Scuba diving - a condition for freediving???

[kontrajan]

Hi all,

I recently got in contact with a freediving club near my hometown. They told me that it is necessary to do a scuba training (CMAS*) first before joining their freediving club...

Actually, I did not really understand what´s the reason for that. As far as I understood (until now), freediving is NOT a scuba diving "upgrade", but a sport of its own. Is there any reason to do a scuba training before? Will it help me? Honestly, I ain´t got the time and the money for such stuff, since I am not interested in scuba diving at all. My freediving fins & suit will be expensive enough, I don´t wanna buy tons of scuba equipment which I rarely will use afterwards...

Please let me know what you think about it. I am quite irritated...

Regards,
Jan

 

[octopus]

Is there any reason to do a scuba training before?

Financial one?
I have always thought that scuba divers could do with the elements of freediving training as a prerequisite.

 

[Gwaihir]

Very strange ! does not compute....

 

[kontrajan]

Financial one?

That´s what came to my mind also

Thanks for your opinions, seems that I were not so wrong...

 

[apneaboy]

No you don't need a Scuba course first. Some elements of the Scuba course may help you a little bit (equalisation, water confidence, basic physics) but they will be covered in the Freediving course.

Is the person offering the Freedive training the same person who will teach you Scuba?

 

[kontrajan]

I am not sure apneaboy, as far as I understood, this person is a certified CMAS trainer - so probably he will be offering the scuba course. But his words were something like "you first need a scuba course, then you can join us", he did not mention that they offer such course.

Don´t get me wrong, the freediving club is a non-profit-organization, and the contact was quite nice, but I wondered what reasons there might be to do a scuba course before freediving. I know how to equalize pretty well (I am a former lifeguard), and I know enough about the physics (I have a Master Degree in Physics, ok, sh*t, now everybody knows I´m a nerd ) - so I guess I won´t be learning too much new things. Decompression and all this scuba related stuff is not really necessary for freediving, is it?

Again, thanks to all for your answers

 

[octopus]

Another thougth.

I spent 6 months in Erlangen and I noticed (being an outsider) that rules and regulations are quite important part of life in Germany. No matter how trivial an issue is, it seemed to me there was always some regulation for it. And people are rather disciplined (or should I say strict) about following regulations. I even sometimes had impression that regulations were there for their own sake rather than to make life easier for people.

So, perhaps rules and regulations of that scuba club require you to be a club member in order to train with the club. And then in order to become the club member, you have to do the training. And the only training they can offer is scuba training?

 

[kontrajan]

Another thing.

I spent 6 months in Erlangen and I noticed (being outsider) that rules and regulations are quite important part of life in Germany. No matter how trivial an issue is, it seemed to me there was always some regulation for it. And people are rather disciplined (or should I say strict) about following regulations. I even sometimes had impression that regulations were there for their own sake rather than to make life easier for people.

So, perhaps rules and regulations of that scuba club require you to be a club member in order to train with the club. And then in order to become the club member, you have to do the training. And the only training they can offer is scuba training?

100% agree. This is typical for Germany. And especially typical for "institutions" like federal bureaus, clubs etc

I (and MANY Germans) HATE it. In some areas this is ok (like quality control in a factory, e.g.), but in most places it´s just ridiculous.

 

[WillUnderwater]

Maybe they make all the new guys be safetys for awhile until theyre "ready" to be freedivers

 

[kontrajan]

Yeah, that´d make sense...

 

[rbsub]

Jan,

it's the same in our diving club: You can only get a membership if you are a certified scuba diver or if you want to become one.

But this is only a rule in our club ( :headI don't like this rule!!!!) - but there are other clubs in the near of my hometown where this rule doesn't exist. So you can ask in other clubs.

Normaly the clubs offer a weekly (or more often) training for endurance, apnea, finswimming, scuba and more.

From this point of view it is not the worst thing to have some fundamental knowledge about (scuba)-diving. Getting this knowledge is 75% for your scuba-diving certification. So I would propose you todo it. You will have your scuba-licence for the rest of your life and it will be cheaper to get it in a club as at a commercial diving center (Padi etc.).

And these clubs are usually the only ones which offers an apnea training on a regular basis.

BTW: In which area you are living?

 

[kontrajan]

Hey rbsub,

Duesseldorf And you?

Unfortunately, this club seems to be the only one to do regular apnea training. The other clubs are regular scuba clubs, which claim to do "some" apnea training sometimes, but if you ask them about it, they refuse that they´re doing it regularly :-(

Of course you´re right, it´s the cheapest way getting a scuba license, but anyway, it´s kind of annoying...just wanna do some recreational freediving with nice buddies and enjoy my time in the water! But we´ll see - as I have no diving buddy till now, I probably have no other chance...

