The Freedive Café #20 | Umberto Pelizzari

The Freedive Café is a long-form interview podcast project to document the life stories and combined wisdom of the world's freedivers.
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Umberto Pelizzari is from Italy, he’s held more world-records than you can shake a lanyard at. He was coached by the legendary Jacques Mayol of Le Grand Bleu fame, we’ll hear all about that in today’s episode.
His famous rivalry with Pipin Ferreras is documented in the IMAX movie Ocean Men. He founded the freediving school Apnea Academy, now one of freediving’s major educational organisations and he’s written several books about freediving.
In this episode we discuss...
Umberto’s origins in the north of Italy.
His background as a competitive swimmer.
Getting serious about freediving at age 18.
Umberto meets Pipin and gets into training depth.
Meeting Jacques Mayol and learning from him.
Comparing the competitive freediving world now and then.
Are we reaching the human limits in freediving?
Possible problems in the growth of freediving.
The main mistakes beginner freediving students make.
Why don’t we hear more about wet-equalisation?
The best qualities of the best freediving instructors.
Why Umberto doesn’t want his kids freediving.
What’s so special about Apnea Academy?
How do we improve the situation in the world’s ocans?
Who has been most influencial in Umberto’s life? (Mayol and Maiorca)
Umberto recommends visiting Il Corsaro diving museum on Elba.
His recommended dive spots are Dean’s Blue Hole, Sharm El Sheikh, Kalamata and Kaş.
His recommended books are Pranayama: The Yoga of Breathing and Homo Delphinus by Jacques Mayol
What gets Umberto up in the morning?

[@oceanfreediver]

#legend

man you're whistling at 32:31? That is bizarre

[@freediveandthrive]

Haha, I think it was coming from Umberto's room. He isn't that boring.