Alenka Artnik is the deepest female freediver in the world. Originating from Slovenia, she transformed her life and broke free of her old bonds to pursue this amazing sport and its deeper dimensions.

Alenka first appeared on Episode #57 of the show.

In this episode we discuss:

She was in Dahab for training at the time of the interview.
What are the biggest changes Alenka has noticed in Dahab in the 7 years since she was last here?
Alenka got married! Congratulations!
Alenka's feelings on the recent doping scandal in freediving.
What has changed most in Alenka's training over the last 5 years?
The important role of Tea Košnjek, Alenka's strength and technique coach.
How important is pool training for freediving?
Alenka describes her approach to periodisation.
How many times does she train strength at this time of year?
The importance of balance in life, and treating oneself every so often.
How does one maintain strength close to a competition?
The importance of the mental and spiritual dimensions of freediving.
How important is visualisation?
What is Alenka's experience with narcosis?
The importance of clarity of mind and vision and purpose in life.
How important is having a training plan?
DESERT ISLAND QUESTIONS - PATREON EXCLUSIVE
Why does Alenka freedive?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Originally produced between 2019 and 2021, the Lost Episodes of The Freedive Cafe were originally released as exclusive content for Patreon subscribers, then lost to time. Recently unearthed in the Sinai desert, I can now deliver them for your listening pleasure!

This episode with Davide was originally released on Patreon in October 2020.

To become a supporter of the podcast through Patreon visit:
https://www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

Davide also appeared on Episodes #22 and #151

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Kateryna Sadurska is a world record holding freediving athlete from Ukraine. Kate joined me at The Little Blue in Dahab to discuss her amazing 2023, how she trained for those huge dives and how her philosophy of freediving is evolving.

She first appeared on Episode #139 of the podcast.

In this episode we discuss:

This was the first Freedive Cafe interview filmed at The Little Blue | Freediver's Oasis in Dahab.
Kate first appeared on Episode #139 of The Freedive Cafe.
A breakdown of Kate's last year including some incredible World Records in CNF.
Congratulations on Kate's first 100m dive!
No fins workshops with Stefan Randig.
Donny is older than Stefan. Very important to note!
Kate's challenges with equalisation and how it's progressing.
Ukrainian boycott of competitions in protest at Russian athletes being allowed to compete.
Dealing with the stress of Ukraine being under attack.
Donny's one-man-mission to do away with alarms.
What are the biggest changes Kate has made in her approach to training?
Kate started working with Samo Jeranko for the 2023 season.
Getting into the gym for the first time.
When did Kate know she could do the world record.
How did Kate and Samo periodise the training in preparation for the big competitions?
What kind of strength training was she doing?
How important is strength training for freediving?
Did they use cardio training, too?
Kate's best advice for no fins diving.
The importance of managing buoyancy in no fins.
How important has nutrition been for Kate?
On plant-based/vegan diets.
Is Kate taking any particular supplements for freediving?
On protein supplementation.
About Kate's swimwear brand (www.saobrand.com)
Kate's plans for this year (2024).

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Frank Pernett is originally from Colombia. He has been freediving his whole life and been involved in the deep freediving and freediving competition scenes for many years. He is currently based in Sweden where he is working towards his PhD under the watchful eye of freediving scientist Erika Schagatay

Frank is a wealth of knowledge about freediving science and physiology and today we discuss some of the traditional topics of freediving science that interest us most as well as some new approaches to understanding the dive response and we talk in detail about what can cause lung squeeze and what protocols we might follow to prevent them.

In this episode we discuss:

Frank is from a Columbian island, San Andres in the Caribbean Sea.
Frank has been freediving since he was a kid.
He moved to Sweden to work on his Phd with Erika Schagatay.
How Vertical Blue has changed over the years.
What makes freediving such a unique sport?
Frank's main interests and areas of research.
Common misconceptions about freediving
Deep dive into the dive response (bradycardia and vasoconstriction).
A description of vasoconstriction.
The relation between vasoconstriction and depth.
Is a lower resting heart rate better for freediving?
CO2 and CO2 tolerance.
About early contractions and stretch receptors.
How is CO2 actually measured in the  body.
Hypoxia and black out.
How oxygen and CO2 are affected by fasting and diet.
Lower temperatures to reduce O2 consumption.
Franks experience with squeezes and how he overcame them.
What would Frank research with unlimited funds?
Why does Frank freedive?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Davide Carrera was born in Turin in Italy and began freediving as a child during his summers spent in Leguria.

He has was part of the World Championship winning teams of 1996 and 2001 and established a FIM world record shortly after when he dove to 91m.

 He moved away from the competitive sphere in the end and went on to study yoga extensively, and he integrates that into his freediving, and it was his tale of solitary wandering across the mediterranean in his 28 foot trimaran that inspired my first interest in Davide.

