Do you need special freediving equipment to start?

No.

People arrive at freediving with very different starting abilities.

Someone may have a naturally comfortable breath-hold but poor technique.

Another person may be wonderfully relaxed in the water but initially struggle with equalization.

A strong swimmer may discover that trying to overpower every movement is counterproductive.

A scuba diver may be exceptionally comfortable underwater while needing to relearn habits that work differently on a breath-hold.

Your first numbers tell an instructor where you are starting.

They do not define where you can go.

And this is important because beginners sometimes interpret an uncomfortable first breath-hold as evidence that they are “bad at freediving.”

Freediving is a collection of trainable skills.

You haven't failed an instrument because the first note sounded terrible.