Meet Awesome Freediver. Like a usual Freediver just more awesome. Awesome Freediver was awesome at something else before he decided to take up the sport of freediving so he decided to head down to his local dive shop to pick up a pair of the best freediving fins that would fit his budget. They had a flame logo on one side and a dragon on the other. He asked for the stiffest most powerful ones of course. Much like a knight with the biggest most heaviest broadsword imaginable ready to joust and fight irritable dragons.
"As they hit the pool session awesome Freediver pulls out his dragonator 500,000 fins with fire logo on the front. He's got this in the bag."
Ways to be Like Awesome Freediver:
Buy the best freediving fins (dragons and fire logo are best)
Hold your breath the longest
Dive the deepest
Get a superhero mask
Don't ask for advice from better divers
If you do take a freediving course, do it to prove how awesome you are
Awesome Freediver went down to the local freediving spot to dive with other freedivers. Some of them were worthy of his presence while others were less awesome like a squire to his knight. Awesome Freediver doesn't really know how to freedive yet so he simply watches and learns to freedive by doing. As he dives, Awesome Freediver decides that freediving is easy. He wants to show how awesome he truly is at freediving by demonstrating how long he can hang on the line. What Awesome Freediver doesn't know is that while you may get fairly hypoxic (lack of oxygen) at depth, once you hit the surface the effect is enhanced. Awesome Freediver promptly blacks out. Once awesome Freediver is revived by his freediving companions he sheepishly goes home to recover from his Awesome ego wounds. Next week Awesome Freediver shows up at the freediving group looking as valiant as ever. He now has an awesome mask that makes him look like a superhero and will help him with his pulldowns. On his 5th dive awesome Freediver decides to go for it. He rockets down kicking his fire dragon fins as hard as his awesome legs will allow. Soon he is much deeper than he was on his last best attempt. Awesome Freediver then realizes that he is much deeper than he has ever been before (thanks to the dragon fins of course) and so he turns and heads back for the surface with even more fury than he did on the way down. His heart is pounding and his awesome legs are beginning to feel weak. His vision begins to narrow and he rockets to the surface. Awesome Freediver reaches for his mask and promptly blacks out, again.
Now Awesome Freediver, his ego more wounded than ever, begins to explore his opportunities. He could quit and go be awesome at something else or he could continue and try harder or he could take a freediving course where he could learn to freedive better. Awesome Freediver decides he will take the level 1 course with Kona Freedivers, his local freediving school. When Awesome Freediver arrives in class he meets other less awesome divers. Some have never snorkeled, others have only scuba dove, and others just want to get better at spearfishing or snorkeling deeper. Awesome Freediver has got this in the bag. After all, if these people can do the course he should have no trouble learning to freedive.
Before long the instructor is teaching the class which begins with safety. Awesome Freediver learns that he knew nothing about safety even though all of the other divers in the freediving group talked about it regularly. Then awesome Freediver learns how to breathe properly which he had learned from the other divers but really never got it quite right. When the talk shifts to gear Awesome Freediver knows what the best fins are. They are the dragonator 500,000's he has in his bag. The instructor then moves on technique and physiology at which point Awesome Freediver is ready to go to the next level so he can show just how awesome he truly is. His technique is great he just needs to hit the depth so he can get his cert card.
As they hit the pool session awesome Freediver pulls out his dragonator 500,000 fins with fire logo on the front. He's got this in the bag. During the practice dives Awesome Freediver's demonstration is lacking and the instructor coaches him but awesome Freediver is getting it done so he ignores the tips from the instructor. Moving on to safety awesome Freediver practices the safety maneuvers and begins to realize he had no idea how to properly handle a safety scenario before and he's glad he took the course so he would be better prepared. he also thinks for a moment about who he dives with and weather they will be able to safety him should he decide to do another of his awesome deep dives. Moving on the the static session Awesome Freediver's got this in the bag. After all he is a real Freediver. 2 minutes into his static Awesome needs to come up as his lungs begin to cry for air. His partner, a scuba diver with plastic scuba fins holds her breath for 3 minutes as she calmly breathes up and remains relaxed. Awesome Freediver's ego is put in check but tomorrow is the ocean session where he will be sure to dominate the freediving course.
They arrive at the dive site and awesome Freediver is ready to prove he is truly Awesome. He's been diving already so he knows the ropes. They gear up and hit the lines. When they get to the diving portion of the course awesome Freediver does his first shallow dive. He hits the first mark with ease. The instructor tells him he needs to adjust some things to improve his diving. Awesome Freediver shrugs it off. He's got this. He hits the mark but his dive looks awkward. On the third dive he makes it to the mark but the instructor is giving him feedback about his diving and all he's hearing is "you made it good effort". After hitting the final 20m depth Awesome Freediver is practically preening with pride. Some of the other divers had much more difficulty but looked more comfortable diving. The instructor tells Awesome Freediver he was able to hit the depth mark but to pass the course he would need to demonstrate proper technique. Awesome diver doesn't listen. He proceeds to do another dive but everything is out of whack.The instructor tells Awesome Freediver he was able to hit the depth mark but to pass the course he would need to demonstrate proper technique. Awesome diver doesn't listen. He proceeds to do another dive but everything is out of whack. The instructor watches and just shakes his head.
Awesome diver returns to the Divegroup having finished his free diving course. Learning to Freedive was lot easier than he thought. He was happy to share with the other freedivers that he had taken a Freediving course. And he talked about how easy it was. Awesome Freediver diver returns to the Dive group. He was happy to share with the other freedivers that he had taken a Freediving course. And he talked about how easy it was. Later that day on the line Awesome Freediver proceeded to dive his usual way. Which is to say it looked a bit awkward 🧐. Awesome Freediver was going to beat his last personal best now that he had taken a course he was more qualified to do so. So he went for it. Awesome Freediver dove down kicking as hard as he could down to the depths. After reaching the bottom he realized how deep he actually was. It is time for the daunting task of reaching the surface. Awesome Freediver kicked as hard as he could. As he reach the surface the more experienced divers can see the panic in his eyes. As he hit the surface Awesome Freediver gasped for air and blacked out again. The other Freediver from the course had also attended the free Dive and group that weekend. She started slow and practiced pull downs and doing dives like she had done in her course. She didn't get nearly as deep as Awesome Freediver did that day. As the weeks and months went by Awesome Freediver continually blacked out or hit barriers and his depth training while his classmate continued to hit deeper and deeper depths with more and more comfort. She continued on and took her level 2 free diving course. And continued to progress in her free diving knowledge and ability. Awesome Freediver decided freediving is not the sport for him and gave up. Don't be like Awesome Freediver. Learn to freedive like an Awesome Freediver.
About Awesome Freediver
Byron Kay is a freediving instructor and the founder of Kona Freedivers and owner of Kona Honu Divers as well as Kona Snorkel Trips. They stand out as Hawaii's top rated and most reviewed businesses among their peers having a perfect 5 star rating on google. To learn more about Byron and his latest goings on visit his bio page.