The Freedive Cafe Podcast Donny Mac - Freediver

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