Now, you can learn free diving in Mumbai -- watch video

Learning the basics of free diving has been on my wish list for a while. The idea of nose-diving from the surface of the water into the deep with just a mask and fins and without an ‘O’ tank was something I wanted to try. That is why, when I heard of a course in Mumbai itself that lets you experience this, I literally took the plunge!

Just a few hours before the start of the course, I got a message from the instructor “Don’t do your regular workouts, today, freediving can be tiring.” And I am glad I took this advice.

A few hours later, on a hot May afternoon, I caught up with Sushant Joshi, a scuba diving instructor and an underwater photographer from Mumbai who runs Scubareels at Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul at Vile Parle in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai.

After learning about the basics of free-diving, we did some on-ground stretches, and some breathing exercises to help me understand how to hold my breath for longer underwater. Then, repeated the same drill underwater. Post this, I got acquainted with the equipment that is needed for a free-diving-the mask, weights, fins, etc.

Now, I have been swimming since the age of 5 and am used to exhaling completely underwater. When it came to free diving I had to unlearn that and understand how to hold my breath for a longer time underwater. And boy that was tough, but eventually got used to it.

Then came the second challenge, which was equalizing. I learnt that equalizing is one of the most important skills that you need to develop as a free diver.

A diver needs to equalize approximately every two to three feet is what I got to know from my instructor Joshi. The art of equalizing ear and sinus cavities is to do it early and often.

Then came learning how to use the fins part. Fins are used to propel divers underwater to get to depth. Compared to your feet, wearing freediving fins offers more propelling power needed to get to depth. That was not so tough to learn, I picked it up quickly.

Finally, I tried with all the gear in the shallow end of the pool at Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul and then we moved to the deeper end of the pool where I could test myself on my newly learnt skill. And I did well, said the coach. Being an ultra-endurance runner for the past 10 years of my life I thought I could sail through the basics of free-diving without breaking sweat. I was wrong. It was challenging, exhausting, fulfilling and calming all at the same time.