9 minute read
The Freedom of Freediving
from Range - Volume 6
by Ensemble
Whether they’re exploring underwater worlds or competing for world records, freedivers plunge into the depths to get closer to the ocean — and to themselves.
By Laura Studarus
I’m floating at the surface of dazzling blue water in Wakaya, Fiji, when a patch of coral catches my eye, fanning out in stunning shades of orange, pink and red just below my feet. I breathe deeply, slowing down my heart rate, ending with one final gulp of air. And then, under the watchful eye of our guide, I dive below to get a closer look, marveling as the water closes around me and I slip into what feels like another world.
I’m freediving — holding my breath to dive deep below the waves without scuba gear or a snorkel. Although it’s only now taking off as a sport, freediving is not a new practice. For more than 2,000 years, Japan’s ama (women of the sea) divers have perfected the art in order to collect pearls, abalone and edible seaweed from the ocean floor. In ancient Greece, the island of Kalymnos was the epicenter of sponge diving, and before the advent of commercial fishing, freediving and spearfishing were common ways for coastal communities to gather food.
The modern story of freediving can be traced to 1949, when the Hungarian-born Italian Raimondo Bucher, a fighter pilot and avid spearfisher, dove almost 100 feet down into the Bay of Naples on a dare. At the time, scientists believed 50 meters (164 feet) was the human limit, and intrepid divers set out to prove them wrong, training to perfect their breath-hold. One of the current competitive records is just over 700 feet deep.
Witnessing an experienced freediver is like watching a mermaid glide through her natural habitat with otherworldly ease. Thanks to hours of practice and the mammalian diving reflex — a human response that slows the heart rate and constricts blood vessels — some athletes at the upper level of the sport can stay underwater for several minutes at a time (the current number to beat is 24 minutes, 37 seconds).
My modest dive, just less than a minute long and about 10 feet deep, is exhilarating. There’s a high that comes with venturing somewhere extraordinary and knowing it’s your body that brought you there. I am a stark beginner, but freediving is a skill that can be developed quickly — a nod to Kate Winslet, who after only three weeks of training held her breath for seven minutes, 15 seconds for the filming of Avatar: The Way of Water, beating Tom Cruise’s previous on-screen breath-hold record by 75 seconds.
The idea of embracing the aquatic world without a tank (or a set of gills) can be intimidating, and the reward for getting it wrong is a lungful of seawater. But therein lies the beauty — freediving is as taxing as you make it. Simply being able to hold your breath and remain submerged is a profound experience, even on shallow reef dives.
Sheena McNally of Edmonton, Alberta — hundreds of miles from the closest ocean — is one of the top-ranked freedivers in the world, and her goal is to go more than 328 feet deep in competition this year. The graphic and web designer started with scuba diving, but when a friend convinced her to take a beginners’ freediving class, she was instantly hooked.
At first, taking her dives deeper was a slow process. Training by descending headfirst in 10-meter (about 33 feet) increments, Sheena thought she was content with her personal bests. But those bests kept getting better until, one day in training, she achieved a dive that was deeper than one of the Canadian national records. “I thought, ‘I wonder if I can do that dive in competition and make it official?’” Sheena says.
Since that day in 2018, Sheena has competed in Dominica, Cyprus and Honduras at the Caribbean Cup International Annual Freediving Competition, where she broke the Canadian record of 74 meters — twice — with dives of 75 and 77 meters. “What surprised me was everybody was cheering for everyone else,” she says. “We were competing, but we were also just doing this crazy thing together.” Sheena practices Vipassana meditation and says it has helped her dive deeper, partly because the sport is both a physical and mental challenge. “Whatever is happening, including thoughts like ‘Wow, I’m deep,’ you just have to experience it and then carry on.”
South African Zandi Ndhlovu, better known as the Black Mermaid, also came to freediving by chance. She learned to swim in her teens and, on a 2016 snorkel tour in Bali, followed the guide down to scoop up a handful of shells — freediving without even realizing it.