We first spoke 5 years ago on episode 22 of the freedive cafe podcast, now we meet, face t face in Dahab, to discuss his recent return to the very top tier of the freediving competitive scene and what it takes to dive 130m deep.

In this episode we discuss:

Thanks to Dahab Freedivers and Carlos Diezel for letting us use the Dahab Freedivers space.
A possibly lost episode of TFC with Davide?!
What brings Davide to Dahab after so long?
Thoughts on changes in Dahab and seeing the positive before the negative.
Thoughts on the recent doping scandal in the freediving world.
A philosophical and spiritual approach to freediving.
Why social media conversations are so flawed.
What invigorated Davide to perform a 130m dive at this point in his career, what has changed over the years?
About continuing to train through the winter in thicker wetsuits.
New top-secret 8mm wetsuit material on the way?
Training hard to dive easy.
Davide's technique has grace and beauty, should that be a focus of freedivers?
A question from Rodrigo about his beautiful monofin technique.
About cakras.
Why does Davide remove the nose clip so deep?
Can Davide retrieve air at 100m+?
Back when packing and mouthfill were cheating!
Davide has only had one squeeze!
Davide's experience with narcosis.
Static at 110m!
Davide calls Spain home now.
Will his son, Nero, become a deep freediver?
How Davide meditates, 3 or 4 times a day.
What are 'Hurt Salutations'?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Alexey Molchanov is a multi-world record holding and world record breaking freediving athlete and arguably the greatest and most consistent freediving athlete of all time.

In this episode we discuss:

This is the 150th episode of The Freedive Cafe!
Alexey was in Cyprus at the time of recording, preparing for the AIDA World Championships.
Alexey's thoughts on the doping accusations against Vitomir Maricic and Petar Klovar and doping in freediving.
Is it time for new freediving organisations?
Talking about Alexey's competition and how his training has evolved since we last spoke.
Questions from patreon supporters Jordy and Matthias about Alexey's base training phase.
Question from Zoe about the benefits of swimming for beginner freedivers.
How does Alexey train his no fins leg lick?
A question from Maurice about recovery protocols.
The benefits of active recovery for Alexey's body type.
A question from Emile about lung squeeze and how the experience of squeeze has evolved over the years.
The importance of developing mobility of the breathing muscles and thoracic cage.
A question from Bizo Silva (#137) about a special technique to counter contractions.
Hypoxic tolerance and how it evolves over the years.
Is no fins the key to improving hypoxic tolerance???
What is Alexey's experience with narcosis and does adaptation come over time?
A question from Kris about mental preparation before a dive.
A question from several patrons about what Alexey thinks his mum would think about the way the freediving world has changed in the last few years.
Why does Alexey freedive?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Bevin Reynolds is a competitive pool freediver with multiple national and African continental records. 
Despite only coming into the sport 18 months before her first AIDA Indoor World Championships this year, she took home 3 medals and the title of Vice-World Champion.

In this episode we discuss:

Bevin is from the suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa
She had an early affinity and feel for the water.
Started in swimming school at a very young age.
Getting into some bad habits at school.
Bevin did an honours degree in biotechnology, biochemistry and microbiology.
Bevin's experiences with the tragic loss of a best friend, coming out as gay and eating disorders.
Moving from science into psychology.
She is a swimming teacher to kids.
The physical decline that came from too much desk work, and significant scoliosis.
Living with pain.
Sara Ferguson shout out out, swimming around Easter Island for plastic pollution awareness.
A first pool session and making an impression on Ant Latimer.
Shout out to the Freedive Cafe Podcast.
Allergies and mouth-breathing.
Callback to Episode #54 with Patrick McKeown.
Shout out to Evan Walther, and Dean Chaouche.
Callback to Jordy Duncan's on Episode #143
Bevin is the first South African on the podcast.
Bevin's first competition (3.5 months after her first course)
Shout out to Samy Jeranko, Bevin's coach.
About being nervous to crowdfund for the World Championships.
Did she feel prepared for the World Champioships in Jeju, South Korea?
Mental preparations.
The stories we tell about ourselves, the false identities.
The power of self-affirmation.
How to deepen relaxation.
The power of hypnotherapy.
Has past competitive experience helped her deal with anxiety?
Donny expands on his answer to Why Do You Freedive?
What areas of freediving science interest Bevin most?
Down the rabbit hole of nervous systems and genetics.
Question from Patreon supporter, Matt Stow.
When will Bevin start training depth?
What stage of training is she at now?
A question from Kris, Patreon supporter about advice she would give to her younger self.
What does Bevin do outside of freediving for fun?
Bevin and I discuss the recent doping issues in freediving.
Shout outs to Bevin's partner, the freediving community in Cape Town, Samo Jeranko, crowd-funding contributors.
How to find out more about Bevin.
Why does she freedive?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Shadi Türk is a Syrian former fixer and journalist who worked through 10 years of the terrible war in his home country. After reaching his breaking point in this capacity he embarked on a journey of discovery which led him to Kaş, Türkiye, and the new adventure of deep freediving.