Gruß,
Jan

 

[trux]

I agree that the scuba training is definitely useful (even for a freediver), and you will certainly take use of it sooner or later. The cost should not be too high, and you won't be obliged to buy any material - the club certainly has enough material for the trainees. Well, it is little bit a trap, because most people get seduced by it and start buying gear for thousands of Euros, even if they then dive just once each couple of years.

 

[trux]

You can also try to find some underwater rugby (or hockey club) - although not optimal, it is not bad at all as training for a freediver too. And I believe there are quite a bunch of UW rugby clubs in Germany, so I guess in your area will be some too.

 

[trux]

I just looked it up in Google - there are UW rugby clubs in Neuss, Düsseldorf, Köln, Kaarst,... - so quite a choice for you. And you can be sure to find quite a few fellow souls there who'd be interested in freediving training too.

 

[rbsub]

Duesseldorf? Try to contact Sunflower (DeeperBlue Forums - View Profile: sunflower). She is from this area. Say greetings to her from me.

I'm sure that she can help you - but perhaps she is the one who organizes the training in this (scuba)-club . BUT: If she's the trainer - it's worth to become a member.

 

[kontrajan]

Wow, thanks for this tip trux, sounds great! Will give it a try...

BTW: I am yet in contact with sunflower, but she told me her club does not have a regular freediving training. She is doing some training on her own with a buddy...

Many thanks to all again, this is definitely one of the most helpful boards on the web ever!

 

[rbsub]

You can also try to find some underwater rugby (or hockey club) - although not optimal, it is not bad at all as training for a freediver too. And I believe there are quite a bunch of UW rugby clubs in Germany, so I guess in your area will be some too.

Trux,

nearly all diving clubs in germany are orginzed in the VDST (Tauchen und mehr beim VDST - Verband Deutscher Sporttaucher e.V.) - which is the licenceholder for CMAS in Germany too.

The clubs inside the VDST practice scuba, freediving, finswimming, UW rugby, UW hockey, orientation diving etc. You will barely find a club which does only uw rugby. They are all more or less scuba oriented too. But as I mentioned: Not every club persist on a scuba certifiacation - but once you are a member in such a club you wil make you scuba certification because everybody has it

 

[Kars]

Jan you can also contact AIDA Germany and ask them for close by members to train with.

I don't mind training with a buddy during quiet lane swimming hours in a pool.

At the famous http://www.apnoehappening.de/ (this year to be held just over the border in Austria ) you can learn and obtain AIDA and CMAS certification. Maybe just becoming an CMAS member is enough?
Or maybe getting a CMAS apnoe certification is enough? I'm sure the VDST can connect you with a local or close by instructor for a course, and provide you with good advice.

Personally I hate over regulation too. I think it takes away a lot spontaneity and robs people of their ability to think and judge for themselves and become a responsible complete individual.
In general I don't like the people who love regulations.
They often seem to be lacking in empathy.

You're a life guard, cool!
I'm sure Freediving will extent your ability an knowledge positively. I sometimes help our lifeguards to help reach their annual test (15m dynamic, picking up doll from 5m), and earn much leeway allowing us to use monofins and to swim under water in lane swimming hours.

Have fun and let us know what you've managed and discovered so we can direct the next person with the same question to this thread.

Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[kontrajan]

Thanks Kars, contacting AIDA is a good idea! I still don´t really know what the above mentioned club demands - till now I only got a quite short mail without explanation. Honestly, what you´ve described is true for my case: it´s really annoying and frustrating that you have to go to such a "procedure". Damn, I just wanna do some freediving with nice buddies and have fun in the water!!! I am not crazy, so I won´t freedive alone, that´s in fact my only problem.

BTW: I were a lifeguard more than 10 years ago (I weren´t even totally grown-up ) - so nowadays I forgot a lot and I am not actove anymore...but some things you´ll never forget, especially the basics

They funny thing about the guy who contacted me: He actually IS an official VDST/CMAS freediving instructor! So this plan won´t work, I guess :-(

Maybe I should be founding an open freediver´s club here. Just rent a lane in a local swimming pool and let´s go! I mean, safety divers for pool training don´t need scuba equipment & license, do they? Let´s be honest, in a pool almost everybody who is able to dive and use a snorkel should be sufficient as a safety diver. Correct me if I´m wrong!

http://www.apnoehappening.de/ will surely be visited by me, if there´s time