Alchemy

27/10/2026

“And within 3 days of wearing these fins I put 11 meters onto my PB quite effortlessly and, to be honest, I could have done deeper”.
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27/10/2026

Most Divers Don’t Need New Gear

It's probably a strange thing for a company that manufactures diving equipment to say, but most divers don't need new gear nearly as often as they think they do.

We've all been there. You have a disappointing training session, your technique feels inconsistent or someone next to you seems to be moving through the water with half the effort. Before long, you're wondering whether your fins are too stiff, your foot pockets aren't quite right or there's something about your equipment that's holding you back.

And sometimes there genuinely is. Good equipment matters, and the right setup can make a noticeable difference. But it's also worth asking whether the problem you're trying to solve is actually an equipment problem.

A new pair of fins can make you pay closer attention to your technique. You concentrate more, become more aware of your movements and suddenly everything feels a little better. It's tempting to credit the equipment for that improvement, when some of it may simply come from being more focused on what you're doing.

The less exciting explanation is that most improvements in freediving take time. Better body positioning, more consistent equalization, reduced tension and efficient movement are developed through practice, repetition and good coaching. You can't buy those things, and constantly changing equipment can actually make it harder to recognize where your technique needs work.

There's also something valuable about becoming completely familiar with your setup. When you know exactly how your fins respond and how your equipment feels, you can stop thinking about it and concentrate on the dive itself.

None of this means you should never upgrade. When your equipment no longer fits your needs, or you've developed the skills to benefit from something more specialized, upgrading makes perfect sense.

But before spending money on something new, take a closer look at what you're already doing in the water. You might discover that the improvement you're looking for has very little to do with what you're wearing.

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26/10/2026

Performance is what takes you deeper. Design is what makes you look twice.
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ICON X Aurora
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26/10/2026

Why Perfect Conditions Can Make You A Worse Diver

Ask any freediver to describe their ideal training day and you'll probably hear the same things. Flat water, no current, excellent visibility, comfortable temperatures and a perfectly still line. Everything feels easier under those circumstances, and naturally, those are the days when many of us produce our best performances.

But there's something worth considering. If you only train when conditions are close to perfect, how much of your progress comes from becoming a better diver, and how much comes from getting very good at diving in one particular environment?

The difference becomes obvious when you travel somewhere new. Suddenly the water is colder, visibility isn't quite what you're used to, there's a little movement at the surface and the line doesn't behave exactly as expected. Your fitness hasn't changed, your technique hasn't disappeared, yet everything feels more demanding. You might even start questioning your abilities because you're struggling with depths that normally feel comfortable.

What you're experiencing isn't necessarily a loss of performance. It may simply be a lack of experience dealing with different conditions.

Experienced freedivers gradually develop the ability to read the water, adjust their preparation and remain composed when things aren't exactly as expected. That kind of adaptability is difficult to develop if every training session takes place in the same sheltered bay under identical conditions.

Of course, this doesn't mean deliberately seeking out rough seas or pushing yourself in unsafe environments. There's a big difference between gaining experience in manageable, slightly imperfect conditions with appropriate supervision and taking unnecessary risks. Knowing when conditions aren't suitable for diving is itself an important part of becoming experienced.

The point is that good freediving isn't just about how deep you can go when everything is working in your favor. It's also about understanding how the environment affects your performance and developing enough experience to make sensible adjustments when things change.

Perfect conditions are wonderful, and we should absolutely enjoy them when they come along. Just don't make them a requirement for feeling like a capable diver.

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25/10/2026

Sometimes the best part of a dive is doing absolutely nothing.
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🧜🏻‍♀️ 장유진
📸 제주 프리다이빙 AIDA Trainer 강사훈련관
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24/10/2026

Right at home.
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📸 LEE JONGKEE
🧜🏻‍♀️ 세희
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23/10/2026

“The moment I put them on my legs I was like I need to have these fins”.
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22/10/2026

22/10/2026

Pool Performance Doesn’t Always Transfer To Depth

It's something that catches quite a few freedivers by surprise. They can hold their breath comfortably for several minutes, cover impressive distances in the pool and feel completely in control of their apnea, yet the moment they start training at depth, things become considerably more complicated.

The assumption is understandable. If you're comfortable holding your breath for a long time, surely going deeper should come naturally? Unfortunately, the two environments place very different demands on the body.

In a pool, almost everything is predictable. The temperature is relatively stable, visibility is familiar, pressure changes are minimal and you always know exactly where you are. Once you move into open water, you have to deal with increasing pressure, lung compression, continuous equalization, changing buoyancy and the psychological experience of moving vertically away from the surface.

And that's before considering technique. Someone with excellent dynamic performance might still struggle with freefall positioning, streamlining, turning at depth or maintaining an efficient ascent. These are skills that need to be developed in the environment where they're actually used.

There's also the mental side, which is often underestimated. A diver might have more than enough breath-hold capacity for a particular depth but still feel uncomfortable because the surroundings are unfamiliar. That uncertainty can create tension, increase oxygen consumption and make a relatively manageable dive feel surprisingly demanding.

None of this means pool training isn't valuable. Quite the opposite. It develops breath-hold ability, movement efficiency, relaxation and discipline, all of which contribute to becoming a better freediver. But those benefits don't automatically translate into depth performance without specific training and gradual adaptation.

Perhaps the biggest mistake is assuming that strong pool results mean you should already be capable of reaching a certain depth. When that doesn't happen, frustration can lead people to push harder instead of addressing the actual limitations.

The better approach is to treat pool and depth as two related but distinct disciplines. Work on your equalization, become familiar with pressure, refine your technique and allow yourself time to adapt, always with appropriate instruction and safety support.

Being good at holding your breath is an important part of freediving. Being comfortable, efficient and technically competent at depth is something you have to develop separately.

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21/10/2026

Some names need very little introduction in freediving. Ryuzo Shinomiya and Tomoka Fukuda are two of them.
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Two remarkable careers, countless hours underwater and a shared commitment to pushing Japanese freediving forward.
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We’re proud to have both of them on the Alchemy team and even prouder to see ICON in their hands.
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