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Meet the best freediving team in the Middle East - a team that is family

Our founders

Ariel Kedmi Freedive Israel

Ariel Kedmi

Founder of the school, Israeli champion in freediving and founder of the "Sefat Hayam" project. Senior Apnea Total instructor and Molchanovs' instructor, one of the founders of Blue Chitta and Yoga Shak Montreal, and an international expert in breathing and yoga. "I fell in love with the sea when I arrived in Eilat at the age of 23 and worked as a diving instructor. After 4 years in the field, and while studying yoga and breathing, a door opened for me to the world of freediving. The connection was immediate. This time, when I experienced the deep silence for the first time, the ability to "fly" underwater and glide to the depths with peace of mind, my life changed. I moved to Thailand, where I focused on training and teaching freediving for two years. From there, I continued to train and teach in freediving clubs around the world, from Eilat to Mozambique and from Mexico to the islands of Honduras and Panama. During this time, I was also part of a safety diver team in 3 international competitions, including the Diamond in the Crown, the World Freediving Championship, in which I also participated as a competitor. In July 2018, together with Adam Hale, my partner, we opened the club "Freedive Israel", where we make the world of diving accessible Free to the general public, in the atmosphere and standards that we learned and taught at the world's leading diving clubs. In May 2019, I took part in an international free diving competition in the Blue Hole in Sinai, where I broke the Israeli record for depth diving with cwtb fins. "Depth is never the goal, depth comes as a byproduct of comfort, connection and relaxation."

Adam Hale Freedive Israel

Adam Hale

"The sea and water have always been an inseparable part of my life. I was born into the world at the birth of water. In my childhood and youth, as a swimmer and free-diving fisherman, I was drawn to the water and the sea with all my heart. After my military service as a commander in a paratroopers' division, I flew to travel the world and stopped on the island of Utila, where I lived on a boat and opened a restaurant. After a while, I was exposed to the field of free diving on the island at the Freedive Utila school, where I was guided by diving instructor Ariel Kedmi.

Jordan Acharek Hale Freedive Israel

Yarden Achrak Hale

Manager at the Israel Freediving Club, freediving instructor, professional underwater photographer, and responsible for marketing and activities at the school. "My journey with the sea began when I arrived in Eilat for a scuba diving course. During the course, I met Adam, who was a free diver and told me about this world. From there, after I fell in love with the sea, I also fell in love with Adam and we set off together on a journey to the East, where I started free diving and did the master's course on Koh Tao Island in Thailand. We returned to Israel, opened the Israel Free Diving School, and after a year I returned to Thailand to complete an instructor course. I think the feeling that enchants me most about water is that the water simply accepts us all, no matter how we got there. The sea helps me accept myself, in the silence of holding my breath, in the gentle touch of the water on my skin. When I dive, my thoughts are completely neutralized, and every time I surface, I seem to come back to life, and there is no more refreshing and powerful feeling than that, literally rebirth. Last year, I started taking professional underwater photos while free diving and I enjoy it wildly. It's fun to share The beauty under the water and the beauty and gentleness of free diving. I enjoy spreading the sport to as many people as possible, knowing that everyone who touches the world of water and breathing will indeed make the world a better place."

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Our team

Daniel Hale Freedive Israel

Daniel Hale

Daniel leads resilience and breath-therapy workshops, is a senior freediving instructor at Freedive Israel and a certified Buteyko method instructor. After meaningful service in the Paratroopers, he set out on a personal and professional journey during which he was exposed to the worlds of personal development, breathing and resilience. He was later recognized by the Ministry of Defense Rehabilitation Department as post-traumatic, and began a process of rehabilitation and growth through breathwork, freediving and cold exposure. Today Daniel accompanies people through processes of personal growth, building resilience and expanding their sense of capability, combining professional knowledge, practical experience and his own life story. From his personal and professional experience, he offers practical tools for coping with stress, uncertainty and life's challenges, and helps participants discover the strengths and resources that already exist within them.

