Andrea Zuccari
Equalization Academy was founded in 2018 by Andrea Zuccari. “There are Scuba didactics and freediving didactics however none teach the topic of Equalization properly” and thus Andrea decided to create the first didactic to teach Equalization to free divers and scuba divers, eventually realising that these techniques could help people who need medical treatment in hyperbaric chambers as well as those who struggle to equalise during plane travel. Thus was born the Equalization Academy.
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Andrea Zuccari discovers the sport of Freediving in 2006 and after a few sessions he realises that he has a natural predisposition to this new sport.
He begins to train with Apnea Academy and between 2006 - 2008 he establishes 5 Swiss National Records.
In 2008 he becomes and Apnea Academy Instructor and sets a further 5 Swiss National Records between 2009 - 2012 with the deepest being a No-Limits 131m record.
In 2011 he sets his first World Record in Tandem No-Limits MIX with Anna von Boetticher (his student, both with mask) surpassing the depths of Patrick Musimu the man who had introduced him to the mouthfill technique.
Spring 2012 he releases an educational DVD with an innovative approach via a series of dry exercises to develop the awareness of the organs involved in equalisation (This DVD has been translated into five languages).
Fall 2012 he opens his Training Centre “Freediving World Apnea Centre” in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt where he continues to develop his approach to equalisation while working with many of the top athletes in the sport of Freediving.
January 2013 he sets his first Italian Record - 155 mt No Limits surpassing his "maestro" Umberto Pelizzari.
In the same days he sets his first World Record in Tandem No-Limits Male with the Greek Stavros Kastrinakis.
A few months later he sets the new Italian Record in Variable Weight Regulated down to - 135 mt.
July 2014 he sets the world record for the deepest No-Limits Sled dive with a mask, diving to an incredible 175m and placing himself as the 2nd deepest man of all time just behind the Austrian Herbert Nitsch.
July 2016 Andrea performs a training dive in CWT down to 107 mt. with a mask equalizing handsfree.
August 2017 Andrea will perform another No Limits sled dive and this time to 185m placing him squarely as the deepest man on earth without using external devices to equalise.
Andrea, based in Sharm El Sheikh, continues his career as both athlete and coach, involved in many research projects, working with elite world record breaking athletes and traveling the world to teach equalisation and his approach to deep diving. He is largely considered one of the key innovators in equalisation education having worked with more top athletes than any other coach in the sport.
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Andrea Zuccari and Equalization Academy collaborate with DAN Europe on the Project EqualEasy.
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