Scuba diving - a condition for freediving???

[Kars]

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

Hi Jan,

In order to get the real answers it's important to set aside many assumptions based on the little you've got from one source. You have to go as they say and dig into the rabid hole, and ask to more than one person to get a much better and deeper understanding.
When people give you bad or blurry answers, it's key to get more perspectives so you can build up and restore the image from different angles.
- The quality of the replies you get lies in the quality of your questions.
In general ask OPEN questions, like: how do I become CMAS member?
Asking good questions is a skill in itself, an overlooked art.

Maybe there is another freediver living close by, that will give you a really nice jump start starting a team or club.

Dive buddy:
A good buddy KNOWS how to deal with a black out victim, and has the will, ability and cool to do so.
- Just wearing mask snorkel and fins, but lacking these qualities does not provide security.

The best way, I think when you want to start to build your club is to find a buddy, and do together a 3* AIDA course, or CMAS equivalent, and rent a lane.

Bringing some cool equipment like long fins or (better!) a monofin surely helps to attract interest. Always have business cards at hand to give away, be open, break the ice, reach out and let the people talk, and provide them with inspiring answers.

What kind of freediving are you planning to do Jan?
- Recreational, spearing, competition?

All the best,

Kars

 

[kontrajan]

Hi Kars,

at least for me, the basic question is answered: a scuba course ist not neccessary for freediving in general, but at least is not completely useless.
This is what I needed to know for my further communication with the club - now I am more informed and maybe/probably have better understanding for the further communictaion with them.
Anyway, a great introduction into the art of asking, maybe this should be made sticky here

I will try to get more information about the following: what are THEIR reasons for making a scuba license a must-have if you wanna join? Do they provide scuba training? And thenn I´ll decide what my next step will be.

As I said, the first received mail was very short; a longer explanation would follow (was promised) - so I will wait what comes and then decide how to (re)act.

Regarding your tips for founding a club of its own: many many thanks! There are some great ideas, and as I feared, it´s obviously more than I can handle alone (especially, at least one well-trained partner would be helpful. I do not fear the organisational challenges, but I think I definitely should NOT in any case act as an freediving instructor or similar. I myself need one, that´s the point ).

I will keep you all updated!

So long,
Jan

P.S.: Type of freediving: recreational, maybe competitional later. Spearfishing is prohibited over here...