Why Get Certified
Q: Why get certified?
A: There are two reasons to take a freediving course: to improve your safety and to improve your performance. If you aim to make either of those aspects stronger, then take a course. If neither of those are your priority but you still want to spend time in the water, you should take a course.
Safety is important because freedivers die. Every few months another article is published asking to help find the body or sharing condolences for a passed member of our community. This is the reality of unsafely freediving. The reason to get certified is to develop an awareness for what’s unsafe and be able to respond to it. The best way to develop this awareness is through quality education and rigorous practice. A well accredited freediving agency will have higher standards for education and their instructors. Their instructors will train and test your awareness, how to recognize and how to respond to unsafe situations for you and your dive partner. They will cover hypoxia, black outs, loss of motor control, problems at depth (entanglement) and mild shock. Not only do they cover it, they TEST it. Certification shows that you have been tested on these areas and have passed.
A multitude of videos and research can show you the signs of black-out and what to do, but it does not mean you will be able to replicate those actions. The first few black-outs or loss of motor controls you witness will cause your heart rate to increase as fear overrides the system and your actions become shaky. It’s completely understandable—your hypoxic dive buddy is currently blue in the lips, not responding and having uncontrolled seizure-like movements, or they are completely lifeless. An instructor understands this shock and will have you practice rescue until it becomes muscle memory. You might have the actual experience of witnessing or actively safetying a hypoxic event in a class. *While this is never the goal in a course, if it happens you will see first hand a rescue or participate in one.
An indicator for an instructor/agency’s approach to safety is their own standard. Their instructors will be leading examples and advocates of safety. They will have active training for CPR, First Aid, an Emergency Action Plan for each site, carry an O2 kit, and have a developed relationship with the local rescue teams (coast guard, lifeguards, emergency responders). In the rare case something does go wrong, they have prepared for it. If you want to understand safety, learn from the safest and most prepared organization.
The second reason to take a class is to improve your performance. You want techniques, knowledge and assessment of your skills. In short, you want to become a better diver. When you take a course from an accredited freediving agency you learn verified techniques and skills from an experienced instructor.
Freediving agencies’ (Performance Freediving International, Freediving Instructors International, and Molchanovs Freediving Education) standards for their instructors are notoriously hard because they require experienced, educated freedivers. The curriculum and skills taught are reviewed and written by top freedivers who have developed the skills, insight and understanding defining this sport. Their overarching goal is to create better freedivers. Instruction teaches you the reasons behind the knowledge, covering history, science, the mental and physical aspects, safety and local conditions. A course is broken into three parts: classroom (theory), pool (development of skills) and ocean (application and testing of skills).
During a course you will cover the subjects of history, breathing and relaxation, stress reduction/mental control, equipment, physics, physiology, local environment, equalization and safety/rescue. In the pool you develop diving technique and skills through exercises and step by step instruction. A course covers proper finning technique, safety and problem management, entry, weighting, efficiency and equalization. In the ocean you apply these techniques to your diving, and practice efficiency by diving straight down on a line with your instructors following you 1-1. This repetition aims to instill these skills in your diving. A freediver does not “own” a depth until they have done it multiple times with no error. By the end of a course, you will have “owned” your depth, thus representing you have the skills and understanding. During a course, your instructor will dive with you 1-1 to every depth and give you live feedback and correction on your skills. They will be with you on every dive, using signals and sounds to fine tune your diving. This live one on one feedback is invaluable, and the reason why many continue to take coaching sessions after a course.
Take a course to improve your safety and diving, get certified to show others that your skills and understanding have been tested. A certification does not make a diver impermeable to the laws of nature or himself. It is a verification that a diver has taken a course, been tested on skills and at that moment demonstrated competency. A true testament to a divers ability and safety comes after the course, when they use the knowledge gleaned to continually improve themselves. A freediving course is only the beginning of your journey and an integral part of your development.