Free Diving in the UK: Interview with Rebecca Coales

Free diving is a growing sport; however its popularity in the UK is still yet to catch up. In recent years free diving has become increasingly more popular with scuba divers who want to explore the sensation of diving without the equipment. Granted, there has always been some rivalry between scuba divers and free divers, with free divers saying that it is a much more natural and liberating experience to dive without scuba gear, however scuba divers usually counter this by saying that they can stay down deeper for much longer and see a lot more.

However, the common factor shared by both free divers and scuba divers is the importance of breathing; albeit breath hold or air consumption when diving. This is something which can be improved by practising and implementing proper breathing techniques which can be learned through yoga. Rebecca Coales said, “Yoga-diving is about cultivating a state of body and mind that allows us to better enjoy the dive, remain safe and respect the marine world we're visiting.”

I interviewed Rebecca; British free dive record holder, freedive instructor and yoga teacher who is based in Bristol. Rebecca said, “I started competitive freediving at the start of 2013 and have found both the physical and mental elements of yoga a huge benefit. Being able to steady your final few breaths before diving can make all the difference. This year I've set two new British records in Dynamic No Fins (underwater breast-stroke swim) of 120m and 134m, that's around 5 lengths of a 25m pool on one breath!” I asked Rebecca the following three questions in order to enhance the awareness of free diving and the opportunities to do it in the UK.

1) As scuba divers know, the most important rule in diving is to breathe continuously and never hold your breath, how can yoga help to improve both air consumption for divers and breath hold for free divers?

Yoga is actually made up of eight main themes including physical postures, breathing, meditation and ethics. All of these can help a diver to become more relaxed, focused and efficient in the water, saves energy and therefore breathe less.

I have some more guidance here if you'd like to read

2) How did you get into free diving and progress to become a National Record Holder?

I started freediving about 4 years ago after trying it out one day in Dahab, Egypt. I've been a scuba diver for over twenty years but liked the idea of being in the sea without all the bulky equipment. Many divers come to freediving for that reason, but ultimately end up loving it for another reason - the lessons we learn about ourselves through the act of freediving itself. Umberto Pelizzari coined the phrase 'scuba divers dive to look around, freedivers dive to look inside'.

I've steadily worked my way through the AIDA training system and weekly freediving sessions with our Bristol club. Most of my training is pool based as I don't get much chance to travel for depth diving and our summers are so short!

It's only in 2013 that I became interested in competitive freediving. I linked up with a coach in Manchester (Steve Millard) who helped me put together a training plan and regularly motivated me. I represented the UK at the pool World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia and on my return made a successful record attempt of 120 in the Dynamic No Fins discipline. I've since extended that to 134m. My training involves not only pool and dry breath-hold exercises but also strength & conditioning and cardio training in the gym and outdoors, and daily yoga.

3) What free diving services are currently available for novice free divers or beginners in the UK?

There are two main freediving agencies in the UK - AIDA and SSI. AIDA is the main education system supported by our national governing body the British Freediving Association. There are instructors all over the UK - in the South West (myself, Saltfree, Emma Farrell and Ian McDonald), in the SE (Liv Phillip, NoTanx, Apnea Revolution, Adam Drzarga) and in the NW (Steve Millard). See here for the full list. A good starting course is either the 1 or 2 star AIDA, or Level 1 SSI

All details available at www.omdiver.co.uk and our club website www.bristolfreedive.org.uk