Photo: Steve May

Free diving, which is also known as breath hold diving, has been around for along time. In countries like France, Spain, Italy, and Greece, as well as many of the Latin American countries, free diving is very popular and has been for quite along time. In the United States, free diving is still in its beginning stages, but through education in the diving community, is on strive to be much more popular.

Free diving has been at times perceived as a dangerous sport. As with any form of diving, it does have its risks, but to be coined as dangerous is incorrect. Free diving can be safely enjoyed by anyone, as long as proper training and education are received.

Free diving is a sport of freedom, simplicity, and gracefulness. When diving beneath the surface with a full breath and only encumbered by simple equipment like a mask, fins, and snorkel, you enter a world unknown to surface dwellers, a world of beauty, peacefulness, and tranquility.

Free diving is also referred to as “apnea diving.” Apnea means without air; no breathing. With scuba diving, the diver carries air to breathe while underwater, but with free diving, the diver takes one deep breath and dives below the surface until that breath runs out and they have to return to the surface to breathe again.

Free diving as a competition sport is broken down into a number of different categories or disciplines: static apnea, dynamic apnea (with and without fins), constant weight (with and without fins), free immersion, variable weight, and no limits. Each of these disciplines has specific requirements and rules and is competed in world competitions. These disciplines require extreme mental and physical conditioning and many hours of training, which have resulted in dives to as deep as 560 feet (171 m) on a single breath and breath holds of almost nine minutes while laying motionless in a swimming pool. These feats are truly remarkable accomplishments that show just how far the human body can push itself.

Free diving’s popularity is growing more in the U.S. and around the world with popular free diving athletes like Umberto Pelezzari, Pipin Ferraras, Loic LeFemme, Tanya Streeter, the late Audrey Ferraras, Mehgan Heany-Grier, and Deborah Anodollo, just to name a few. These athletes are bringing free diving into the mainstream by appearing on TV, in magazines, and newspapers around the world. Stay tuned, because free diving is on its way of reaching its full potential.