Freediving in Pulau Pramuka

So its been about one year since I have been free diving actively and it has been one hell of a journey and an eye opening experience for me ! I am so happy that I discovered the sport and will continue to enjoy the water through free diving for many years to come 🙂

I have always loved the water and being a sydney sider, summer for as long as I can remember always involved going onto the beach. Whether in that particular year it was just to swim, body surf or to body board, we always had fun at the beach, summer was always something to look forward too. We would enter summer all white and pasty and come out of summer all dark and tanned. Every year was the same and it was awesome.

Beautiful sunrise at shelly beach – Sydney Australia

When I started running BlipADeal & HotDiskon I was able to arrange my own time and spent every morning before work swimming laps at shelly beach rock pools in sydney’s Cronulla beach, which is about 20-30 mins drive from where I live. After swimming for about 8 months in the pools I wanted to find ways to optimise breathing and after some research Damir (my friend who every morning would also join me for the swim) and I discovered free diving.

After watching one of Stig Severinsons talks on ted TV I was totally astounded by what he could do and how he could enjoy the water in such a spectacular way. It seemed impossible but he was doing it and he said he was able to train people to do it also ! I was hooked. The morning swims became all about breathe holding, swimming underwater and just getting more comfortable. Since then I have learnt and experienced many things that I think have really changed how I feel both mentally and physically.

My Fat Ass & my cute little sis on her birthday 🙂

The most noticeable of all the changes has been my weight ! Before I started swimming and free diving I was one heavy dude ! I was about 87 kilos of fat and my height is only about 5’7 🙂 I had a bit of muscle but I was a big boy. After I started to dive and do the various different training techniques required to get better at the sport I lost about 20+ kilos to date. The main thing isn’t the weight but its the fact that I feel better then I did when I was in my very early 20’s and in my very early 20’s I was one fit guy doing lots of sports. Now 10 years later, as a result of this weight loss my wardrobe just got bigger by 20 pairs of jeans that I have collected over the last 10 years (which when I look at their size was getting bigger each year) 😛 wooohoooo how awesome is that ! No more bandung factory outlet shopping for me anymore LOL …

Veges, Seafood, Meats

I have learnt a lot about the body. Reading about what happens to the body during apnea, to understanding how our body uses oxygen, what the effects of pressure are on our bodies and what happens during blackouts, its all been a great learning experience. Above all that I also learnt about how to eat right so the body is more efficient and more healthy. Im sure as I do more formal free diving education and more reading about the sport I will again learn more about human physiology & for me learning is always fun !

Now I am also more calm in stressful situations and currently with running a business getting stressed about all sorts of things is a common event. By remembering what its like to be under the water and staying calm and relaxed when your 60+ feet below the surface of the ocean, some of that calmness can be brought into daily life and can help ease some of the stress by bringing up glimpses of the same frame of mind.

Pulau Harapan sunrise

I have managed to see so many new parts of the world that I never even thought about visiting before I started free diving. When your free diving you do what you can to get close to the water and this usually leads you to look at new and wonderful places to get a new underwater experience and explore nature at its finest. This leads you to camping and going on trips you never thought about before and it gets you closer to nature.

Finally but surely not the least, I have met so many new friends along the way 🙂 From other free divers that you meet at dive sites and share a dive with on a given day, to the teachers who show you how to be safe to groups and communities of free divers that you hang with its been a great way to get to know people who also love the water as much as you do.

It’s been a really positive change and being a complete geek who sits in front of the computer all day working with code, math and logic its been a really nice way to contrast the day. Open air, fresh sea water in the morning followed by a quiet time in front of the computer from the afternoon to the evening 🙂 In the next few months I plan on getting the next level certification if I get the chance so hopefully it will allow me to understand more about the body, more about how to go deeper, be safer and enjoy the ocean in a whole new different way.So stay safe & have fun in the water everyone !