I went down the ladder in the deep end and decided to stay a while. It was so nice and peaceful, and I was surprised that there was no immediate need to breathe.When I got to the surface, the lifeguard was on the side of the pool above me, saying "That was ages! How do you hold your breath for that long?". This made me think that maybe I was good at it, and I had also recently watched a documentary about Tanya Streeter which inspired me. I soon found a freediving club in my area through the Internet, and here I am!

naiad