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Who can learn to freedive? Can anyone do it? Does age matter? Does body type matter? Does lung capacity play a role? What about smoking, can smokers freedive? World record holder, deep freediver, and instructor Annelie Pompe explains.
"We are all born out of water, and we come into this world with a mammalian dive response that helps us save oxygen when we hold our breath. Still, freediving doesn’t come naturally to everyone. It will help a lot if you are comfortable in the water, and if you can swim.
Having had a thousand or so students I have met many different to-be-freedivers. From 14 to 70 years old with all kinds of backgrounds and dreams about freediving. I have seen people who aren’t able to swim, who one year later makes a freedive to 50 meters. About 95% of all students just want to enjoy the underwater world, stay a little longer, and learn the tricks to breath-holding. The other 5% are there for the competitive aspect and challenge. I have also seen people struggle with equalization for years, and still not found a way. As an instructor, I think the only real physical limitation is the ears. Usually, if you can fly on an airplane without problems, you can also learn how to equalize. It might take some practice and months, or years, but the reward will be a visit to a beautiful world underwater.
Lately, I have met students who enjoy freediving simply because it finally gets silent. Most western people live in a busy world where there is little or no time for silence. Even when you go to sleep the mind keeps chattering away. As you freedive your mind will not get quiet, but you will find a way to be with your own thoughts and to make them quieter, simply because you don’t have a choice. The ocean has a calming effect on both body and mind when fear is out of the picture. When you freedive you meet yourself. In that way, every freedive is an adventure. You’ll see, learn or discover something new on every single dive and that is why it is such a beautiful sport".