SWIM LIKE A DOLPHIN
“The dolphin is the man that remained at sea,man is the dolphin on the ground, a little embarrassed and in exile”
In 2001, during my first World Freediving Championship in Ibiza, I tried the monofin for the first time, and immediately fell in love with this tool. To tell the truth, I must say that I was totally dazzled, because of the great feeling that it gives you by allowing you to move a lot like a dolphin, but I was also a bit discouraged by the initial difficulty of use. An important turning point came shortly thereafter, when I met Walter Mazzei, who was to become my coach, and Stefano Figini, World Star of fin swimming.
Finswimming is a wonderful discipline that allows you to learn the “dolphin” gesture.
Well, at that time I realised that in order to learn to move with the “mono”, I had to learn the basics of swimming with fins. Fin swimming is a wonderful discipline that allows you to learn the movements of a dolphin. In fact, simply starting from a series of bodyweight exercises and drills using short fins, in order to finally get to the monofin, you can acquire exceptional mobility, sensitivity and aquaticity. Through training, you can figure out how the evolution in the technical management of this tool can lead you to experience very strong sensations.
Learning how to hold your breath and knowing how to move like a dolphin are the secret weapons to becoming the strongest divers today.
Learning the dynamics of breathing is a discipline that allows you a strong insight and it takes a really long time.
Learning to know yourselves in order to understand the reactions of your body when it reaches the limit and during freediving, requires a lot of experience and a great sensitivity towards your body and especially towards the deep complexity of your mind.
Learning the use of the monofin requires a great spirit of sacrifice and humility, as well as good training, but the dream can come true when body and mind merge in one single gesture in the water world, a world that has to be lived with a great heart: the heart of self-listening.
With the power of thought and with breath control, you too can become a diver: with the control of your body you can almost become “a dolphin”.
Philosophy
The desire of every child and every sea lover is to be more like a dolphin. Although we “humans” are terrestrial bipeds, we must remember that the human body is composed mainly of water and, above all, human life was born in the water. This feel for the water turned us into mammals that over the years have adapted to terrestrial life.
The man-dolphin symbiosis has ancient origins, and for many years has been the subject of attention. Yes, the dolphin: studied, watched, and admired for its elegance, for his ability to be a symbol of the sea and of freedom; these are the characteristics sought by all of us who love the big blue, and these are the goals set by Swim Like a Dolphin. And this is how the Monofin Project, “Swim like a dolphin”, is born, the first Italian project dedicated to swimmers, fin swimmers and free divers, with the aim of finding our famous lost fin again, allowing all of us humans to move like dolphins
Vision
Going back to our roots: understanding and knowing what the human body is like, being able to tell the differences between us and our friends from the big blue, with the aim of promoting the method that allows us to swim “almost” as dolphins, from children up to evolved athletes, providing the experience and the cultural, scientific and technical background acquired while swimming with the monofin.
Mission
Starting with the basics of breathing in order to address the strengthening of the Core, to the mobility of the ankle and the choice of your tool, we offer courses, evenings, workshops dedicated to the use of the monofin and all that is inherent to:
Children like dolphins: age 6-12 years
In a protected environment such as the pool, they will learn about:
- the water, while having fun like dolphins
- the basics of aquaticity and sub-aquaticity
- breathing techniques through play
- the marine environment
- safety in the water
Sports, athletes, and professionals
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- improving, developing and enhancing the body’s sensitivity to water through swimming drills with the aid of fins, and the body’s sensitivity out of the water through proprioceptive exercises
- empowering the technical gesture by perfecting it, through an attentive biomechanical analysis
- understanding the technical peculiarities of each tool in searchfor the perfect monofin to suit your needs
- stretching, toning and strengthening the various anatomical regions involved in using the monofin, initially through simple and targeted exercises and then in a specific progression
- improving physical conditions by providing athletic training notions, and applying techniques of Yoga, Hatha Yoga and pranayama, fundamental in refining the use of the monofin
- setting targeted works both on finswimming and freediving with the monofin (dynamic apnea and buoyancy), involving issues related to deep freediving, from breathing and posture to decompression
- providing mental coaching notions with method: the development and knowledge of the self allows anyone to know oneself better and experience the pleasant sensations from a safe approach.
