
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
Donny Mac - Freediver
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Top 10 The Freedive Cafe Podcast Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Freedive Cafe Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Freedive Cafe Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Freedive Cafe Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Episode #108 | Sheena McNally | Hitting the Hectometre
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
04/12/21 • 61 min
Although Sheena McNally hails from a part of Canada over 1,000 km from the ocean, she has always loved being in the water. Growing up, she spent summers on the lake and winters in the pool, becoming certified in lifesaving, rescue, and swimming instruction. As an adult, shedabbled in many activities, including martial arts, circus, and running, but none of them stuck. She eventually took up scuba diving and fell in love with the sea, which led her to leave the chilly prairies and a career in design and communications behind. Her search for sunny weather and good diving brought her to Utila, Honduras, where she enrolled in a beginner freediving course—and got completely hooked!
Sheena first appeared on the show on Episode #85
In this episode we discuss:
Shout out to (decaf) coffee and Jani Valdivia!
Sheen first appeared on Episode #85.
Sheen spent most of the pandemic in Dominica.
Sheena and Donny were diving together in Bali just when the s**t hit the fan!
Shout out to Apnea Bali.
Shout out to Scott Lambert who saved my ass and got me out of the Bali in the nick of time!
The lockdown situation in Dominica.
Is it possible to travel to Dominica? (this information may have changed!)
How's the freediving education scene been there?
Sheena dived below 100m!
The build up and training involved in that dive.
How much did Sheena structure her training?
Improvements in training logs.
The importance of scheduling proper rest.
Breaking down Sheena's first 100m dive.
Sheena's clumsy and incredibly inefficient process and being honest with herself.
What are Sheena's weaknesses?
Silver bullets for mastering equalisation!
What are her greatest motivations to go deeper?
A disclaimer about Donny's comments on the situation in Taiwan!
DESERT ISLAND QUESTIONS!
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#92 – Pascal Berger | Octopus Freediving
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
07/15/20 • 63 min
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#84 – Federico Mana | Moving Limits
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
02/29/20 • 94 min
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#67 – Miguel Lozano | Spain’s Depth Master
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
06/21/19 • 78 min
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#59 – Jessea Lu
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
03/21/19 • 74 min
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#19 – James Nestor – Deep
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
02/01/18 • 60 min
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#81 – Vitomir Maričić | More Than An Athlete
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
01/14/20 • 71 min
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#84 – Federico Mana | Moving Limits
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
02/29/20 • 94 min
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#128 | Jennifer Wendland | Top of The World
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
03/05/22 • 71 min
On today's show is Jennifer Wendland, Jennifer is a current World Record-holding freediver from Germany and unless anything has changed since we recorded this interview two months ago, currently holds all of the German national records, and has done for quite a long time!
We talk about how she manages to balance training as a top-level athlete while working a regular human job, we compare athletes of other sports and talk about what challenges she faced over the years and how she overcame them.
The preamble to this episode contains a rant by Donny about politics and sport and references the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the country of Taiwan. If you are easily triggered by these topics then please skip to 13:39 to start the interview.
In this episode we discuss:
Jennifer is from Germany.
A bit of a background in competitive swimming, underwater rugby.
Was underwater rugby popular in Germany?
Does underwater rugby help with freediving?
Hypoxia in underwater rugby?
Jennifer had all the German national records at the time of recording!
Shout out to Only One Apnea Centre and Marco Nones.
Trying to link professional life to professional freediving.
Jennifer works for an energy company.
A bad experience in Dahab and the resultant water-fear.
Equalisation has been the main challenge.
Otovents, EQ tools and equalisation exercises.
Shout out to Martin Zajac (Episode #71)
The potential of freedivers who are trained from a very young age.
How does Jennifer structure her training year?
Jennifer's take on nutrition.
Comparisons with top-level triathletes and the importance of improving the engine in the chest.
Jennifer has never had any problem with her lungs (good flexibility and caution).
Does being a world record holder increase her stress level?
Jennifer enjoys cycling, board games and reading in her free time, but doesn't have much free time!
The politics of CMAS/ German freediving system, etc.
DESERT ISLAND QUESTIONS
Shout outs to Andreas Pap, Marco Nones and Martin Zajac
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

#142 | Pete Botman | Master's Champion
The Freedive Cafe Podcast
02/02/23 • 80 min
Pete Botman is a Canadian/Dutch freediving athlete and instructor based in Dahab, Egypt. He is a 100m+ diver, multiple World Record holder in the CMAS Master's category and didn't start freediving until he was later in his forties.
In this episode we discuss:
Pete was born and raised in Canada but grew up speaking Dutch.
He joined the swim team and competed at quite a high level until aged 16.
Teaching, coaching, lifeguarding, and cross-country skiing.
How difficult is cross country skiiing?
The possibilities of youth and hangovers!
Pete didn't start freediving until he was about 46 years old!
About 10 years as a PADI scuba instructor leading up to freediving.
Coming out of an awesome 2022 season for Pete.
Pete and Olga Rodnova run Personal Best freediving together in Dahab, Egypt and Kas, Turkey.
The difficulties of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on running a business.
How to juggle training and teaching?
Shout out to David Mellor and his first 100m dives!
Stumbling blocks with throat squeezes and how Pete overcame them.
Reverse packing and squeezing.
Pete was 59 old years at the time of the interview.
Age is no barrier to freediving!
'Freediving is just about getting back up" ;)
Donny gets 'narced' from dives deeper than 60m!
Is narcosis just about nitrogen or are the other gases involved, too?
Pete achieved world record in many disciplines in the Master's category in the CMAS Outdoor World Championship.
The last championship and a rivalry with Jesper Stechmann and Jens Stoetzner.
About being coaching to Giorgos Panagiotakis?
Swimming with dolphins is the best kind of CO2 training!
Comparing Egypt and Taiwan's climate.
What does training session, week, look like for Pete?
Fondly remembering the beer-can-in-the-ass chicken and thoughts on nutrition.
Shout out to the Ukrainians who can't be diving right now!
DESERT ISLAND QUESTIONS - Patreon Exclusive
Shout out to some special people!
Why does he freedive?
For freediving courses, workshops and retreats in Egypt and Europe visit www.truedepthfreediving.com!
For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com
For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com
To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Freedive Cafe Podcast have?
The Freedive Cafe Podcast currently has 167 episodes available.
What topics does The Freedive Cafe Podcast cover?
The podcast is about Podcasts and Sports.
What is the most popular episode on The Freedive Cafe Podcast?
The episode title '#153 | Kateryna Sadurska | Depth And Strength' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Freedive Cafe Podcast?
The average episode length on The Freedive Cafe Podcast is 77 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Freedive Cafe Podcast released?
Episodes of The Freedive Cafe Podcast are typically released every 14 days, 5 hours.
When was the first episode of The Freedive Cafe Podcast?
The first episode of The Freedive Cafe Podcast was released on Jul 2, 2017.
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