The Freedive Cafe Podcast

Jani Valdivia is from Peru and is based in Tampa, Florida where he works as a neurosurgeon.

He is also a member of the AIDA Science and Medical Committee and a competitive freediver himself.

Juani also appeared on episodes #99 and #135.

In this episode we discuss:

Catching up with Juani.
Juani was on Long Island, Bahamas at the time of the interview, preparing for Vertical Blue, 2025.
Remote assessment of an injured freediver.<...

Marco Puliafito is from Sicily, Italy. He left an 18 year career at Pfizer pharmaceutical company to open Italy's first dedicated freediving training centre, Blue World Freediving.

In this episode we discuss:

Shout out to our interpreter Tony Scafidi
It was Donny’s first time in Sicily and first time in Italy.
Marco is from Catania, Sicily.
He started freediving as a child, following in the footsteps of his father wh...

Jeroen is from Belgium. He is a passionate health-care provider working as an intensive care unit nurse, with a love for technical innovation, teaching and diving, and a former business owner in composites resins 3D-shaping for the nautical and entertainment industry.

Jeroen is perhaps best known to us in the freediving community in his role as freediving medic in some of the biggest freediving competitions in the world. 
Today’...

Tea Košnjek is a kinesiologist and a strength & conditioning coach working with Olympic-level swimmers and freedivers around the world.

From pool to depth disciplines, she helps athletes optimise their performance by focusing on strength, movement efficiency, and mastering technique.

Between 2018 and 2024, she was the technique and S&C coach for freediver Alenka Artnik, a multiple world champion and world record holder. 

Tea c...

Huang Hua Yang is a former farmer and the deepest freediving athlete from the beautiful country of Taiwan. One of the deepest men in the world, he shares his freediving story and philosophy with us.

In this episode we discuss:

Huayang  joined us from Panglao, Philippines at the time of recording, where he was training for the Asian Freediving Cup.
Comparing conditions in Panglao and Taiwan.
Donny lived in Taiwan for ten years...

David Mellor is an English freediver who started freediving at 49 years old and achieved the incredible goal of freediving to 100 metres, in competition, at the age of 60 years old.

In this episode we discuss:

David and Donny sat down at The Little Blue in Dahab, home of True Depth Freediving, for this interview.
David became a grandfather!
David moved to Poole in England when he was 12 years old.
He was a tool maker by t...

Marco Nones is one of the most influential persons in the development of freediving on Egypt's Red Sea and a coach to some of the best freedivers in the world.

In this episode we discuss:

We met for this interview at Only One Apnea Centre located in Reef Oasis Blue Bay Resort in Sharm El-Sheikh.
Marco first came to Sharm in early 2000 as a scuba diving instructor.
The AIDA World Championship was organ...

Enchante Gallardo is a Hawaii born freediving athlete who has recently surpassed the 100m depth.

In this episode we discuss:

Enchanted was born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii.
She went to school in California and lived for many years in Puerto Rico.
She did her first course with FII in Hawaii and immediately fell in love.
She spent a lot of time around the water as a kid in Hawaii.
About surfing and gr...

Heike Schwerdtner is a trainer of nurses from Germany and also the first woman to beat Natalia Molchanova's static apnea world record. A record that has stood for eleven years.

In this episode we discuss:

Heike recently broke the 11 year old STA record held by Natalia Molchanova.
Shout out to her coach Rami Bladlav who appeared on episode #133
Heike lives in Bavaria in Germany.
Heike started swimm...

Lotta Ericson is co-founder, owner and manager of Freedive Dahab, the longest established freediving centre in Dahab, Egypt. She has a deep history in freediving as a competitive athlete and developer of the freediving education systems.

In this episode we discuss:

We are in Home Sweet Home, Dahab for this one!
Lotta is from Sweden and was a social worker before moving to Egypt.
Lotta’s early days in Dahab, starting in 1998.<...

Samo Jeranko is an elite freediver and top-level coach to freediving athletes, based in Slovenia. In this episode we take a deep dive into the coaching and training strategies he employs for his clients and himself.

In this episode we discuss:

Samo was recently in Croatia for spearfishing and the sea temperature was worryingly warm.
Samo Jeranko first appeared on episode #86 of The Freedive Cafe Podcast.
S...

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 Johnny was originally released on Patreon in July 2020.

To become a supporter of the podcast through Patreon visit:
https://www.pat...

Stéphane Tourreau is an elite level competitive freediver from France.

In this episode we discuss:

Stephane first appeared on episode #5 of the podcast.
Stephane was in Tenerife at time of the interview.
Stephane spent 1.5 years in Dominica.
How did he dive over 100m almost every three days in one year?
What did his training look like, in general, while he spend those 1.5 years in Dominica?
Cal...

Erika Schagatay PhD is a scientist based in Sweden and Dahab who focuses on researching freediving and apnea.

She first appeared on Episode #42 of the podcast.

In this episode we discuss:

Shout out to Nathan McClatchey for saving this interview,  and Chou and Mireia in Barcelona!
Erika’s ‘Divelab’ in Dahab.
What is the apnea RAMP test?
Genetics vs Training.
Continued and upcoming research ...

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 ...

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....

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...

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 freediv...

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 wand...