Freediving instructor on a day off (photo credit Daan Verhoeven)
One of the champions in freediving Alexey Molchanov is casually swimming mid-water searching for a good snapshot on marine life. Despite warm tropical water he has a full body very stretchy wetsuit: freedivers relax and redirect hot blood towards internal organs to save oxygen and their limbs are prone to becoming cold, thus warm wetsuit with good elasticity. He also traded his competitive monofin to more agile custom-made bi-fins. Instead of a simple waterproof watch, he wears a freediving computer with beep signals set for different stages of a dive.
Competing freediver grabbing a tag from the bottom plate
During 2018 CMAS World Cup freediving competitions at sea, champion and freediving instructor Tanya Zemskikh is turning at the deepest point of her dive, simultaneously pulling her up on the rope and grabbing a tag from the bottom plate. This plate along with a stopper on the rope won't allow the freediver to sink into abyss if any problems would occur. On the right, year 1962, the James Bong Girl played by Ursula Andress had less diving gear, just a mask and a dagger on her belt. Now freedivers use stretchy rubber belts to keep the weights low on hips while swimming upside down, and they have small volume masks to save air in deep dives.
Freediver at Blue Hole Dahab Egypt
Freediving champion and instructor late Andrey Matveenko swimming at Blue Hole Dahab Egypt. Dark-red freediving wetsuit by Molchanov's and Yamamoto, weighted collar instead of a belt, freediving buoy and rope by Sealteam-pro freedive store, dive computer by Suunto.
Freediving instructor gear
Tanya Zemskikh is holding her carbon-blade monofin after a deep dive, while having her noseclip still on (for really deep dives they don't use any mask, to avoid filling it with air from the lungs). On the wrist you can see a steel-and-velcro safety lanyard to strap herself to the safety rope during a deep dive. In the blue on the background a guy is about to dive along a guide rope attached to a buoy thru a pulley. With this pulley it is easier to pull out the long rope with several lead weights attached to it's bottom end.
The peculiarity of a breath-hold dive is inner peace induced thru a reflex of saving oxygen.
And it opens the mind too, it may lead into universal love, without new age stuff
At a Beach Resort, this breath-hold diving thing is more zen and less obvious than consuming, partying, snorkeling, surfing, fishing, kayaking, dining
AIDA, PADI, SSI, Molchanovs, PFI, Apnea Academy, and a hundreds of friendly instructors are helping you to try this liquid spacewalk