Daniel Shapira Freedive Israel

Daniel Shapira

Today: office team at Freedive Israel. I'm Daniel, a freediving instructor and breathing instructor at Freedive Israel, a place that is a community and a family for me. I always felt that my pace was slower than everyone around me. Every time the school bell rang for recess, all the kids flew out, and I was the last to leave the classroom because it took me the longest to put my notebooks in my bag. I tended to see my pace as a weakness. Except in the water. Breath-hold diving, moving down and up through the water, the slowness, and the way time passes in the sea made me feel that something was finally in sync with my pace (: I came to freediving through the love of my life, and through him I also fell in love with freediving. We dove together and traveled the world, always with a mask and snorkel in our bag. For me, diving is a meditative tool that brings a pleasant quiet to my head and heart – more than anything else I've tried (and I've tried). As an instructor, I'm truly happy to get the chance, again and again, to introduce people to this amazing sport and to the quiet world of diving and breathing.

Roy Bar Niv Freedive Israel

Roy Bar Niv

My connection to the sea began as a child born in Eilat. Over time this connection grew stronger, and the sea became a refuge for me, making me feel part of something vast and magnificent. Over the years I turned the marine environment into a way of life, whether surfing, diving or protecting the sea. I started my journey as a scuba diver (MD). When I was introduced to freediving, I quickly realized this was my place – the life I want to live. The serenity and calm, together with the powerful connection to myself and to nature, simply called to me. I came to this magical place called Freedive Israel, which brought me together with such special, good people who quickly became friends. The feeling of awareness together with uncertainty makes me feel so connected and unmasked in the water world. I'm a freediving instructor living in Eilat with my dog. Freediving is a big part of who I am; every day I learn anew and go deeper. Today I know and feel more than ever that I am part of the sea and it is part of me, and this belonging will exist forever. "It's not the length of life, but the depth of it."

Our Instructors Over the Years

Almost all of our instructors started with us from their very first time in the water, went through every stage of training up to the instructor course, and were certified by Ariel Kedmi or Adam Hale.

 

Current team

Roy Bar Niv · 2021–present · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Stefan Kopiyenko · 2022–present · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Daniel Hale · 2024–present · Certified by Adam Hale

Tomer Shuval · 2024–present · Certified by Adam Hale

Daniel Shapira · 2024–present · Certified by Adam Hale

Roi Levi · 2025–present · Certified by Adam Hale

Ela Asas · 2026–present · Certified by Adam Hale

Yonatan Yaar · 2026–present · Certified by Adam Hale

Eldar Bashran · 2026–present · Certified by Adam Hale

Guy Arditi · 2026–present · Certified in Utila

Liad Borles · 2026–present · Certified abroad

 

Freedive Israel alumni

Many of our alumni have gone on to their own paths – some compete, some teach, and some work as safety divers at the highest levels.

Roma Zemlochnikov · 2019–2024 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Gil Fuchs · 2019–2021 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Ziv Schweitzer · 2019–2025 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Nitzan Katz · 2021 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Yoni Kokernot · 2021–2026 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Yona Baldesser · 2021–2025 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Eyal Kapulnik · 2021–2025 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Omer Kedem · 2021–2022 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Goni Bergman · 2021–2022 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Gaia Ben Hamo · 2021–2022 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Raz Kushinsky · 2021 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Bar Kuglowicz · 2021–2025 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Noa Horowitz · 2022–2026 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Tomer Drori · 2022–2024 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Matan Ben David · 2022–2024 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Nimrod Davidov · 2023–2025 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Roi Maimon · 2023–2024 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Adi Kotzen · 2023 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Itamar Topol · 2023–2024 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Itay Yizhar · 2023–2026 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Roei Yesharim · 2024–2026 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Or Maron Asher · 2024–2025 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Or Zeev Ron · 2024–2026 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Matan Patish · 2024–2026 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Yoav Shapira · 2024–2025 · Certified by Adam Hale

Gilad Wekert · 2024 · Certified by Adam Hale

Tamir Meged · 2024–2026 · Certified by Adam Hale

Amit Bondi · 2025–2026 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Arava Aviel · 2025–2026 · Certified by Adam Hale

Itamar Koren · 2025 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Sahar Kahana · 2025 · Certified by Ariel Kedmi

Agam Elraz · 2025 · Certified by Adam Hale

Aviatar Dahan · 2025–2026 · Certified by Adam Hale

Come on, we are waiting to meet you in Eilat!

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