LEVELS OF INSTRUCTIONS

      In order to create a unique identity and language for freediving and to provide our students with better and more specific areas of training, the IAFD has revised its levels of instructions and programs and has organized them in 6 categories:

 

 

CONSTANT BALLAST FREE DIVER

 

The student that selects this category will learn to dive equipped with a weight belt during his or her displacement at the surface or in descent and ascent.  This weight belt will be worn continuously from the moment the free diver enters the water until he exits.

  • On the first level, the student will be able to descend to a depth of up to 10 meters or 33 feet while keeping the weight belt on. Only for purposes of training, a vertical, weighted guideline or rope will be used to help maintain the straightest possible descent path to the bottom. Once the student has mastered his/her sense of orientation and relative position, the training rope will become unnecessary, allowing thus for free descents. This initial level is advisable mostly for shallow or easily accessible coral reef observation by student who does not necessarily want an athletic performance, but rather pleasant observation with eventual descents.

  • In Level ll, the student will improve on the theoretical skills and the physical ability learned in the previous level in order  to descend to the target depth (20 meters/66 feet) with relative ease. 

  • In Level lll, the student has to master a much more sophisticated aquatic and respiratory technique. The emphasis will be placed on economy of movement, effectiveness of equalizations and the focus necessary to execute the dives. Target depth: 30 meters/99 feet.

  • Level lV, qualified as a Professional level, is reserved for the highly skilled, athletically conditioned free diver who, by reaching this depth, could consider specializing in the “Constant Ballast” Category. Target depth: 40 meters/130 feet.

 

VARIABLE BALLAST FREE DIVER

 

The student that chooses to be a Variable Ballast Free Diver will learn to submerge on the weighted diving Sled that will plunge the him/her to a predetermined depth, according to the level of instruction. Once the target depth is reached, the return to the surface is made by climbing up the sled rope, virtually “escalating” all the way to the surface.
Besides all the necessary techniques that the student will learn, the ascent by his own physical means (there is no lift bag as in No Limits or Tandem) poses a real challenge to the mastery of one’s abilities.
Variable Ballast could be defined as a hybrid between the top two specialties conceived for free diving, as you use the Sled and also your own muscular power and personal capabilities to regain surface. The best of both worlds.

 

 

 

 

NO LIMITS FREE DIVER

 

This category represents a blending and integration of human and machine performances. Once a free diver has mastered the constant ballast technique and watermanship being at its optimum, which means having complete knowledge of the equalization technique, control over body adaptations and command of ventilation techniques, the next challenging step is No Limits.
This category is notable for the integration of all the elements that compound the free diving experience. Mental concentration and control, physical capabilities, confidence and ease in the aquatic environment as well as a superb mastery of the equalization techniques are necessary.
The No Limits Diver will experience the excitement and sensation that have made men like Jacques Mayol, Enzo Maiorca, Pipin Ferreras, and quite a few others to keep testing their own limits, and remain active in the sport for decades.
The latest improvement made to the Deep Immersion Vehicle or Sled has helped to bring out performances that rival any exhilarating experience. The vehicle itself and the returning portion with the lift bag have been stream lined. Once the lift bag is inflated and the return to surface begins, the diver is definitively overcome by an emotion and thrill, from the first sinking into the depths to the rocketing back to surface at speeds unthinkable even for some aquatic mammals.

 

 

 

 

TANDEM NO LIMITS FREE DIVER

 

Directly related to the No Limits category, two people, either of the same sex or mixed can become a symbiotic aquatic being and experience a dive that feels like nothing else!
The Tandem team is composed of a pilot or dive controller who’s in charge of the actual descent, the speed and all the related actions, and at his side, the dive partner, both of them reacting as one. Preparation and coordination between them is crucial in the training sessions. Tactile signals to communicate, along with the sharing of a goal with another person in an otherwise very private and individual oriented sport, make the Tandem Experience an unforgettable one.
The progression has been established again in three increasing levels.

 

 

 

 

 

UNDERWATER HUNTER

 

A really ancient sport, which origins fade in History, is now available with a well organized, structured and progressive teaching method. Any person who has taken the lessons in the Constant Ballast Freediving and is proficient in its category depth can enjoy the sensation of being capable to overcome all the human disparities in the sea environment and actually be able to detect, correctly approach and catch a fish that is hundreds of times more adapted and equipped to defeat capture by the hunter.
Gear demonstration, correct hunting techniques, tips according to different species, and much more will be at your disposal in any of the three levels available in this course.
Level l and ll practically put 80% of species at the student's range. And in the third level, a professional rank can be achieved with specialized techniques like the Multi Level Ventilation Technique, correct insertion at surface, different approach techniques according to specific species sought or water conditions. This Level of mastery and knowledge will really set the hunter apart.
 

 

 

INSTRUCTOR

 

The IAFD Instructor Teaching Program embodies the result of a conscientious and methodical preparation involving all aspects of free diving, from the physiology of the human body, theoretical classes, all the way up to intensive sessions of sea and pool practices in a comprehensive program that includes all the exercises and skills imaginable in a wide range of all the underwater free diving activities.