TRAVEL & ADVENTURE
Wolfgang Dafert, first to teach freediving in the Philippines.
PHOTOGRAPH © WOLFGANG DAFERT
Freediving
“ is completely different from scuba diving. It is much more than just snorkeling, it’ s about being part of the ocean, about the silence that comes from within. Freediving is a lifestyle.”
— Freediving-Philippines
Landing in Cebu yesterday, it was all about scuba diving with hundreds of sardines that change colors when touched by the sun, leaving the diver with an ecstatic vertigo-like feeling. Today is about observing freedivers perform their exercises. When we were loading dive gears in our boat, anchored 20ft from the beach because of low tide, I noticed the differences in gear a scuba diver and a freediver carries with him. The fins are longer which makes a freediver move faster and with greater efficiency, masks are smaller or has a lower volume compared to an average scuba diving mask, and wet suits have lesser zippers or just onepiece wet suit so they can move comfortably without having to worry about cold water slicing their spine.
Freediving State of Mind
Our boat continues to sail along the coast of Moalboal towards Tongo Point for our first dive. Listening to Moby puts my mind in epic dive mode. At the starboard side of the boat, freedivers Andrew Zuke from USA and Jussi Rovanperä from Finland are doing seated yoga poses and breathing exercises. I am familiar with Andrew’ s yoga poses, but when Jussi starts inhaling massively, his abs are almost sucked by his rib cage. I ask Jussi what that is for and he answers,“ it’ s a breathing exercise to put me into the freediving state of mind.” If music helps me relax before a dive, freedivers do special breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to get them into the zone.
The conversation on freediving state of mind continues. Andrew explains,“ Freediving is like underwater yoga and almost like Kung Fu … Yin and Yang.” Freedivers take three to five minutes of meditation prior to diving, they have to relax to unleash the power within, so they can concentrate more. As Wolfgang would say“ focus to unfocus”, or telling your mind to focus on something else rather than thinking of holding your breath. Taking your mind off of things or knowing how to cheat your mind is useful while freediving.
In that way, Andrew adds, you will learn
7107 ISLAND TRAVEL 39