Molchanovs Instructor Course - Feb 2025 - San Diego
Take your freediving journey to the next level and become an instructor! We can confirm that this is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can accomplish, and the perks aren't half bad either!
The following is based on a Wave 2 Instructor course. If you need to upgrade to Wave 3 Instructor, or want to cross over from another agency, we can do both of those so please contact us.
The Course
Over the first two weekends we will cover the course materials and requirements, and on the third weekend you will have actual students to work with. This is a great way to get guided, real world experience right at the start!
While Molchanovs does have some of the most challenging performance requirements, the purpose of this course is to teach you how to teach. This includes classroom, pool, and open water sessions. In a nutshell, the class looks as follows:
Classroom - Teaching and Knowledge Review (KR) requirements. (1) Teaching assessment (1) KR Guiding assessment (3) Online exams - Entry, Online Teaching, Final
Pool - STA and DYN teaching requirements, (1) Teaching assessment, Performance Assessments
Open Water - Teaching practice, Performance assessments, (2) Teaching assessments, Setup handling assessment
Requirements
W2I
STA: 4:00 - 5:00
DNF: 60m
DYN: 100m
CWTB: 40m (80-90s dive time)
FIM: 40m
CNF: 30m
Standby Rescue - 15m (1 min hang at 15m)
CO2 dive - 60s treading at surface followed by 20m dive
Blackout Rescue - 25m plus 50m tow with rescue breaths
W3I
STA: 4:00 - 5:00
DNF: 75m
DYN: 110m
CWTB: 50m
FIM: 50m
CNF: 35m
Standby Rescue - 20m (1 min hang at 20m)
CO2 dive - 60s treading at surface followed by 25m dive
Blackout Rescue - 30m plus 50m tow with rescue breaths
Pre-requisites
Must be a Molchanovs Wave 3 certified student or equivalent (PADI Master Freediver, AIDA 4, FII/PFI Level 2, etc
Active 1st Aid/CPR certification
Why Molchanovs
Molchanovs has the most complete and rigorous system we have encountered, without over complicating or adding unnecessary components to its curriculum. We have been incredibly impressed with how often they update their materials (every 2 years!) to keep up with the most current science, and how responsive they are to their community of instructors. Their focus on community, as well as the Base Training programs that they offer, truly set them apart from any other agency.
Your Instructor Trainer
This intensive course will be led by Just Get Wet founder Chris Cheezem. Chris started freediving as a youth in Florida, studied Oceanography at the Naval Academy, and after 4 years driving ships as a Surface Warfare Officer and 3 more as a Navy Dive officer, he became a freediving instructor under Martin Stepanik at FII in 2018. Over the past 5 years he has taught over 1000 students, mentored 10 instructor candidates through their certifications, assisted in 5 instructor classes, and trained with Alexey Molchanov, Adam Stern, Harry Chamas, Will Trubridge, Julien Borde, Oli Christen-Drew, and many other top freedivers and instructors throughout the world.
Added Value from Just Get Wet
When you complete your instructor course, you are cleared to start your journey. But nothing can substitute experience. It often takes instructors years to develop their "tool kit", the techniques and approaches towards different students and their different struggles. At Just Get Wet we have anywhere between 5 and 10 experienced instructors who you can teach along side and learn from, as well as weekly line diving sessions that are incredibly valuable for developing your teaching approach. Everyone has something different that they bring as an instructor, and being able to teach alongside other instructors is one of the most valuable things you can do, and the quickest way to grow a well rounded and effective instructor.
Course Dates and Locations
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Weekend 1, February 7-9 - Getting started, verifying technique, pool requirements
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Friday, February 7
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5-8 PM Classroom: Chapter 1 - Chapter 3 slides
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Saturday, February 8
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7-10 AM Pool - Static and Dynamic requirements, pool rescue, technique
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12-3 PM Open Water - duck dive technique, BO rescue, CNF technique
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Sunday, February 9
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8-11 AM Open Water - Requirements (BO rescue, CO2 dive)
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12-3 PM Classroom - CH 4-6 slides
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3PM - Debrief. Receive assignments for next weeks theory presentations, dry, pool, and open water skills. Take the week to prepare and practice
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Weekend 2, February 14-16 - practice teaching
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Friday, February 14
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5-8 PM Classroom - Theory presentations, dry skills teaching
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Saturday, February 15
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7-10 AM Pool - Teaching practice
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11 AM - 2 PM - Open water teaching practice
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3-4 PM - debrief
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Sunday, February 16
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8-11 AM - Open water teaching practice, skill and/or depth requirements
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12-2 PM - Debrief, prep for final weekend
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Weekend 3, February 21-23 - actual teaching!
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We will run a W1 or W2 class with instructors running the show under instruction. Expect debriefs after each day, so it will run a little longer for instructor candidates than it will for students
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On your own time
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Any final requirements. Safety requirements must be done in person with me (BO rescue, standby rescue), which is why we will focus on those during the first 2 weekends. Depth/distance requirements can be done any time within the following year of the course completion date. There has to be a video of the entire dive or breath hold, including the recovery procedure and a visual of a dive watch confirming time/depth. Things I am looking for
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Textbook, instructor level technique
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Comfort and cleanliness (level of hypoxia) of dive
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Need to see freefall for depth requirements
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Proper speed for CWT/FIM (1m/s, +10s ok. For example 40m CWT can have an 80-90s dive time)
