Meet The Team
Jarrod Briffa
Founder and Instructor
Jarrod first started spearfishing and diving with his friend Lucas Handley in Byron Bay back in 2007. After growing up with a family of dedicated fishermen he was amazed at the world that existed below the surface. For several years freediving was a means to forage food and cook exciting meals, but that all changed in 2015 after meeting the regulars at The Melbourne Freedivers Club.
Once Jarrod started training in the pool regularly he was blown away by new abilities he had previously thought were not humanly possible. Since 2015 Jarrod has trained with many elite freedivers from around the world. Jarrod was Australian Mens Champion at The Pool Freediving National Championships in 2019 and Runner-up in 2023. Jarrod has represented Australia in pool freediving at several international competitions, including the 2022 CMAS and 2022 & 2023 AIDA World Championships. At the AIDA Pool World Championships 2023 in Korea Jarrod set a National Record in Dynamic and a Continental Record in Dynamic Bi-Fins.
Jarrod began teaching in 2019 to help others realise their hidden potential. Jarrod is a Master Instructor with AIDA and can teach the AIDA 4 certifications to students that have completed AIDA 3 or equivalent.
Jarrod on set for the feature film “Blue Back”
Jarrod has a previous background working in television as a stage hand and camera assistant. During the pandemic he enjoyed the opportunity to take these skills underwater whilst teaching freediving to the cast and supporting the crew for the feature film “Blue Back”, based on a novel by Tim Winton.
Brenton Loh
Founder and Instructor
Brenton’s fascination with the underwater world began while spearfishing in his local waters of Victoria. These adventures allowed him to completely disconnect from 'the human world' in favour of the wilderness and to harvest delicious seafood straight from the source.
In 2010, he travelled to Thailand and commenced freedive training with the Apnea Total school on Koh Tao. The idea was to learn about safety aspects for spearfishing but soon the freedive training took center stage and he would travel to and from Koh Tao many times, completing the syllabus with both the Apnea Total and Blue Immersion (SSI) schools.
Brenton is qualified as an SSI, AIDA and Molchanovs Freediving Instructor, completing his instructor certifications under the guidance of Viktor Reshetniak at Freedive Gili and Julia Mouce at Apnea Bali. In 2019, he discovered the amazing community of the Melbourne Freedivers Club and began training regularly and helping with various functions of the Club as its secretary. Brenton is also the secretary of the Australian Freediving Association.
Brenton is fully committed to a life under the sea. He believes freediving offers profound benefits for us all and is passionate about sharing this message with others on the journey. When he's not diving, he's a keen – some say obsessive – craftsman. You'll find him making artisanal chef knives, dive daggers, spearguns and other objects inspired by his journey into the blue. You'll find him (and his knives) on Instagram @loh_made.
Ashleigh Mercer
Instructor
Being fortunate enough to grow up just a short walk from the beach, snorkelling and swimming quickly became one of Ashleigh’s favourite activities as a kid. It wasn’t until she was working overseas onboard a yacht as a nurse and scuba diver master, that her hidden talents for deep diving on a single breath were discovered. Ash quickly became the crew’s go to person to retrieve lost items which had fallen overboard to the depths below.
Travelling around the globe on the yacht offered Ash the opportunity to complete freediving courses in exotic diving locations such as Malta, Cyprus and her absolute favourite diving spot, Bonaire in the Caribbean. In Bonaire she was lucky enough to train with 12 time world record holder Carlos Coste and was invited back the following year to complete her Instructor Course and teach for his school during a 3 month internship. Since then she has spent the following months teaching and training in the crystal clear waters of Malta and Indonesia. In 2022 and 2023 Ash competed in a few Aussie pool competitions and in June 2023 Ash took the leap and represented Australia at the 2023 AIDA Pool World Championships.
Outside of the water, Ash works as a registered nurse and midwife. She works at one of Victoria’s largest teaching hospitals where she is often mentoring students throughout their placements, enabling her to develop and refine her teaching skills. Ash is a passionate freediving instructor and loves seeing her students exceed their expectations in the water.
Afy Torabi
Assistant Instructor
After her early days skipping school to swim laps at the pool, Afy was first exposed to freediving through the traditional spearfishing and sea-foraging practices of communities she lived amongst in PNG, Vanuatu and the Philippines. Accompanying and learning from them was a first taste of the world that opened up to someone who explored the capacity of the body and ones relationship to water.
After an encouraging beginning to her training with Jarrod Briffa and the gang at The Melbourne Freedivers Club in 2018, she went on to train with coaches in Greece and Bali, completing a masters course and Aida 4 certification.
Though she’s explored many a sea, she has a fondness for the diverse and unique ecosystems of southern Australian waters.
Sharing her enthusiasm for freediving as an assistant instructor is the best way she can imagine to get all her kicks at once.
