Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Zeek.
Hi Brandon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I fell in love with the ocean as a kid when my dad and I would go fishing out of Seaforth every year. I moved to Catalina Island in 2009 and decided to try spearfishing. Instantly freediving and spearfishing became my obsession. I learned everything I could, started attending club meetings for various dive clubs, learned how to build my own spearguns, traveled the world, and eventually decided that teaching freediving was the next step. In 2013 I became a freediving instructor with F.I.I. (Freediving Instructors International) and was regularly teaching out of San Diego, and eventually began teaching in Catalina as well. After becoming an instructor I really started to appreciate teaching others how to do this thing called freediving. I took that to places like Baja Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, New Zealand, and Hawaii.
After years of traveling, meeting amazing people, and becoming a huge advocate for sustainable spearfishing I decided to take my skills as a freediver up a notch. I started training for depth competition in the sport of freediving specifically. I participated in my first competition in 2019 and was immediately hooked. My freediving training was heavily influenced by my experience with weight lifting, but eventually I gave up the weights to sink into freediving training completely.
I had a few injuries on my journey, so it slowed my training and progress way down. However, I feel that only gave me better experience as an instructor and coach. I opened a freediving and spearfishing school in 2021 called Focus Freedive. The goal has been to educate others about how to freedive, and coach them through the struggles of the physical and mental barriers that arise in our sport. Of course, these skills are also great for everyday living as well.
To this point, while not nearly as deep as a lot of freedivers these days, my deepest dive is 65m/215ft and my longest breath hold just over 5 minutes. I’m currently juggling a business and a family, so training has been slow. But the goal is always to learn more about myself and how to progress.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve had many professional obstacles. The first thing I had to overcome was just learning how to teach people in a way that catered to everyone. I definitely had trouble honing my craft the first few years as an instructor. These days I feel very confident in my ability to understand most varieties of personalities and learning styles, which I attribute to the struggles I had early on. I have been a part of the community here in San Diego for a long time. My freediving instruction journey began in 2013 here. So I have had a lot of influence in building the freediving and spearfishing community. Unfortunately that had helped others profit before I had Focus Freedive. When I started my school I found that I was basically rebuilding from the ground up, and it has been very hard to get the same traction I had before. Slowly but surely we are getting there though!
On a more personal level I have dealt with a few injuries that caused setbacks. In 2021, during my training to dive deeper I injured my lungs on a dive to 60m/198ft. The mental and physical struggles that were created took a very long time to overcome. I have since corrected certain techniques and worked through mental barriers which have gotten me deeper in my training. Honestly, without these hurdles and setbacks I would not be the coach I have become. So I have become very grateful for my recovery and the journey I have had.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What I do is freediving and spearfishing instruction, and coaching. This is holding your breath, diving down underwater as deep as you can go, and returning to the surface on the same breath. In the case of spearfishing, it is hunting fish while doing the freediving piece at the same time. The school I started, Focus Freedive, is my vision to open up the underwater world to anyone who wants to explore and see it for themselves. My goal is that mental barriers such as fear or anxiety, or physical barriers such as fitness or injuries, can be overcome so that whatever is calling people to the water they are able to experience it fully. Everyone gets in the ocean or a lake for different reasons, but the one thing in common is being underwater. And I want to equip everyone I can with the tools they need for doing whatever they want to do in the water.
Spearfishing is certainly what I’m known for, but also that I spearfish deeper than most others in southern california. When hunting fish in California you can be very successful in depths of 60ft or less. I prefer hunting in 100-130ft, and aim to hunt certain fish in 150-180ft, even here in San Diego. This requires training very deep regularly so that my body is conditioned for these hunts. Because of this I also train for competitive freediving. While I don’t intend to ever chase records, competing allows me to have a goal to focus on and pushes me to keep progressing.
Lastly, something that I hope to achieve through my school is supporting people in need, or giving back to people who are making a difference in the world. Currently we are working on a partnership with an organization called Run Against Traffic. They raise funds to support other companies that provide after care for trafficking victims. The goal in our partnership is to create a freediving event that can raise funds for Run Against Traffic so our community can be a part of the healing process for so many people that need it. Many years down the road I hope that THIS is what sets us apart from the rest of the freediving community, so that we can inspire others to step out of their personal bubble and be an answer to prayer for someone else.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
San Diego is probably the best west coast location for freediving training. La Jolla Shores in particular is potentially one of the best locations in the contiguous United States. Weather tends to be dive-able most of the year, and while San Diegans may use the word “cold” a lot from November to May, in the grand scheme of things our temps are actually really nice all year long. The access to depth in La Jolla is what really makes it special. We have the La Jolla Canyon that comes really close to the shores, and a short 10 minute swim has you in 50m/165ft of water. Another 5 minutes of swimming and you’re in 90m/295ft of water. An added bonus is that because so many people cross the bay from La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Point while swimming boaters are highly discouraged from coming in to the area. Some places are actually illegal for boats when you get closer to La Jolla Cove, because of all the swimmers. Freediving world records won’t be set in the depths we have here, but it’s certainly deep enough for amazing benefits in our training. I don’t know of anywhere else on the west coast that has that kind of depth, decent weather, and lack of boat traffic all in the same place more than 75% of the year.
Certainly the downside of San Diego is the amount of people coming through. With it being a large tourist destination our beaches often are overrun during the really nice weather months. Parking is a huge headache, and people get a little crazy while driving. I learned that expecting to drive in circles for an hour to park (or show up at 5AM) is the best way to cope with the inevitability of hordes of people.
Pricing:
- Level 1 Freediver – $450
- Level 2 Freediver – $685
- Spearfishing – $495+ (charter may affect price)
- Private coaching $650 per day
Contact Info:
- Website: focus-freedive.com
- Instagram: @focusfreedive
- Facebook: facebook.com/focusfreedive
- Youtube: youtube.com/@focusfreedive
- Other: tiktok.com/@focus.freedive
Image Credits
Andrew Ferris Nathan Minatta Brandon Zeek