Growing up in landlocked Johannesburg, what Zandi found below the surface was transformative: “I was completely in awe of the blues, the yellow fish, the way the sun hit the coral, and how it looked like the corals were lit from beneath,” she says. The diversity of the underwater ecosystem was “most liberating, as someone who had always battled with finding belonging in the world.”
Back in South Africa, Zandi tried scuba, but the experience didn’t spark the same emotional resonance. Then, in 2018, she saw a video of women diving without tanks. “I knew I needed to sign up to do that,” she says.
In 2020, Zandi became the first Black freediving instructor in South Africa, a milestone that motivated her to quit her job in management consulting and “chase the ocean.” She also let go of traditional training techniques: Diving based on intuition, instead of wearing a diving watch and using a diving line to guide her into the deep, helped her feel even more at home in the ocean. “There’s a place where I can go when I’m hurting,” she says. “I just go back to the ocean, dive into her depths and feel affirmed.”
In 2020, Zandi founded the Black Mermaid Foundation, a non-profit designed to educate children and spark their interest in the ocean. Only about 15 percent of South Africans can swim, a number that dips even lower among Black communities. Zandi hopes to change that by decolonizing ocean access so that more people can share her life-changing experiences, while also helping inspire the next generation of ocean conservationists.
Water, and access to it, have long been important parts of life and work for photographer and freediving instructor Alex Voyer. “For me, freediving is not about numbers,” he says. “My main goal — for both me and for my students — is not to go deep or to stay too long. It’s just to enjoy being in the water.”
Alex swims wherever he goes. (When at home in Paris, the former film technician takes to the canals and the Seine River to get his lengths in.) In 2011, while working in France as a sound engineer on a documentary about freediving, Alex borrowed some photo equipment from the director and began diving to capture haunting images of sea creatures and divers swimming together below the surface. “You cannot separate diving and wildlife,” he says.
Now, splitting his time between the French capital and a sailboat in French Polynesia, Alex embraces the unpredictability of the ocean in his photography. It takes patience to capture divers’ encounters with wildlife — encounters that are never on humans’ terms.
In Fiji, I experience those momentous encounters firsthand. I return to the reef one last time to swim alongside the sharks, stingrays and prismatic schools of fish framed by walls of multicolor coral. My amateur attempts at freediving and breath-holds (always practiced with another person present) begin to feel natural, and suddenly I not only understand but embrace the water. Whether your goal for exploring is to test your physical limits, find your place in the world or simply witness nature’s beauty beneath the waves, the water is there for you. You just have to dive in.
Where to Try It
Whether you’re equipped with a snorkel or want to attempt your first freedive, here are five of the best spots to experience the world underwater.
ANANTARA DHIGU MALDIVES RESORT, MALDIVES
This tropical island resort is perfect for snorkelers and beginner freedivers alike: Staff guide you through the reefs, exploring as locals have done for centuries.
WAKAYA ISLAND RESORT & SPA, FIJI
Fiji’s barrier reefs — some of the world’s largest — are easily accessible, whether you’re jumping off a boat or entering from shore.
CHANNEL ISLANDS, CALIFORNIA
California’s Channel Islands have some of the biggest kelp forests on the planet, ranging from 10 feet to 100 feet deep. An abundance of freediving instructors can help lead you through this stunning national park.
YONAGUNI ISLAND, OKINAWA, JAPAN
Okinawa’s subtropical waters are filled with 200 coral species and dotted with more than 160 islands, including Yonaguni, where divers come to see Kaitei Iseki. This mysterious underwater monolith is viewable beginning at just 16 feet deep.
GREAT BLUE HOLE, BELIZE
The scenic 407-foot-deep Caribbean sinkhole is part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a UNESCO World Heritage Site reserved for more advanced divers excited to discover its coral, stalactites and marine life.
