Freediving in 1949: Ennio Falco / working divers · 297

Breath-hold depth as a craft — AIDA and CMAS sport, plus the recreational duck-dive that is not a blackout contest. Freediving is intentional breath-hold diving: a duck-dive to look at a reef, a line dive in a competition, or a spearfishing working breath. AIDA and CMAS write sport rules. Recreational depths for trained club divers often sit around 10–20 m; elite constant-weight records are another world.

Skill ceiling and risk sit high in this atlas. Gear load is low — a long-blade fin, a mask, a wetsuit. Accessibility is middling because a proper course and a safety buddy are the entry, not a hotel snorkel. This chapter is not a certifying agency, not a live line-dive plan, and not medical advice. The freedive-safety chapter is the sibling that should be read first if the goal is depth.

Buddy systems and blackout drills are non-negotiable — no solo heroics. Federation or instructor standards gate depth progressions. Pool first, then known lines; local clubs beat anonymous boats. Freediving mapped for mechanisms, locale notes and limits. Freediving sits in the freedive atlas — mechanisms, locale notes and limits, not slogans.