The how, what, why, where and when I started freediving.

I wanted my first series of blogs to acknowledgement the people and organisations that have helped get to where I am now. Now, is still very much the beginning and hopefully these blogs will be great way to document the journey. Who introduced me to freediving? This credit goes to my nearest and dearest, back in the days when she wasn't just that. Kate and I have been friends for many years; she had been lodging with me whilst doing a TEFL course. Not long after completing the course she found work in Vietnam teaching. Off she went to the East, in search of fortune and glory. We kept in touch whilst she was away and when her contract ended, we arranged to meet up when she got back the UK. It was great catching up. When asking what fun she'd had, her reply was whilst in Koh Toa she'd taken a SSI level 1 Freedving course and that she wanted to be sponsored as a mermaid...... Fast forward a year and Kate and I have moved to Bristol, Kate is still chirping about freediving and she saw a Groupon deal for a taster session. I'm hesitant and don't want to follow it up. Another year passes and I decide "why not give it a try", to prove it's not for me. We signed up to a pool taster session ran by Emma Farrell at Go Freediving in Midsomer Norton on a Friday evening. We met Emma in one of the rooms and were joined by three others who’d signed up. We spent an hour in the classroom. Emma taught us about breathing, how to prepare our minds, recovery breathing and safety. After the classroom we all got changed into our suits and got in the pool. I remember the first static well, from start to finish. Lying on my back, belly breathing, thinking of nothing, as we we’d just been taught. This in itself was an achievement; I’m always juggling thoughts, but for some reason being in the water I could just turn my inner monologue off. Emma then instructed us to take our final breath and roll over and float with our faces immersed. I lay there just floating, thinking of nothing with my eyes closed. It was hard to make out what the people were saying with the wetsuit hood on and my head bobbing in and out of the water. I opened my eyes and saw some lint floating in front of me, it was mesmerising as it moved around freely, weightless in the water. Then I felt a strange sensation, coming from my abdomen, it was like I wanted to kick my legs out. Emma guided me to put my hands on the wall, bring my legs under me and then it was time to surface… It was oddly pleasant; I could sense that the holds were getting longer each time

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