FREEDIVE
Surf the Greats is joining forces with Toronto Island Freediving to introduce you to freediving. This special workshop is your first step toward discovering why freediving is becoming a popular way to explore beneath the waves.
Freediving is about inward power, discipline and control. If you’ve always wanted to enter the underwater world quietly, on your own terms, staying as long as your breath allows, then freediving is for you.
This workshop is divided into two sections, and you can choose to take just the dry portion or both:
Part I: Apnea / Exercises for Freediving Performance (Dry)
REGISTER NOW
Wednesday, February 19, 7–9PM at Surf the Greats
250 Carlaw Ave, Toronto, ON. M4M 3L1
No pre-requisites
In this workshop you will be given an introduction to freediving and its applications in surfing, a brief introduction to apnea theory, and several breathing exercises to increase your breath hold performance in a controlled and safe environment.
Part II: Intro to Freediving (Pool)
REGISTER NOW
Sunday, February 23, 12–2PM at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre
875 Morningside Ave, Toronto, ON M1C 0C7
Pre-requisite: Part I: Apnea / Exercises for Freediving Performance (Dry)*
*If you took Part I in October 2019, you are eligible to participate in Part II without having to take Part I again.
This workshop is the application of the knowledge acquired in the part I in a diving pool. We will be using the Pan Am Diving Tank with a depth of 5 metres to practice free immersion (pulling down the line) whilst holding the breath and equalizing in buddy rotation around the surface float; as well as other techniques utilized in freediving. This is a great opportunity to introduce you to the sport.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Michael Moleski
Mike is a Freediver Instructor certified with PADI, which stands for Professional Association of Diving Instructors. He discovered freediving during a scuba diving trip to Cozumel, Mexico when one afternoon he left the tank ashore and equipped with only his left lung and his right lung, set out to explore the Mesoamerican reef.
Mike has since travelled to top freediving destinations in the Caribbean where he has dived and trained with some of freediving's most respected and knowledgeable athletes and obtained his PADI Freediver Instructor rating.
Although diving in the Caribbean Sea is one of the most pleasant freediving experiences in the world, Southern Ontario and the Great Lakes provide exciting opportunities to freedive right in our backyard.
Mike's goal is to promote the exciting sport of freediving to the Toronto community by showing water enthusiasts how they can get started in the sport in a safe and enjoyable way.
Maria Battaglia
Maria Battaglia is a PhD student in Ocean Sustainability and ocean lover. With her dad being a sailor and her mom a freediver she developed a love for the ocean and she’s now dedicating her academic work to its conservation. As a researcher, Maria finds that freediving allows her to create an authentic narrative when communicating the importance to protect and care for the environment: “I think the best part of this sport is realizing how vast the ocean is and how little we are: each time I enter the water I build a new sense of respect for an element I know it’s not naturally my home. I believe that ocean conservation starts with looking into human behavior. It is our generation's responsibility to promote a cultural shift towards sustainability”. Part of her doctoral project focuses on involving coastal communities in freediving “caring for the ocean is easier if it is known and experienced, below the surface, where most of its beauty hides. In this sense, I see freediving as a way to empower communities to protect their coastal resources.”
Register now as space is limited. An e-mail will be sent to all participants a day before the workshop with all the information about the session.
Photographs by Meaghan Ogilvie.
