Hi! My name is Tamara. I am a Canadian scuba diver, aerialist and animal lover ...
...with a mild-to-moderate obsession with sharks ...
This summer I officially became an AIDA 1-star certified freediver! Yay! But how did this happen?!?
I was never particularly interested in becoming a freediver. Sure, I was aware of the sport, I had seen freedivers snorkelling and spearfishing in the ocean many times. But I personally have never had any desire to harm a fish and frankly I find snorkelling incredibly boring, so this sport was never something that appealed to me. As a scuba diver however, I have always been interested in expanding upon and improving my skills. I became interested in breath-hold techniques for exactly these reasons. Should I find myself out of air 100 feet below the ocean surface while scuba diving (hey, accidents do happen!), I wanted to have the knowledge and peace of mind to be able to take control of the situation and ascend to the surface safely. I wanted to learn how to improve my air consumption.
So with dive safety motivations in mind, I reached out to some local freedivers while at home in Toronto to learn more about their sport and understand the basics of breath-hold diving. After a single training session in the pool, I walked away having learned three important things: 1) one must never freedive alone, 2) breathing is so totally over-rated, and 3) freediving is AWESOME. So much fun! I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did and I was eager to learn and experience more.
While vacationing in TCI this summer, I went in search of fellow freedivers in the hope of of finding a buddy to dive with at the very least, or possibly an instructor who could teach me more. I asked around and soon heard a rumour whispered on the streets that there was a woman in town who went by the name Bella the Mermaid who might be just the person I was looking for. And so I began a mission in search of a mermaid. Through equal parts luck, effort and aquatic instinct, I managed to track down Bella without much difficulty. She put me in touch with the lovely Josie Smith (pictured right)
.
Josie is funny, talented, brilliant and an all around amazing person. Oh and she also happens to be a professional mermaid and freedive instructor! How cool is that! I had not held high hopes of actually taking a certification course during my vacation since time was extremely limited and I had not planned anything in advance, but Josie worked with my schedule and we managed to meet up for a full day of training.
The morning session consisted of some theory and a session in the pool. Eric, another vacationer who was also interested in learning to freedive had offered up his vacation home for the first part of this course. Here we practiced static apnea in the pool and I held my breath for almost 2 minutes - destroying my previous record of 10 seconds
After an intense morning session, we decided to take a break for lunch. The three of us picked up some sandwiches and headed back to Josie’s house where she had to make a quick pitstop to check in on the litter of puppies she was fostering for Potcake Place, a local animal shelter. PUPPIES!!! Friends, let’s just pause to reflect at this point. It is only noon and the day already consists of Turks and Caicos, freediving, lunch, AND puppies! How can this day possibly get any better? I sat down and played with the entire litter of squishy little snugglemuffins for a while, ending up at the bottom of a mountain of puppies, little paws and noses and puppykisses all over my face
After lunch, Josie explained that she had to slip away for a brief while to go to her other job and asked if Eric and I would like to come along. Um… did I mention that Josie’s other job is ‘Professional Mermaid’? Eric and I jumped at the chance! What a treat! We went down to the harbour and stealthily boarded the top of a semi-submarine while the guests got settled in their cabin under the surface, preparing for an underwater tour of the reef. During the tour, something magical happened. As they cruised through coral, fish and sea turtles swimming all around, a sparkly gold figure appeared in the distance. Bella!
Graceful and beautiful, she swam up to and around the boat playfully and effortlessly, waving at the stunned passengers below. Captain Jack, the boat’s captain, was not impressed by the interference of that pesky mermaid during yet another one of his boat tours, and jumped overboard in an effort to try to catch that
slippery troublemaker once and for all!
It was a hilariously entertaining bit of live theatre and Eric and I had the best seats in the house that day, watching the entire story unfold from the surface of the boat. As a junior freediver, it was an invaluable opportunity to witness the skill, timing, talent, seamless transitions and teamwork involved in making a truly believable and memorable experience for the young audience members below. As a performer and acrobat, I became inspired. My motives have officially changed. Not only do I want to continue to learn to freedive for dive safety reasons, I now also want to incorporate my new-found passion into a theatrical performance somehow. My circus production clearly needs more mermaid! I feel that doubles trapeze and freediving are a natural fit, don’t you? Stay tuned friends, this show will happen…
Anyways, back to the story! A day filled with freediving, puppies, lunch, pirates and mermaids in paradise, and we are still far from done. After the show, we headed over to the beach to continue with our training. We swam out for a distance and practiced our rescue techniques and duck dives in 20+ feet of open water. So much fun! The local ocean inhabitants took note of our crew and came by to investigate; a sea turtle came over as we trained and a stingray cruised by underneath us, checking out the action from below. This was my first time freediving in the actual ocean and wow, words cannot capture how great this experience was. As a scuba diver, I am already enamored with all things aquatic, but in my scuba gear I am slow, bulky, releasing bubbles into my surroundings and generally not blending in well with the scenery and raising the suspicions of the local inhabitants. As a freediver I felt an incredible sense of peace and belonging. My movement was not restricted by bulky tanks and regulators. I was… free, and I was home.
Thank you Josie. Thank you Bella. This Aerial Mermaid will return to visit and train with you again in the future for sure! And friends, if you are even the slightest bit interested, or curious or intrigued by the idea of freediving - or if you have ever dreamed of growing up to become a glamourous mermaid - do it!!! Give it a shot! You absolutely can do this and at the very least you will walk away with memories that will last a lifetime. I mean sure, I could have lay by the pool, read a book and enjoyed a drink that day, but instead I became a certified freediver, swam with stingrays and turtles, stowed away on a boat with a pirate and a mermaid and made friends with 8 gorgeous rescue puppies all in a single day. Now *that* is a day well spent! And if I can do it, you can absolutely do it too.
Thanks Josie, see you soon! xx
We also have a WEBSITE (www.flukesandflippers.com) as well as a FACEBOOK PAGE set up, and are currently thinking of what silliness can be got up to with the power of the instagram and the little bird twit.
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