Georgina Miller
George has always been interested in the underwater world and started by taking her scuba diving course in 1998. George then went onto become certified as a PADI MSDT Instructor in 2005.
She has been freediving since 2007 and quickly became a member of the UK National team. George has since been national champion 6 times, with highest over all scores across all disciplines and amassed 6 national records, with a personal best of over 7 minutes in static apnea.
George is an SSI instructor trainer and co founded Aquacity freediving school in 2015 with her husband Daan Verhoeven.
George has a strong background in yoga and swimming and believes self awareness and taking things at your own pace is a crucial part of freediving.
She loves competing but also exploring Cornwall’s wild coasts and freediving with wildlife.
Daan Verhoeven
In 2005 Daan did his first basic freediving course after being inspired by a pod of dolphins that were majestically swimming around him. In 2006 he started competing after attending a couple of events as a spectator and really enjoying the atmosphere. He quickly started setting national records and by 2011 he had set national records in 5 of the 6 competitive disciplines. Beast!
Taking a break from competing but still keen to stay involved, daan decided to help out as a safety diver. In 2011 and 2012 he was voted ‘best safety diver’ by AIDA members. 2011 was also the year he became an instructor, and the year a friend lent him a serious underwater camera.
As a trained graphic artist and photographer, Daan was hesitant to see if his passions would combine, but as the camera clicked underwater, so did something in his mind, and now it’s rare to see him underwater without a camera. His work has been published in newspapers, magazines and major websites, and he has shot video for TV programs, commercials and documentaries.
Chris Burtwell
Chris learned to freedive in 2021 and has gone from strength to strength. He is a competitive freediver, advanced instructor, adventurer and family man . He is the super hero of the team!
Chris trains hard in the pool and loves to compete in depth and pool disciplines. He has transformed from a frustrated spear fisherman who could not equalise well to being an incredible diver!
Chris is a relaxed and competent instructor, who is extremely knowledgeable, patient and loves to share his passion for the seas and freediving with his students. The feedback he gets from his students is always positive- with his patient and gentle approach. He is also really good at helping people learn to equalise.
Flynn Thomas
Flynn learned to freedive in 2022 and has been to some amazing places! His freedive journey has taken him to Thailand, Greece, Cyprus, Philippines and Dominica in pursuit of deep oceans to explore. He became an instructor in 2023 in order to share his love of Cornish oceans, where he is most at home, coming from a back ground of surfing our wild oceans.
He went to his first depth competition in Cyprus in 2024, where he came third overall- diving in every discipline, which is seriously impressive. He loves surfing, skydiving, exploring shipwrecks on a single breath and being an all round action man!
Flynn is a brilliant instructor, who is keen to share his love of the water. He has a great sense of humour and is a wonderful asset to our team.
Emma Harper
Emma Harper- ‘Mischief the mermaid’
Emma comes from a background of competitive swimming. She has been a professional mermaid for a number of years, modelling in places such as Mexico as well as the cold waters of Cornwall. She regularly washes up on our beaches to talk to children and adults alike about the wonders of mermaiding and the importance of ocean conservation and learning to swim. She is a fantastic, passionate instructor, Freediver, model, conservationist, mother and magical creature.
Pssst…. Mermaids are real!
Emma joined our team as a mermaid instructor in 2022, and cant wait to share her ‘mermazing’ stories and love of the seas. She has incredible cold water tolerance and spends hours swimming in her tail.
Hannah Nicol
Hannah Nicol has been Freediving since November in 2022 , and became an instructor in 2024.
She has worked in Greece, Dahab and loves the colder Cornish waters. Hannah trains and competes in every discipline and is one of the highest ranked freedivers in the UK.
She has overcome equalisation difficulties of her own and can’t wait to share her knowledge and love of the sport. Her teaching style is so kind and patient with real attention to detail- we are so happy she has joined the team!
Hannah is an SSI advanced freedive instructor with a monofin specialty, she is also a react right instructor for first aid training.
She also rides race horses!