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Old 12-15-2015, 06:12 PM   #4
bleu
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: NC
Posts: 410
Re: Front Line Freediving Review

This is a review from Tristan who was in an earlier class.


My name is Tristan; I’m 27 and have spent the greater part of my adult life living in North Carolina. I’ve always been attracted to the water – I learned how to swim before I could walk, and spent my summers either at the beach or pool, always in the water.
As a child, I was PADI certified and was immediately hooked – being able to spend my time under the water, no longer bound to my snorkel (albeit a regulator) was exhilarating. That was until I was introduced to Free Diving. For those of you who have experienced the sport, you know it is truly an amazing experience unlike SCUBA or Snorkeling. However, it can be extremely dangerous when not done properly.
Thankfully, my introduction to the sport came from a former student of Ted Hardy’s during the summer of 2014 on my first spearfishing trip. Hearing how he spoke about his experience learning from one of the sports elite, prompted me to want to learn more and safely hone my craft too.


To do so, I reached out to Instructor Sam Blount who was trained by Ted and Performance Freediving International, and is a known spear fisher in the Wilmington area. I recently completed Sam’s beginner freediving course and was blown away by his passion, enthusiasm, knowledge, skill, and my ability to quickly learn from his techniques. He is a fantastic teacher!
While I loved it, freediving (and spearfishing for that matter) was a struggle for me – I didn’t know how to properly equalize and to say everyone’s previous attempts to teach me failed, would be a total understatement. I would constantly hit and push myself against my body’s wall while out diving, only to end up with sore ears and no luck. It was frustrating….
On the first day of the course during the classroom section, Sam worked with me directly and within 15 minutes (Seriously couldn’t make this up) had me properly frenzeling. This was one of the biggest hindrances to my diving and spearing. To have someone work with me so quickly to get passed this roadblock alone, would have been completely worth taking this class to me.
But that was not all that I got out of Sam’s class. I never realized how dangerous the situations I was putting myself in were, while I was out on the water. By not understanding what to do in the event of an emergency – if a dive buddy came up and blacked out or blacked out under water. I wouldn’t have known how to react or what to do. A potentially minor situation could have easily turned into a deadly one.
Thanks to Sam and the course, I’m now trained, certified and prepared to react and potentially save one of my friend’s lives in the event of a blackout out on the water. This by far is the biggest take away from this class in my opinion. Yes you will learn to dive deeper, your form and your static will improve, but YOU WILL be taught how to become safer! If not only for yourself, but also to those diving with you too.
I have highly recommend Sam’s course to my friends, and anyone I meet who is interested in becoming a better, safer diver. Thank you Sam!
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