Did the OH freedive course in weekend.
Improved static breath hold from 3.15 to 4.00 on the first day. 2nd day I bombed out at 2.15! WTF? not sure what was different.. maybe just alarmed that I knew i wasn't going to beat my pb, as unusually I had lung burn and lung contractions early at 2mins and it just went to custard after that? did feel like i was blushing by that stage and the breath up was a little rushed. mind games raising my heart rate?
Improved my freedive depth from 7m to 23m. stopped short of the 25m platform due to equalisation. Lake Pupuke was pretty cold tho. Not quite sure what exactly im doing wrong at depth. initially it was mask squeeze interrupting my equalisation around 15m. but once i'd mastered that i think i was descending faster than my ability to equalise around the 20m mark. Not quite getting the frenzel to work at depth maybe. I now have a blood spot on my eye ball due to the mask squeeze i think. I enjoyed diving for depth.. but much more practice required! don't think i'll ever feel comfortable holding breath though.
Felt i've learnt what's needed to be a safe diver and how to train for better breath hold. but mixed feelings about value for money at $425 when a 4 day PADI open water scuba course was $300 at PD. In saying that, I don't think i would've ever learned that same practical lessons or as quickly just by googling freediving etc. and I guess pushing your boundaries with experienced divers at hand is the invaluable part. Particularly liked John as an instructor.
Oh and to my surprise the 2nd day i was able to swim freestyle for 8 laps or so (in 25m pool) as a warm down.. when prior to this course i'd be exhausted after 2 laps.