non-swimmer -> freediver
VaKo,
I just read through this thread, and was interested to read this part...
"What advice do you have for someone who can barely swim a length?".
This struck a chord with me, because only about 4 years ago, at the age of 24, I was a non-swimmer. I didn't have an actual fear of water, but I had always avoided any water based activites. One day, for some reason(?), I finally made the decision to learn to swim. I found a good teacher to help me and practiced virtually every day. About a year later I saw the Big Blue for the first time and was captivated by the whole thing. It was another year before I watched it again, and realised this was something I really really wanted to do... so I set out looking for other freedivers just as you are now.
I've now been freediving for just over 2 years, and dive deep a couple of times each week. Just 4 years ago the idea of being immersed in water was totally alien to me. Now, I can't imagine myself not being able to swim or freedive. So I went from one extreme end of the spectrum to the other!
So, the message here is this: don't let the fact that you may be a weak swimmer put you off becoming a freediver. But don't misunderstand me though. It's important to be a confident swimmer before getting into freediving. In my case, I was already a life-guard before I started freediving. That doesn't mean you need to be a really strong swimmer, but you need to feel very comfortable and totally confident in water. You shouldn't really think about freediving until you've reached that level.
Oh, and when you feel you're ready to take that first step, then send me an e-mail... because I live in North Wales, about 100 miles from you, and about 30mins away from the best deep freediving site in the UK. If you have transport from Derbyshire, then you're sorted.
alun