A fantastic introduction to the exciting sport of freediving
Taught by some of the world’s most experienced freediving instructors, our Try Freediving course will introduce you to the history and development of freediving and give you the chance to experience it for yourself.
You’ll learn about buddying and freediving equipment, how to breathe correctly, how to hold your breath safely, and uncover the secrets of the mammalian dive reflex. You’ll then get the chance to put it all into practice in the pool. Static and dynamic apnea sessions will prove how long you can hold your breath for and how far you can swim underwater. You’ll be amazed at what you’re capable of – especially when you strap on a pair of long freediving fins to power your way through the water.
The skills you will learn will not only help with your performance in other sport they will also help improve and increase your snorkelling, swimming, surfing and scuba safety and enjoyment.
What is a Try Freediving Course?
If you’ve seen or heard of freediving through YouTube, TV or at your local dive club, you might just be intrigued enough to find out a little bit more about this unusual extreme sport and why a Try Freediving Course is so popular.
We say ‘unusual extreme sport’, because on the one hand it can be incredibly dangerous (particularly if not performed correctly) which is, of course, what most people associate with extreme sports, yet on the other hand is so relaxing, many freedivers reach a meditative state during their training – which couldn’t be further from most people’s perception of extreme sports!
A Try Freediving Course is an introduction to the sport (an experience session) where you will learn a little about the history and principles behind freediving and then spend a couple of hours in the water putting what you’ve learned into practice.
Course details
The Try Freediving course lasts 3 1/2 hours, split between the classroom and the pool. You’ll learn the theory first before getting into the water for static apnea and dynamic apnea sessions. We’ll provide you with all the kit you need including a wetsuit. We keep course numbers low so you can learn at your own pace under the watchful eye of our skilled, experienced instructors.
This course is a pre-requisite if you’d like to come to our freediving club pool training sessions. We also recommend it for those who are considering our RAID Freediver certification course and want to familiarise themselves with basic freediving skills in advance of their course (this is not compulsory. Our RAID freediver course is completely suited for beginners)
- Pool hire
- Theory material
- Tuition
- Equipment hire (including wetsuit hire)
To take part in our Try Freediving course you must be:
- 14 years of age or older
- Able to swim 100m unaided
You will be required to complete this self-certifying medical form before the course. If you answer ‘yes’ to any of the conditions listed you must get approval from your GP.
No, the Try Freediving Course is an experience session. It is an introduction to freediving, but is a platform from which many of our most advanced freedivers discovered their passion for the sport.
Because the Try Freediving Course is an experience session, it is not a mandatory course to take if you wish to progress onto a RAID freediving course.
If you know freediving is what you want to do, you can go directly to the RAID Freediver course and start working towards your first certified freediving level.
Please note; If you wish to join our weekly club sessions it is a pre-requisite that you have either completed a Try Freediving Course or the RAID Freediver course (or equivalent).
Our Try Freediving course is classroom and pool-based (confined water) – but with an emphasis on practical exercises and participation. When we run a Try Freediving course at Go Freediving, we use a local swimming pool in Bath (though we do run classes in other venues, based on demand) where we have access to a classroom and have hired lanes not only for the course session, but also our regular club sessions. This means our Try Freediving course students also have the opportunity to watch club members at various levels and experience practice their freediving skills.
Unlike the RAID Freediver Course which has a distance learning package prior to attending the course, the Try Freediving course has no such requirement – there is no preparation required in advance. The course is primarily water based – a basic introduction to the sport of freediving. The classroom input at the start of the course ensures all safety and basic techniques are understood before entering the water.
You may however, enjoy our breathing optimisation classes. You can find some free classes and resources below:
Online Breath Hold Optimisation Classes
Improve your breath hold and lung function, and improve your freediving.
The Breath Hold Optimisation Classes are based on the programme Emma devised for Olympic and Paralympic athletes across cycling and swimming, and have been used successfully since 2010.
The exercises are designed to teach you how to breathe fully and efficiently, improve CO2 tolerance, increase breath hold capacity, increase Vital Capacity, decrease Residual Volume and improve diaphragm flexibility.
Emma’s program uses techniques from yoga, freediving and the Buteyko method, and have been proven to improve lung function and performance.
Your fins, mask, snorkel and wetsuit are all included in the price of your course. All you need to bring is a towel, swimsuit and these two forms:
- Medical Form (only needs to be signed by a doctor if you answer ‘yes’ to any question)
- Liability Release
Even though wetsuit hire is included in the price of our Try Freediving course, if you already have a wetsuit then we recommend you bring it along too, as it may be a better fit for you.
Scuba wetsuits are suitable as long as they’re at least 5mm thick.
Triathlon suits tend to be less suitable as they don’t have hoods – although the course is held in a heated pool, you can get cold during static apnea.
The Try Freediving Course is usually taught by Go Freediving owner and trainer, Emma Farrell together with other members of her highly experienced freediving instructing team.
The course usually runs from 6pm – 9.30pm on a Friday evening so that it co-ordinates with our club sessions. We also run dedicated courses weekend afternoons too.
We do ask for students to arrive at least half an hour earlier than the start time so that we can clear admin and issue kit as soon as possible as this will give us more time in the water during our allocated time.
What Are the Class Sizes?
Go Freediving has always prided itself on an excellent instructor to student ratio. We never have any more than four students per instructor. In fact we quite often have an assistant helping each instructor too! We keep course numbers low so you can learn at your own pace under the watchful eye of our skilled, experienced instructors.
What Do You Learn During the Classroom Session of a Try Freediving Course?
Once the short admin section has been completed, the classroom session provides a brief history and development of freediving, before moving on to buddying skills, freediving equipment, how to breathe correctly and safely and also why the mammalian dive reflex is so important. It is a great place to get all those questions asked before you get changed and get into the water
What Do You Learn During the Confined Water Session of a Try Freediving Course?
This is the part you have been waiting for! This is where everything you have learned during your classroom session gets put into practice! This is where people really start to surprise themselves and start to realise they need to redefine what they thought their limits were!
What Can I Do After Completing a Try Freediving Course?
- Begin your RAID qualifications by completing a RAID Freediver Course
- Become a club member and start attending our club weekends
- Become a Bath or Poole member and start attending our weekly pool session training
- Join us on our freediving holidays and trips you can even complete your Try Freediving Course while you are on holiday with us!
- Start training for your RAID certification to enter competitions
- Improve your Scuba diving
In other words, a Try Freediving Course is just the beginning! If you love freediving as much as we do then you could also become part of a friendly, thriving, passionate club!
