How Freediving Boosted My Triathlon Training

Freediving taught me something long before I ever trained for a triathlon: how to stay with myself.

There’s a place freedivers know by heart, the slow slide into the deep, the silence that stretches out like the sea itself, and that hidden space inside where the noise of the world can’t follow. Freediving is this strange dance between control and surrender, focus and softness. That’s why I love it so much. It’s not really about depth. It’s about how still you can be inside.

When I started doing long swims, long runs, and long rides, I realized I needed that same inner skill. I didn’t want distractions, because they break the link between mind and body and slow down my progress. And at 46 springs, I’d say I have no time to waste. No music, no podcasts. I wanted to train my mind the same way I do when I dive, just breath, rhythm, and the willingness to stay with whatever comes up. And man, it’s tough. My brain fights it at first. But that’s the work. That’s the spot. That’s where the endurance athlete and the freediver shake hands, in the quiet, repetitive now.

Flipping the Switch

At first, endurance training felt mechanical. My mind resisted, a lot, way more than I expected. The first 15 minutes were always the loudest: thoughts firing, muscles questioning, attention bouncing from one unfinished task to the next. My brain, like anyone else’s, wanted out. But I knew what was coming. I had lived it in the ocean.

Freediving taught me that the mind will scream before it softens. The trick is to wait. Just like in a breath-hold, if you meet the discomfort with calm curiosity instead of panic, something shifts.

It’s that moment when the surface noise fades and you drop into something quieter, more focused. On the other side of it, repetition becomes rhythm. Boredom turns into presence. You stop checking the clock. You stop needing the finish line. You just flow, and keep going. One arm stroke at a time. One more step. One more. Just one more.

I remember a 5K open water swim where I lost track of time completely. I entered that strange freediver zone, time stretched, the water felt like silk, and my thoughts quieted to a hum. That day, I wasn’t training to get faster. I was training to stay. That swim changed the way I looked at endurance. I stopped trying to get through it, and started trying to be inside it.

What Keeps Me Present

1. Breath awareness.

My training always begins with the breath. Whether I’m running, swimming, or riding, I build rhythm through my inhale-exhale patterns. It becomes my moving meditation, simple, grounding, and steady.

2. Form check-ins.

Freedivers obsess over technique, and I carry that into everything I do. I scan my posture, shoulder position, foot strike, or freestyle stroke symmetry, subtle adjustments that keep me in tune and prevent my mind from drifting.

3. Smile technique.

I smile when it gets tough. It might sound weird, but I learned this during deep dives when tension creeps in. I always come back to it at depth, always. A smile softens the face, releases tension, and changes everything. It’s not fake. It’s a shift.

4. Letting the mind wander... a little.

Once I find rhythm, my mind starts to float, not to escape, but to expand. That’s when ideas surface. Memories, thoughts, clarity. I don’t chase them, I just notice, appreciate, and let them drift. The rhythm holds it all together.

How Freediving Boosted My Triathlon Training

We live in a world terrified of boredom. But freediving taught me that boredom is a myth. What we really fear is being alone with our own mind. Long swims and long runs aren’t a test of fitness, they’re a test of inner stillness.

I spent a lot of time running away from myself. I realized that a few years ago when freediving forced me to take a long, honest look inward. When you're deep in the ocean, you can’t lie to yourself. You can’t pretend. And strangely, you don’t want to. You’re alone, and in that solitude, honesty becomes your lifeline. It shows up not to judge, but to save you from yourself.

In freediving, we train to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations. We seek them on purpose, because we understand that growth lives inside discomfort. We learn to delay panic, to soften instead of fight, and to find flow even when everything in our body is screaming. It’s one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth.

By contrast, the pool or the road might seem easier, because you can stop when you’re tired. But when you’re dozens of meters down, quitting isn’t on the table. You have to stay calm, stay focused, and make your way back to the surface.

So, how did freediving boost my triathlon training? By teaching me how to endure. One more step. One more move. One more...

The ability to direct attention, to stay with your breath through repetition, to not flinch when discomfort arises, this is the true crossover skill. It’s what makes endurance possible, not just physically but emotionally.

Because when you can stay with yourself for two hours in the ocean or on the road, you can stay with yourself in anything: tough conversations, injuries, setbacks, life transitions. You become more resilient, not just as an athlete but as a human being.

Stillness is an endurance sport. And life, well, life is too.

Back to the Depths

My wife ask me, “How do you not get bored?”

And the truth is, sometimes I do. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes, my mind rebels, my legs ache, and the finish line feels far. But I stay anyway.

Because I know what’s on the other side.

The same stillness I found at 60 meters below the surface? I find it again at kilometer 12 or lap 68. Not always, but often enough to keep me searching.

So I keep swimming. I keep running. I keep pushing on these pedals. I keep breathing. And I keep celebrating life.

Not to escape boredom but to meet myself more fully within it.

That’s where the magic is. That’s where the freediver in me lives, even above the surface.

Next time you head out for a long run or swim, leave the distractions behind. Let boredom knock. See what’s waiting behind it.

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To Be Continued...

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If what you’ve just read sparked your curiosity, know this—it’s just a ripple on the surface.

The Depth Collector series goes much deeper—uncovering insights, lessons, and practical tools for freediving training.

👉 Read more on the blog or grab your copy here.