How old were you (when you started freediving)?

skarz · Mar 16, 2004

Im about to turn 15, and i guess i just started. I've been snorkeling a bunch in the ocean (all the way from up here in wisconsin) and i loved it! So many cool things to see in the ocean. I realised being down at the bottom was more for me, and then i found this site, and started reading about freediving. My parents don't support it yet, they think it's just a fad Hopefully i'll be out diving all summer!

pyro · Apr 29, 2004

10?11? i dont remember, what i do remeber is that since i was a litle kid i tried to go as far as i could underwater...

Originally posted by skarz
My parents don't support it yet, they think it's just a fad

hey man, as long as you know that your are fit enough to do it, as long as it is safe enough, then screw what they say, do it anyway, sometimes they cant understand somethings, some other times they give a very very good advice.

up to you at the end of the day what you do

skarz · Apr 30, 2004

They are not against it, they just dont support me buying gear, because they think it's expensive and just a fad. I still plan on diving all summer

Baur · May 3, 2004

Skarz no worries mate parents never make it easy for us freedivers and spearos (mothers especially!). Determination because the gains from freediving outweigh any hassle you get. As for the expensive equipment its part of the magic. Every person in this forum who started freediving young will have his own story of what he/she went through to get their first divesuit! But when you get it in the end man oh man you will feel like a million bucks. I got a Mares 5mm after endless negotiations with my father when I was 14. I couldnt afford weights and a weight belt and spent the summer vacation just floating around like a turd. By the time I was 20 I had three thousand pounds worth of equipment (but still no car...ouch). So patience and youll make it happen.

skarz · May 3, 2004

I just made $60 bucks yesterday cutting down trees and hauling wood. HOpefully i can get a job soon too. I'm obviously no expert on gear, since i just began, but right now im looking at a

OMER mimetic 5mm wetsuit
Quick Release Weight Belt, not sure how much weight i need on it
5-6 ft. Travel pole spear, 3 prong and rock tips.

I'm not sure how great the travel spears are, since they unnassemble, but for how much my family travels around, i'll be able to use it all over the U.S.

Baur · May 3, 2004

Good choice of suit. The open cell on the Omer will keep you really warm. About weights how much you need depends on your body mass, thickness of suit, and your usual target depths. Once you get your suit try different weights and see what works for you keeping in mind that:

1. You should be able to relax and float on the surface without sinking from the weights when still.

2. Since you are a beginner spearo,your weights should allow negative bouyancy (sinking) to kick in after 2/3 of your target depth.

I dont have freshwater hunting experience (only sea) but im sure these principles equally apply to them also.

skarz · May 3, 2004

Thanks, i know freshwater probably needs less weight compared to you salt guys too.... I'm thinking the OMER mimetic because it will suit me fine for freediving, and spearing when i want too. As far as the belt.... I'll be in lots of weeds, and i know it probably won't happen, but at least i can snap that belt right off, just incase (maybe it'll make mom feel better too ). i am about 5'7", 130 lbs., im not sure how many weights i would need. Hopefully Jon's friend at the dive store could help me out with that. I'm only going to be in about 10-20 ft. of water too, so maybe that affects the weight of the belt.

BlueWaveC · Jun 9, 2004

I was doing "freediving" long before the term (as we know it now), really existed.

I have always lived in coastal areas, and have vivid memories of "skin diving" to both look at things underwater, as well as to collect shells/marine life when I was less than 10 yrs old. All I was using was a mask and flippers, I don't recall when I started using a snorkel, but it showed up in pictures of me in the ocean after age 10......

My parents said that people were always amazed at my ability to swim underwater (both in the pool and in the ocean) from a very young age. Not that I am sooooo old now.....LOL !

oceanmen17 · Jun 9, 2004

i was 7. was after swimming training in the break where i used to stay under all the time. never understood why they prefer staying above surface......!!

Kars · Jun 18, 2004

LOL, OM17, after my swimming lessons I too wanted to be a sub.
I could always be found somewhere underwater, trying to tip over the boards where friends use hang on. diving to the bottom collecting things was also a game. when I was about 10 I got a real diving mask from my parents. I used to go to the locald sweet waterlake beach and dive for watches under the high jumpboard. Diving under the platform was also nice

I also remember that we've collected loads of shell in the sea, at a depth of 3-4 meters and dad put them in a sac. That evening we ate these and they were the best we've ate.

Ciao,
Kars

jome · Jul 6, 2004

I was holding my breath when I came out of my mothers womb. I think that is still my pb. Freaked the hell out of the doctors too!

Well no, seriously, I was 25 when I started "training". Other weird assorted underwater experiments have been on going since the tender age of 3 though.

mifil · Aug 1, 2004

My vote in poll was 20-30. In details, I wore my first snorkeling gear in the age of 6. At the voted age I 've got intensive training in SCUBA, which in Poland in 70' and 80' meant also a lot of free diving, especially while getting CMAS instructor degree. I'm concentrated on it since 1999, and I love it.

iceselkie · Aug 5, 2004

I'm really happy that a lot of not only mentioned that you started at a young age, but also, those of you that are parents, intend to help teach/show your kids your love of water! I also really liked that photo Adrian
So it seems that starting early really has a lot to do with it. I admit, when I was young, I also liked to see what i could find at the bottom of the pool- if it was money that would be my free admission or a popsicle for the day, and I was always amazed at how OFTEN i would find that cash down there. Why do people always go to the pool with money in their shorts?!

Aquagenic · Aug 5, 2004

I think that I have always liked to free dive. I remember being a six year old and just loving to go under, hold my breath, and just relax in the peace of it all. Not to mention competing with my friends to see how long I could hold my breath.

It is not until recently however that I have actually started training. I am eighteen and loving it. I can already beat the pants of my friends best times.

~Picksmith

How old were you (when you started freediving)?