Axel May 11:20 a.m., October 04, 2022
While the freediving worlds have been taking place in Turkey since Monday, the practice of the discipline is booming in France.
In less than ten years, the number of licensees has increased from 1,000 to more than 20,000 in France.
As a direct consequence, some clubs are reaching saturation point.
Turkey hosts the freediving world championships all week long.
In Kas, near Antalya, the first day, Monday, smiled on the French.
In monofin constant weight, the Blues shone.
Alice Modolo took the bronze medal and Arnaud Jerald became world champion.
What boost a little more the practice of apnea, which is booming in France.
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Le Grand Bleu introduced the discipline to as many people as possible
If Luc Besson's film, "Le Grand Bleu", made the discipline known in France in 1988, the boom in the practice of freediving is much more recent, underlines Olivia Fricker, instructor member of the French federation of diving, the FFESSM: "In less than ten years, practitioners in clubs have gone from around 1,000 to more than 20,000 licensees", a much higher figure when adding leisure practice.
Consequence: the clubs reach saturation.
"An example, in my little club, in the provinces, we are around sixty practitioners and we refused more than 30 people at the start of the school year", regrets Olivier Fricker.
Freediving, a discipline in tune with the times
If the training is mainly done in the pool, the objective is of course to dive in the natural environment.
For world champion Arnaud Jerald, this boom in the discipline can be explained because it is in tune with the times: "Some find themselves there on ecology, others find themselves there on personal development. , others still on pure performance. I think it's a sport that will affect more and more people."
Arnaud Jerald, crowned with his new title of world champion, adds that to have fun in apnea, a mask and flippers are enough.
No need, like him, to descend more than 120 meters!