Freediving is Our Way of Life

“Freediving Johannesburg was started by myself, Janet Rudman in April 2019. Being a very regular freediver in Port Elizabeth, I was determined not to let the lack of sea stop me from pursuing my passion.

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While living in Port Elizabeth for the first 40 years of my life , and scuba diving most weekends since around 2000, I was ready for a new challenge. While on a scuba dive on the Wildside in September 2014, I noticed some freedivers diving not too far away from us. I asked the divers on the boat if they knew the freedivers, which they did and were quite surprised that I did not, as they were there most weekends.

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Once back on shore, I was introduced to the freedivers, Gletwyn Rubidge & Bruce Mills. Upon expressing an interest to give the sport a try, Gletwyn informed me that they had recently been sponsored to develop the sport & that they were looking for new freedivers to join them. Luckily, for me through this sponsorship, with they had purchased extra freediving equipment, which I was able to use.

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The following week, I was invited to do my first sea freedive with him. I remember following him to the bottom to around 17m. Gletwyn seemed quite excited, as he was looking for more safety divers. He currently holds the men’s SA records for most depth disciplines & needed competent safety. We made arrangements for future pool and depth sessions, inviting others interested to join. Soon Freediving numbers in Port Elizabeth grew, with many new members joining on a weekly basis. Chevonne Bishop started organising local competitions and later nationals, which very quickly became popular. She ran them with the competence and confidence of a pro, having had done her own research behind the scenes. I was fortunate to be taken under Gletwyn’s wing & taught by the best in SA. He wanted to achieve Protea Colours for freediving, but in order to do so a provincial body and a national body was needed. This led to the founding of Freedive PE in November 2014 and Freediving nationals under this body in June 2015. After these nationals Freedive South Africa was founded. Freediving became increasingly popular over this time & continued to grow in numbers. In July 2016, Trevor Hutton, who was the previous men’s World  & SA record holder became an Freediver Instructor Trainer and approached a few locals to do the freediving instructors course, under one of the prominent scuba associations, who had recently launched a freediving programme and qualifications. After completing the course, we did not teach students to be qualified, but rather to be safe so that we could grow the interest in our local competitions. Many years of fun in the sea off Noordhoek Port Elizabeth, experiences with whales, seals, treasure hunting in rivers and numerous great pool sessions will be treasured forever. Our freediving group became like a second family.

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Early 2019, I received the news that the company I worked for would be closing the Port Elizabeth branch and that I could either relocate to Gauteng or receive a retrenchment package. Being a single mom, and recently divorced at the time, retrenchment was not an option. I decided to move to Johannesburg and to make freediving buddies there. Upon arriving in Johannesburg, I placed an advert on facebook….”Looking for a freediving buddy in Johannesburg.” I had previously made a friend, Annie, who was affiliated to a scuba school. She managed to find me a buddy…William/ “Will” and Sam found me through a mutual freediving buddy, Charles. So off we went to Bass Lake on my first Saturday in Johannesburg. Initially I battled to find other freedivers to join us, but after a trip to Komati and to Sodwana, and a number of scuba divers watching us the interest was growing. I was approached by this diving school to start freediving courses. This was never my plan, although after teaching my first course, I fell in love with helping others learn how to explore the under water world. Seeing their faces, excitement and joy as they experienced a new skill was incredibly rewarding. After being affiliated to a particular scuba diving school for 2 years, I realized that we needed a school solely focussed on freediving. Freediving and Scuba diving are fundamentally different and I find the mindset of the 2 groups like chalk and cheese. As I tell my students… Scuba diving is like the game drive, freediving is like a trail run. Freediving is more athletic and inwardly focussed. Scuba diving, you are more aware of your surroundings and carry a lot more cumbersome equipment. Without this equipment, you are able to get a lot closer to the marine life, as they often do not notice you approach without the noise of compressed air. While still in the process of deciding to go on my own,  I was approached by Quinten De Boer from NAUI and asked if I would consider crossing over to NAUI. In November 2021, I did the cross over with great focus on safety in freediving.

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I currently run freediving courses from a Friday evening, a full Saturday in the pool and a Sunday at a quarry doing depth. Please . For those students who don’t make the pre requisites, we continue to practice until they are competent and comfortable. There is a what’s app group where I advertise the weeks activities. This usually includes a pool session to train for Dynamics and a depth session at a quarry. This leads to a sense of a freediving community. Most of my students become close friends and we land up diving as buddies after they have qualified. This freediving community is very important, as after freedivers have qualified, they need a buddy for safety reasons. Currently, it seems that the scuba schools that offer courses do not offer a community after the course. So the diver will not automatically have a buddy or be able to continue practising their skills alone. Advertised diving trips are aimed at scuba divers, with freedivers trying to find a space at the back of the boat and keep up with the scuba bouy line despite often having surface currents. Finding a freediving boat on a Sodwana trip has been a challenge in the past. Finally, we now have a dedicated boat and will be going with a boat filled with FREEDIVERS ONLY, with our own freediving bouy and line in April 2022.

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Lately, we have been graced with some beautiful mermaids on our courses. While they have mastered the pool, depth is something that maybe new to them.  While I do not have an interest in introducing others to mermaiding, if you are already a mermaid, I LOVE depth whether in a mermaids tail or in freediving fins and saying hi to the unexpecting scuba divers at the bottom gives me a thrill.

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Come join in the fun and find your underwater family!”