Dive RAID International has sensibly been stringing out announcements of a wide range of new courses over the past few months, but its latest is one designed to boost the flexibility of its professionals: Freediving Pool Instructor.
“It tops everything,” says RAID, so excited is it by the concept of a pool freediving qualification open to all its scuba instructors. “We feel there’s a natural fit for them to introduce their customers – old and new – to the freedom and fun of freediving,”
Also read: RAID fills in nitrox & deco missing links
RAID says it believes that the crossover potential of the two disciplines has been underplayed, given that skills taught in a basic freediving class, including calming the mind and controlling the breathing cycle, are fundamental to diver comfort and safety. It believes those skills feed into producing balanced and relaxed scuba divers, whether on open-circuit or a rebreather.
Pool Instructors will be qualified to teach RAID’s Try Freediving, Surf Survival and the new Static Apnea and Dynamic Apnea specialities.
Full-face mask training
RAID has also recently introduced a product-specific full-face mask training course for OTS Guardian and Spectrum models. Besides non-specific modules covering the advantages of using a FFM it also enlarges on the anatomy, set-up, inspection, donning, adjustment, emergency procedures, post-dive care, maintenance and communication techniques specific to those models.
The course is open to divers of 15 and over certified as an Open Water 20 diver or equivalent. Maximum training depth is 6m in confined water and 20m in open water. Other FFM units are already supported on other RAID courses. Details of Freediving Pool Instructor and the new FFM programme can be obtained from the local RAID office.
Also on Divernet: RAID COURSE GUIDES OC DIVERS DOWN TO 100M, FACE-DOWN: THE LATEST RAID FREEDIVING COURSE, ‘BE THE BEST BUDDY EVER!’ SAYS RAID, RAID DIVES INTO SNORKELLING – AND PUBLIC SAFETY
