Freedive Panglao

Freediving in the Philippines

Team

What makes learning and training at Freedive Panglao unique is that our team is made up of experienced instructors and some of the world's best Freedivers. No matter at which level you are training, our Instructors will share knowledge, tips and tricks that are the result of years of teaching, competing and training.

Founders

Stefan Randig German English

AIDA Instructor Trainer / AIDA Judge

Stefan was born in Germany. He started his journey into the blue as a Scuba Instructor. Stefan taught in some of the worlds best diving spots like the Seychelles, the Maldives and the Red Sea of Egypt. In 2009 he left the tanks behind and concentrated on regular Freedive training. Competitive Freediving during International AIDA Events followed from 2010 onwards and since then Stefan has broken and set German National Records in all of the competition depth disciplines. In September 2017 he became the first German Freediver to break the mark of 100 meters depth in the discipline of Constant Weight.

In 2012 Stefan co-founded "Freedive Panglao" in the Philippines. Stefan is an AIDA Instructor Trainer and is running courses of all Levels, from complete beginners up to Instructor Level in English and German

Video: Stefan Randig 100m Freedive CWT German National Record


Dongha Kim Korean

AIDA Instructor Trainer / SSI Instructor trainer / AIDA Judge

Dongha Kim was born in South Korea and has been living in the Philippines where he taught Scuba Diving in Moalboal, Cebu for more than two years. Fueled by his growing passion for Freediving he moved to Dahab, Egypt in 2012 where he decided to become a Freediving Instructor. During his time in Dahab DK participated in Freediving Competitions and became Korea's deepest Freediver holding national records in four different disciplines.

DK is teaching AIDA and SSI Freediving courses in Korean.

Instructors

John Folkvord Norwegian English

AIDA Master Instructor / AIDA Judge

John Folkvord was born in Norway and moved to Singapore where he worked as a Chief Technology Officer for six years. After quitting his work in IT his plan was to travel around South East Asia to SCUBA dive, but the plans changed radicaly after he took his first freediving course. He started his own freediving school in 2013. Since then, he has been training divers in Indonesia and across the Philippines. He enjoys working with freedivers of all levels, and is driven by seeing the smile of his students after a successful dive.

In early 2016 he joined the team at Freedive Panglao as an instructor. John is not only a vital part of the organizing and jury team of our annual competitions but also an active competitor and Norwegian Record Holder in the discipline of Free Immersion.


Sayuri Kinoshita Japanese

AIDA Instructor and world record holder

Originally from Japan, Sayuri first made waves in the international Freediving scene in 2015 when she won the Freediving Depth World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus. That was just the beginning and in 2016 she became the first Asian Freediver to ever set a Freediving World Record by diving to 72m in the discipine of Constant Weight Without Fins. Sayuri spends time in Panglao training and preparing for international Competitions as well as running AIDA Courses for many of our students coming from Japan.

Her athlete page on facebook.


Air Yang Chinese

AIDA instructor / AIDA Judge

Air was born in China. She began scuba diving in South East Asia after quitting her marketing job in Beijing in 2015. When she the first learned about freediving, it completely changed her life. Since then, she has followed Stefan for learning and training. In 2016 she become a certified AIDA Instructor.

She believes that every freediver can better understand their body, feel more fun, enjoy their dives, and ultimately become better selves trough the use of focus, patience, and serious training.


Shuai Wang (Sita) Chinese English

AIDA instructor / PADI instructor

Sita comes from China. After she left her postition as marketing manager she travelled around seven continents and ended up in the Philippines where she started to freedive. Sita immediately fell in love with the sport, and did all her courses up to instructor level at Freedive Panglao. She thinks freediving makes you hear the deepest voice from you heart, which is why she chose to stay in Panglao island, enjoying her life as an islander, freediver, and photographer.