#113 | Louisa Collyns | Inside the Safety Team - a podcast by Donny Mac - Freediver

Louisa Collyns hails from London but eventually found her way into the underwater world through scuba diving, and then, as so often happens, she met some freedivers and nothing was ever the same again.

She has been involved in teaching freediving and being a safety diver at major competions for the best part of a decade and is also the founder of Freedive Ibiza, which has been providing freediving education on the beautiful Spanish island since 2015.

In this episode we discuss:

Louisa grew up in London.
Louisa started scuba diving at 22, freediving when she was 36 in 2012.
She took her first freediving course with Lotta Ericson at Freedive Dahab.
Shout out to Lotta and Linda Paganelli.
Did Louisa take part in the competition scene, too?
How did she end up involved so deeply in the safety scene?
What about Freedive Ibiza and why Ibiza?
How has Brexit affected business?
How connected is the safety at a competition to the organisation (AIDA/CMAS)?
How to set up safety at a competition.
How are safety divers rotated during the day to keep them safe?
What kind of technology is used to support the safety team?
How much of a difference does Diveye make to the safety team?
A question from Patreon supporter Mattias about freediving platforms and the counter – ballast system.
Are most blackouts non-events?
Donny pulling stuff out his ass about how rescues are initiated and completed.
At what point is the diver handed over to the medics?
Which experiences have been the most powerful learning experiences?
What would she like to see change/develop in freediving safety?
What should change in recreational freediving?
What are the best qualities of the safety diver?
How being a safety diver affected her own diving.
DESERT ISLAND QUESTIONS – Patreon Exclusive Section
Why does she freedive?