My name is Mikhail. I'm the founder and instructor of High Five Freedivers. For me, freediving is a constant exploration of human potential: I care about getting to the root of things — how the body works, why a particular difficulty appears, and what actually helps you move forward.
Becoming an instructor didn't mean I stopped being a student. I keep training regularly and competing — both in the pool and in depth disciplines — while studying physiology, technique, training methods and psychology. What matters to me isn't just gaining knowledge, but testing it through my own experience.
My own path in freediving wasn't easy either. Learning to equalize, for example, took me about three months. That experience taught me not to give up and to look for an individual approach — and today it helps me understand students for whom something doesn't come easily right away.
In teaching, I don't want to just say "relax and try again." It's far more interesting to work out together what's actually in the way — technique, tension, something about the body, or a mental block.
I'm also passionate about underwater photography, and I keep exploring the world that made many of us hold our breath and go under for the first time. High Five Freedivers is a school I'm building with care for safety, attention to each person's individual needs, and a genuine wish to help you feel more confident, calmer and freer in the water.