Miscellaneous Blogs
A Mermaid’s Tale
Although courses and training for freediving have been a more recent adventure, the passion and drive for the sport has been with me since I can remember. As I child I insisted on spending as much time in the water as possible, be it in the sea or the swimming pool. Mermaids and pirates were my biggest aspirations. I guess this was my earliest form of apnea practice, as I would love to spend as much time swimming down to the bottom as splashing at the surface.
When I was 11 my fascination for the sea took a step up as I received a scuba try dive for my birthday. I was hooked immediately. Scuba diving became my main passion and I was lucky enough to travel whilst gaining dives, experiences and unforgettable sights. This allowed me to become a scuba diving instructor as soon as I turned 18. However, between all these scuba sessions the love for freedom in the water was not lost. I could still be found beneath the surface just working on one breath, whether it be using snorkel equipment or no equipment at all.
Videos of freedivers had always captivated me for their elegance and calmness and eventually I was given the opportunity to do a freediving course. For me the instant attraction can be found in the very word of the sport, being free. No tanks, no bulky equipment, no regulators. It’s just you and you set the limit for your exploration. Freediving also brings out a bigger sense of challenge or ambition with the many different disciplines. Constant weight inclines you to forever go deeper into the blue whilst static drives you to hold your breath for longer each time. I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to complete my level 1 freediving instructor qualification, but I know that this is just the beginning of the goals rather than the end. I definitely want to improve and push my freediving depths and breath hold times. Yet what is remarkable is that the key to such an addictive, no limits sport is relaxation. The best dives are performed by unruffled divers.
My favourite memory of learning to freedive was using a monofin for the first time. The power from just having one large fin was remarkable and as I looked down in the water I had finally become the mermaid I had dreamt of as a small child. I would definitely advise anyone to give it a go as everybody is surprised at what their body can do, including me. Set yourself new challenges and have a lot of fun!
Gemma and Ian visited DEEP and were hosted by Phil Short, Research Diving, Training Lead, and were given a tour of the facility at Avonmouth and then over to the Campus at Tidenham.
DEEP is evolving how humans access, explore and inhabit underwater environments. Through flexible, modular and mobile subsea habitats that allow humans to live undersea up to 200m for up to 28 days, work-class submarines, and advanced human performance research, DEEP completely transforms what we are capable of underwater and how we conduct undersea science and research.
You can listen to Episode 173 of the BiG Scuba Podcast here.
We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone +44 7810 005924 or use our social media platforms. To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:
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Gemma and Ian chat to Dr. Joseph Dituri. Dr. Jospeh Dituri lived undersea for 100 Days in a mission combining education, ocean conservation research, and the study of the physiological and psychological effects of compression on the human body.
Dituri enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985. He served continuously on active service upon various ships and shore stations where he was involved in every aspect of diving and special operations work from saturation diving and deep submergence to submersible design and clearance diving. Now that he is retired from 28 years of active service to the United States, he is the president of the International Board of Undersea Medicine. He also volunteers his time as the CEO of the Association for Marine Exploration. He is an invited speaker on motivational, sea and space related topics.
Fuelled by his passion for exploration, discovery, adventure, and making the greatest possible positive contribution to the world, he is fighting for change in a big way and with great enthusiasm.
You can listen to Episode 172 of the BiG Scuba Podcast here.
We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast. Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference. Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone +44 7810 005924 or use our social media platforms. To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:
We are on Instagram @thebigscuba
We are on Facebook @thebigscuba
We are in LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian%F0%9F%A6%88-last-325b101b7/
The BiG Scuba Website www.thebigscuba.com
Amazon Store : https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/thebigscuba
Visit https://www.patreon.com/thebigscubapodcast and subscribe – Super quick and easy to do and it makes a massive difference. Thank you.
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