Mateusz ‘Matt’ Malina is a 34-year-outmoded Polish freediver. He has been freediving for 12 years now nonetheless turn into responsive to the sport of freediving since he turn into about 15 years outmoded. Via achievements in freediving, he is changing right into a myth.
He has put seven World Details and has completed five World Championship titles. He can fetch his breath for added than 10 minutes, dived extra than 310 meters in Dynamic (DYN) with a monofin, and dived below 110m of depth. Extra honest no longer too prolonged ago he is doing Dynamic No Fins (DNF) to beyond 200m.
His motto is “Limits are most attention-grabbing in our heads” – indeed!
At the starting put, his diving profession started with scuba tanks on his wait on, nonetheless as many freedivers pick up, the heavy cumbersome instruments and tiresome speeds did no longer swimsuit him. It turn into here even though he figured out his adore for being underwater, the liberty, and the silence. Holidays in Corfu, Greece, are where he first started to capture a explore at snorkeling, realizing this turn into extra adore what he wanted, silence, gliding, weightless and free. Freediving soon followed.
Bigger than all this success, anyone who has ever met him on the competitors circuit, or a course is conscious of he is nice a in actuality honest appropriate guy, useful and approachable and is cosy to allotment his records. Given his scientific, thorough, and meticulous approach to growing his records and freediving abilities, it makes for the fantastic person to educate the evolved diploma of freediving. He is an AIDA Freediving Teacher and an EFR First advantage Teacher so now will more than seemingly be ideally placed to go high-terminate coaching programs so allow us to explore what he has to notify:
DeeperBlue.com: What motivates you to be so a success at what you attain?
Matt Malina: I deem the inner curiousness. For me, it is a by no approach-ending sprint deep inside my physique. I by no approach listen to naysayers and I very in total attain issues how I feel whereas mixing with science. Over decades of freediving, I even like developed an exceptionally honest appropriate ability to discover my own hunch. Freediving is a in actual fact psychological sport and can’t be approached most attention-grabbing from an athletic level of glimpse. Reasonably about a coaching that I attain targets each physical and psychological aspects, with even extra emphasis on a psychological section. You would possibly perhaps perchance put together great all year prolonged nonetheless when the competitors comes, nerves can also no longer can back you attain your supreme. Through the years I additionally realized that changing into mentally disturbing from freediving coaching, opened my thoughts and made me disturbing in other aspects of lifestyles. I treat freediving as a traditional physique and thoughts coaching, and I don’t like any motive to end as I develop each as an athlete and as a person practising it.
I additionally judge that the human physique is the most supreme and complicated machine created within the universe. As I said I am a in actual fact irregular person and freediving permits me to meet that feeling. I am a mechanical engineer by education nonetheless I turn into continually fascinated by how our physique works – which is in a approach a machine, biomechanical one to be right – and reacts to numerous scenarios and stimuli as soon as uncovered.
DB: You are releasing a brand recent coaching service, can also you allow us to know a itsy-bitsy bit about that?
MM: Definite. Alongside with Samo Jeranko, we now like got created a sequence of coaching programs for all ranges of freediving. We like programs for recreational, evolved, efficiency, elite, spearfishing oriented freedivers in conjunction with consultations and 1:1 coaching. There are so many other folks that are looking to put together nonetheless they attain no longer know the particular approach to initiate, the particular approach to growth, or attain it efficiently whereas reaching our high efficiency at the specified time of the season. We like realized it the excellent way, so others attain no longer want to repeat our errors. We are in a position to all agree that it’d be pleasurable to like a coach who would divulge us what to attain. It’s fully great to deem about supreme coaching, develop it, and like self perception that it’s the nice side to attain, especially when competitors doesn’t trudge per our conception. We doubt us and the coach inside us. It is attainable for you to to skip that few years of experimenting, what works, what no longer, pick up a conception honest appropriate to your diploma, time availability, and honest appropriate put together, following the conception designed by us. I deem it is a definite opportunity to put together adore a champion and be coached by one. We know that no longer all people has time to put together 5 — 6 times per week to be a champion. Have not any longer anxiety, when we started, we trained as itsy-bitsy as two or thrice per week. This is why in decrease tiers of topic ranges, we slightly chosen exercises that will give the most advantages, in direction of maximizing your efficiency, whereas you can also very effectively be ready to put together most attention-grabbing two or thrice per week.
DB: Which self-discipline attain you judge we are in a position to silent explore the supreme enhancements in apnea?
MM: It’s an awfully great question. I deem dynamic pool performances provide bigger room for notify, especially dynamic with bi-fins because it is a brand recent one and records are no longer as high as they will be. I deem the hardest memoir to destroy from depth disciplines is a Constant Weight No-Fins (CNF) one. William ascended to the top of human efficiency to develop that and he optimized every itsy-bitsy side required for depth diving. I deem it will capture but every other few years to destroy it, even perhaps a decade whereas other disciplines will more than seemingly be bettering on a yearly or bi-yearly basis.
DB: Where is the most spirited predicament you like dived?
MM: A bit cliché nonetheless for me, the 2 most spirited locations I even like ever dived are each Blue Holes. One in Dahab and the different one within the Bahamas. However, I’d adore to dive in Dominica because it looks very handsome nonetheless I honest appropriate like no longer had an opportunity.
DB: For fulfillment in Freediving competitions and records, what attain you judge are the supreme issues for an aspiring diver to attain to be a success?
MM: In my glimpse the principle to success is being consistent, patient, disciplined, relentless, and like honest appropriate coaching ethics. Motivation is no longer especially important because it comes and goes. It must support initiate some process, nonetheless you is no longer going to be ready to preserve equally motivated for years sooner than you. If I’d put together most attention-grabbing when I am motivated, if I’d push great most attention-grabbing when I am motivated, I’d develop a section of what I did. In at the recent time’s times, we’re hunting for rapid gratification and we’re no longer patient nor motivated ample or no longer lower than here is something we divulge ourselves or how we account for our shortcomings. I continually mark traits talked about within the starting because the supreme. You would possibly want to price them into your DNA, work great, be patient, consistent, disciplined, relentless and the outcomes will reach! Veritably you honest appropriate must shut up your thoughts and sustain pushing.
DB: How did you feel every time you destroy a brand recent world memoir?
MM: We like many “first times” in our lifestyles and additionally they feel very special for us. Breaking world records is no longer numerous. The principle one turn into special and made me extremely cosy. To be honest, I can also no longer ever neglect the feeling after my first world memoir. Enormous inner transformation and that is the 2d I started to have confidence myself and my methods. Your total others felt numerous than the most important one. I deem breaking the most important world memoir in a depth self-discipline will bring identical feelings because the most important pool one. I’m hoping it will happen one day!
DB: Have you like noteworthy time for diving for enjoyment in this time limit?
MM: No longer in actual fact, now I am for the length of lockdown attributable to COVID-19 and I’m hoping as a vogue to freedive no longer lower than within the pool in no longer thus a ways-off future. Subsequent few months I’d adore to sprint to the Philippines or Dahab.
DB: What is your subsequent goal?
MM: I by no approach like any goal in thoughts. I strive no longer to take care of obvious numbers. I rather revel within the coaching process in traditional. Now I’m hoping to return to the pool as soon as they re-initiate after COVID-19. In the next few years, I’m hoping to interchange my focal level extra into depth diving and I’m hoping to like extra alternatives to dive deep and explore this section of freediving as effectively as I figured out pool section.
You would possibly perhaps perchance also pick up out extra about Matt Malina at www.mattmalina.com
