The idea is to promote freediving as an art of life and well-being activity accessible to all.
The former Nice champion Guillaume Néry and his accomplice underwater photographer Bastien Soleil have just opened a snorkeling school in the harbor of Villefranche-sur-mer, the center of the discipline on the Côte d'Azur.
Called "Bluenery Academy", it offers a learning method favoring objectives of sensations, rather than performance, according to a press release.
Appeasement and control of emotions
Freediving gained notoriety in France with the hit film
Le Grand Bleu
by Luc Besson in 1988. Since then, it "attracts more and more followers seeking escape, appeasement and control of the emotions that" it provides ”, note the two founders.
In addition to practical training and theoretical lessons, the course cycle, spread over two, three or seven days, and offered until October, includes adapted yoga exercises, snorkeling and guided meditations.
Naturally deep, with up to 200 m in places and very sheltered, the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer is a favorite site for divers, snorkeling or with bottles, and the cradle of the first modern freedivers.
Guillaume Néry, 38, descended for the first time to 87 m in 2002, is the author of four world records, the last of which was at 126 m in 2015. He has not dived in the World Championships since September 2015 and the Worlds in Cyprus where he had come close to death due to a fault of the organization.
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