Introduce yourself - where do you dive, what are you working on?

I’ll go next 🙂

Hi Richy, beautiful platform!

I’m Ana Giselle (AIDA instructor), currently based in Dahab, Egypt. These past weeks I’ve been mostly in the pool (honestly not a big fan of the chlorine 😄), but really enjoying the training process and the energy of a fun group.

I’ve been staying out of depth training lately since I’ve been teaching quite a lot (focusing instead on smooth equalization and relaxation) but I can’t wait to get back to it and restart working on my (also ugly) mouthfill.

I also integrate a lot of dry work: breathwork, CO₂ tolerance, and nervous system regulation through yoga and different practices.

Anyone else here balancing training, teaching freediving, and an unrelated full-time job?

Hi all beautiful humans, Love this community idea given Freedivers are all around the world. I’m Birgit, I’m an AIDA and Molchanovs instructor, and most of the year I’m based in Timor-Leste: that’s a small island nation between Indonesia and Australia (as I’m sure many will ask 😉). As often as I can, I try to spend time in Dahab, Amed or any of the locations Deep Week takes me.

I live directly at the beach in a small house and see the two 24m deep mooring lines the fishermen put in from my bed. That set-up makes teaching just too easy and as a result I barely spent time training for myself. If I prioritise myself, then it’s all about FIM and no fins in the ocean. When I was younger I used to be a competitive swimmer (funnily breaststroke was my thing!), and that gave me enough chlorine exposure 😉😉😉.

I run my own school here as a passion project, and am a leadership advisor and coach for people and organisations working in marine conservation, international development and climate adaptation space. I’m also an extreme endurance athlete and just recently put all these lessons from freediving under ice, to running through the Sahara and leading through crisis in Timor-Leste into a framework and book. Look up BOLDER if you are interested. And shout out if you make your way to Timor 💙

Hey folks of the sea! I am Fru, AIDA instructor. My favorite sleeping position is CNF, and I have a special love for my monofin. Currently, I am based in Greece, constantly on the lookout for new freediving and spearfishing spots. My lifestyle combines breathwork, yoga, endless stretches, and sometimes I even manage to work on my equalisation (biggest culprit here). I run a slow-fashion brand designing swimwear and activewear for ocean folks like us. It's called Dry Dreams - made on demand, as eco-conscious as possible, withstanding salt, sun, and chlorine, and designed with really a lot of love. Lovely to be the part of this community, looking forward to exchange knowledge!

Hi, I'm Alex, I'm freediving instructor. Currently in Fuvahmulah in the Maldives, I have been hired by a scuba center to implement freediving on the island. Well known for its tiger sharks and Instagramer's paradise, the freediving there is mostly for pictures and very shallow. The idea is to develop line diving and deep diving culture, as well as promoting freediving education, for the local diveguides and the scubies eager to try something else. It is a very interesting endeavour as the island, a rock lost in the middle of the Indian Ocean, is surrounded by walls plunging deep into the blue, and strong currents. The cool thing is that there's a huge population of pelagic species!

Hey! I'm Charles, East coast freediver and union electrician from Pennsylvania. I've just started competing this past year and I'm super excited to get more trips on the calendar and start some proper training to see how far I can push myself. I've been taking AIDA courses in Roatan with Ricardo Montans every year and I'm finally about to become an official AIDA instructor! I lost my closest freediving friend in a tragic accident last February and have been struggling with finding an outlet for the love we shared - so I've committed to putting it towards keeping my fellow divers safe in her honor. I've scheduled a whole list of lifesaving courses and certifications so I can achieve that goal and hopefully be in a position to give someone else the care they need to have the second chance at life that she didn't get.

Sad topics aside, I'm a small business owner (Waveform Freediving) and I design and build a few freediving gear storage solutions which have gotten a ton of great feedback since I've launched them. I just enjoy helping people in multiple ways, and starting this business lets me solve a few problems that every diver I've talked to has experienced. I also just secured a spot as a sponsor at this year's South Florida Freedive Fest which I'm honored and excited about, and I hope to see some of you there this year!