The Course
Discover the underwater world in the most natural way by holding your breath. The Molchanovs Lap / Wave 1 Beginner Freediver course will take you through a fun and relaxed experience yet with a strong focus on making you a safe freediver. Everyone can access the Wave 1 course. You just need to be healthy and able to swim 200 meters. By the end of this course, through passing pool, depth, safety, and theory requirements, you will become a complete Wave 1 freediver.
In this course, you will get all the basis of freediving and will become an autonomous freediver able to explore the underwater world comfortably. You will learn how to practice freediving safely, what happens with your body when you hold your breath, how to dive more efficiently, and how to handle freediving mentally, but also any other life situation. By the end of the course, you should be able to dive safely and comfortably between 12 and 20 meters — which is the depth limit for this course — experiencing both using fins or pulling on a rope to go down. You will also learn distance disciplines in the pool, with and without fins, focusing on technique and efficiency.
You will learn about the physics acting on your body, pressure, Boyle’s law, Archimedes principle and, their applications in the water. You will also learn to check if you are properly weighted in the pool and open water and how the equalization of your ears works and how to perform it. The tips, tricks, exercises, and techniques, you will learn all there is to know about equalization at a beginner level. Basic physiology is one of the most important topics to fully understand in order to dive safely and reach your full potential. You will learn how the body adapts to this challenging environment.
What do we have in common with marine mammals? What happens with oxygen, what role plays carbon dioxide, how exactly do we need to breathe, how do we practice it and how much is too much? So many questions that you will finally get answers to. You will also learn how to minimize energy use and become efficient while holding your breath. For this, we introduce mental skills helping you to achieve deeper relaxation and visualization to help prepare and execute dives with greater ease.
Safety is imperative, and a big part of the course is learning how to dive with a buddy, perform rescue procedures, and prevent potential injuries. With proper knowledge and training, freediving is a very safe activity. To make it safer and more comfortable, you will learn about specific freedive gear, how to use it properly, and how to train and progress.
You also get to connect with a worldwide community through our Dashboard platform where you can access your education materials, get our weekly Base Trainings, log your badges, find freedivers near you, connect, exchange, train and learn from the best in the world.
Freediving is a lifelong learning experience and yours starts here.
Requirements
Swim 200m unassisted, non-stop in a pool setting
Passing Requirements
Pool requirements (for Wave 1 & Lap 1)
1 min 30 sec static
Open Water requirements (for Wave 1)
CWTB & FIM 12-20m
CWTB Buddying 6-10m
Rescue from 6-10m
INTRODUCTION TO POOL FREEDIVING
LAP 1
Students learn the basics of pool freediving and to use relaxation to improve their performances. Topics include the introduction to freediving breathing, finning and no fins techniques, dive visualization, and much more. The course duration is typically 2 days.
After completing Lap 1, you may take the depth component to upgrade to Wave 1.
$ 200
INTRODUCTION TO FREEDIVING
WAVE 1
In this introductory course, you learn the basics of freediving and discover your natural freediving ability. You are taught to learn techniques to hold your breath beyond a minute and a half and to do breath-hold dives with and without fins. Topics include physics and physiology of freediving, an introduction to freediving equalization, relaxation and breathing techniques, and rescue and safety procedures. If you are taking the Wave 1 course, you are also taught to freedive to a depth of 12-20 meters (40-66 feet) in open water.
$ 400
Online Learning
Students will be provided with all the theory material by means of online videos and a course manual, you will learn.
Physics and physiological basics of freediving
Relaxation and breathing techniques
Mental techniques/relaxation
Introduction to equalization
Mamalian Dive Reflex
Potential trauma
Multiple choice exam
After completing the Course Manual and videos, students can meet with the instructor for a knowledge review & practice.
Two Pool Sessions
Pool sessions are carried at Pacific Dreams beautiful 25mtrs pool, ideal for Dynamic and Static Apnea.
During this sessions you will learn:
Introductions of freediving equipmentv
Static breath holds (STA)
Techniques: Finning technique, body position and turns
Dynamic diving (DYN)
Introduction to Dynamic without Fins (DNF)
Buddy and rescue procedures
After completing the two swimming pool sessions and clearing all the requirements, Students will receive a LAP 1 certification. (Pool Freediving Certification)
Two Open Water Sessions
In the open water sessions, you can apply everything you have already learnt from the theory and the pool sessions and upgrade to a Wave 1 Certification (Open Water Certification)
We also document your progress with video footage and analyze it at the end of each open water session!
In open water you will learn:
Introductions of techniques: Duck dives, body positioning, equalization
Basic safety and rescue: Buddy and rescue procedures
Freediving techniques: Free Immersion (FIM) & Constant Weight (CWT) to 12-20m depth.
As a certified Molchanovs Wave 1 freediver you will be able to meet the following requirements:
1:30+ min static breath hold
30m diving horizontally in the pool
Diving 12 – 20m depth in open water