In this episode we discuss:

Shadi was born and raised in Syria and moved to Türkiye when he was 18, where he studied architecture.
How Shadi became a fixer and a journalist.
The psychological impact of seeing so much death and destruction.
Shadi was working in Syria for 10 years in his fixing/journalistic capacity.
The emotional toll of this experience.
How did Shadi get out of Syria and into freediving?
Embarking on a journey along the Lycian Way.
How was Shadi's first experience of freediving?|
His first competition was a World Championships!
What is Shadi's motivation for continuing freediving? 
Shadi was doing around 80m after only 1 year of training!
How Shadi ended up in the Philippines.
Shadi's current approach to training for freediving.
Experience with blackouts and squeezes?
Shadi and Donny's experience of narcosis from 'shallow' dives.
Could Shadi imagine taking freediving back to Syria?
PATREON EXCLUSIVE - Desert Island Questions
Shout out to some people!
Why does Shadi freedive?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Khaled ELGammal is Egypt's deepest diver and the first to reach the 100m mark. Today we hear about how Khaled left a corporate life working in oil and gas to dedicate himself to training for and teaching freediving.

In this episode we discuss:

Khaled was fresh back from Kuwait where he was acting as safety diver for the CMAS Indoor World Championships.
Shout out to co-host Jordy Duncan who is competing for Australia at the AIDA World Championships in Jeju, South Korea.
Khaled is originally from Cairo.
He left his corporate job in oil and gas to focus on freediving full time.
He was a competitive swimmer when he was younger.
AIDA Instructor Trainer and Egyptian National record holder.
Shout outs to David Mellor and Dave McGoo.
Shout out to Harry Chamas.
How was the journey to 100m?
What was the first 100m dive like?
Shout out to Gus Kreivenas and what it's like to train with him.
What kind of complementary training went into his training? Strength, flexibility?
Shout out to Shaza at Sharkfit gym in Dahab.
Training statics for depth?
Khaled's experience with barotrauma.
The benefits of instructing/coaching for maintaining a good base level of diving fitness.
What are Khaled's plans for competition in 2023?
Discussing the Egyptian freediving scene and the future of the sport in the country.
The diving scene in Dahab town.
DESERT ISLAND QUESTIONS - PATREON EXCLUSIVE
Why does he freedive?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Gary McGrath is the deepest ever self-propelled freediver from the UK, claiming a national record of 112m in CWT at 2022's Vertical Blue competition.
In this episode we catch up with Gary since last years amazing Vertical Blue performance and examine the dark places in our mental environments, open up about depression, anxiety and seeking help, and sincerely hope you benefit from this discussion ❤️

Also watch on YouTube at Freedive and Thrive.

In this episode we discuss:

Second time lucky!
Catching up with Gary since his 2022 Vertical Blue experience.
The difficult and expensive process of getting to Vertical Blue.
How does one get into VB anyway?
Gary lost all his gear on the way to Vertical Blue!
What turning up at the Blue Hole feels like.
The journey from disqualification and COVID in 2021 to the UK national record in 2022.
The Vertical Blue 2022 experience.
Crowdfunding for Gary's next VB appearance:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-gary-get-to-vertical-blue
What changed in training for Gary between 2021 and 2022?
Gary's experience with mental health problems.
Depression, anxiety and how we deal with them, overcome them.
Imposter syndrome in the freediving elite.
Please feel free to reach out to Gary or myself if you are suffering similar issues.
What advice would Gary give to his ten years younger self?
Thank you for listening x

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

Miguel Lozano is one of the deepest freedivers in the world. He first appeared on episode #67 of The Freedive Cafe podcast!

This interview is also available in video format on the Freedive and Thrive  Youtube channel:
https://youtu.be/XW-Y_zBHixw

In this episode we discuss:

Miguel and I last spoke in January 2020, recorded an interview and forgot to release it!
About Miguel's Deep Camp in Dahab.
The structure of the Deep Camp.
What Miguel's been up to these past 3 years.
Miguel's thoughts on the current condition of the freediving competition scene.
Advice on equalisation (lack of rhythm and speed is the problem)
Advice on dry training and complementary training for freediving.
Advice for instructors who wish to train .
Advice on periodisation for freediving training through the year.
The evolution of the Freedive Cafe Podcast over time.
On the use of dive computers and alarms in freediving.
Advice on dealing with squeezes and thoughts on passive exhale diving and RV (residual volume diving).
Advice on technicalities of training the different disciplines.
How does Miguel do a 60 metre dive that takes 7 minutes ?!?!
Shout out to Julia Mouce at Apnea Bali!
Will Miguel return to world record attempts?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com