KATABASIS celebrates its 20th year of activity, and part of the reason why we are here today is the relationships we made along the way. The expression “alone, I go faster; together, we go further” may sound cliché, but it definitely proved to be true. From our beginnings at Casa del Mare when we worked with renowned freediving champions such as William Trubridge, Federico Mana, Davide Carrera, Jan Jacques Mayol, Andrea Zuccheri, Gabriele Delbene and Mike Maric, we understood that teamworking was the way to go. Not only did it allow us to build connections, it also allowed us to gain a new perspective, to learn new insights and different ways of doing things. Then came our method, that way of teaching that places us today at the top in terms of experience in teaching in Italy and beyond.

We were able and still are to build strong and trusted partnerships throughout the years whether it’s with other associations or with people. In this article, we would like to thank them, but above all to present to you the collaborations underway in this special year for us!

THE ASSOCIATIONS

SICILY

JALA ASD is a SSI Diving centre but also a sailing, freediving and yoga school that shares the same values as Katabasis : learning together about sports that fascinate us with an emphasis on the importance of psychophysical well-being rather than performance. A strong friendship was born immediately with Corrado Ragusa and Cristiana Cardillo which we reaffirm year after year during the weeks dedicated to freediving in the spring and autumn months. 

LAZIO

Oxygene Sail is a Roman sailing school with which we have been working for 2 years. This year, we will use their flagship for our sailing, freediving and spearfishing cruises: Grinta, a 21-metres sailingcabin cruiser which has already been 4 times around the world!! As with Jala, we share common values with Oxygene Sail : allow everyone, regardless of social and economic barriers, to discover the sea as a way to be together, but also as a way to grow personally. With their commodore Tommaso Cerulli, a working understanding and a deep respect was born immediately, which gives us a glimpse of vast horizons. 

TUSCANY

CENTRO VELICO NAREGNO is an association located on Elba’s Island that is specialised in teaching sailing sports : catamaran, sail or windsurf. We share with them our love of the sea and our desire to teach everyone about our passion. We organise with them a multisport week in June focused around the sea and all activities centred around it, from sailing to freediving! Silvia Guerra, also a UISP trainer, is a long-time friend and… a true force of nature!

PIEDMONT

SPORT E NATURA. Thanks to the inexhaustible Francesco Escoffier, an eclectic gymnastics teacher with many passions, founder of the sailing, freediving and diving spearfishing association, we organise a summer freediving camp for kids every year in Liguria, Tuscany, the French Riviera and everywhere we believe we can transmit positive and real values to kids. Our meeting point and common strength is once again the desire to look at the sea from different angles, without prejudice and with the usual enthusiasm. Here too, friendship and work find a splendid synergy.

THE INSTRUCTORS

Besides associations, KATABASIS has collaborated with a lot of freediving instructors. all with different backgrounds and a different approach to freediving, which allowed us to broaden our horizons and to open constructive dialogues. Some of them have grown with us, becoming freediving instructors with our trainer and founder Carlo Boscia, who led and helped them down the road of professionalism.

For all of them, teaching is a pure passion, and they cultivate the desire to update themselves and maintain high safety and technical standards. Thank you guys!!!!

We would like to take advantage of our 20th anniversary to thank all of our partners again, the instructors, the students, and all of those who have worked with us since our beginnings on the 1st of March 2005.

We are waiting for you to give you the twentieth anniversary t-shirt which will also be a way to collect your experiences and participate in a photo contest… curious???

Carlo and Gabriel