More than courses, these are opportunities that will shift how you experience life…and performance.
Meet Ricardo Urbina, Molchanovs Freedive Instructor
Ricardo Urbina is a certified Molchanovs Wave 1 and Wave 2 Freedive Instructor and one of a very small number of instructors worldwide certified to teach both the Molchanovs Junior Lap (pool-based) and Wave (open water) pathways. With a background in high-performance athletics, coaching, and human performance training, Ricardo brings a calm, supportive, and deeply intentional approach to teaching both children and adults in and around the water.
A former competitive Ironman triathlete and four-time Kona qualifier, Ricardo integrates breathwork, physiology, movement, and mindset into every session—helping students build confidence, awareness, and composure under pressure. His teaching philosophy extends beyond freediving technique alone; he believes the water is a powerful environment for developing emotional regulation, focus, resilience, and self-trust.
Ricardo’s instruction emphasizes safety, progression, and connection—to the breath, the body, the environment, and the learning process itself. Whether introducing a child to their first underwater breath-hold experience or guiding students through advanced pool and open water skills, he creates experiences that are both technically grounded and personally transformative.
In this introductory course, you learn the basics of freediving and discover your natural freediving ability. This premium experience is aimed for beginners as well as experienced freedivers who do not have any formal training. Participants will learn techniques to increase breath holds beyond 90 seconds and will practice breath hold dives with and without fins. This course certification includes:
Relaxation techniques & practice
Frenzel equalization technique development
Depth range: 0-20m
Stretching and breathing practices
The course structure includes online theory development, which is completed at home using the Molchanovs Educational online system, knowledge review session in class with your instructor, confined water skills sessions, and open water skills sessions. The course takes a minimum of 2.5 days with morning and afternoon sessions, each training session takes around 2 hours
The Wave 2 Freediving course will take your skills and performance to the next level. Learn how to optimize your pre-dive preparation, refine your Frenzel equalization and introduce you to the no-fins technique.
Learn how to optimize your pre-dive preparation, refine your Frenzel equalization and introduce you to the no-fins technique. During this course participants will learn to master the free falling technique to save energy and dive into deeper waters.
During the confined water sessions participants will refine skills learned during the Wave 1 course, practice extending static breath holds beyond two and a half minutes, and learn the dolphin kick. This certification course includes:
Advanced Frenzel Equalization training
Visualization workshop & practice
Depth range: 12-30m
Stretching and breathing practices
The course structure includes online theory development, which is completed at home using the Molchanovs Educational online system, knowledge review session in class with your instructor, 1 confined water skills session and 2 open water skills sessions. The course takes a minimum of 2.5 days with morning and afternoon sessions, each training session takes around 2 hours.
The Molchanovs Junior Program is a globally recognized freediving education system designed to introduce children ages 4–15 to the water in a safe, progressive, and age-appropriate way. Through pool and open water experiences, students build water confidence, breath awareness, focus, emotional regulation, and a lifelong connection to the ocean.
The program progresses through three pathways—Discover, Lap, and Wave—guiding students from first breath and water comfort to advanced pool and open water freediving skills. Along the way, children learn how to stay calm under pressure, move with awareness and intention, and develop respect for both the ocean and their own physiology.
Ricardo is among a very small group of certified Molchanovs Junior instructors qualified to teach both Lap (pool-based) and Wave (open water) pathways—allowing students to experience a complete and integrated progression from first exposure to real-world application.
More than just a lesson, the Molchanovs Junior Program helps children develop confidence, calm, connection, and a deeper understanding of themselves in and around the water.