Dahab, Egypt – When the countdown started, Khaled Elgammal took one remaining, deep breath earlier than descending with none respiratory tools into the ocean. One minute and 29 seconds later, nonetheless holding his breath, the Egyptian athlete had free-fallen to 102 metres (335 toes) – a nationwide report.
However for it to rely, he needed to attain the floor once more. He turned on the backside of the road and commenced his ascent – specializing in deep leisure and the emotions of the encompassing water. In all, he had held his breath for 2 minutes and 50 seconds.
Elgammal is Egypt’s deepest freediver, and his outstanding achievement set a brand new nationwide report on the Sharm el-Sheikh competitors in October 2023.
“When I came to the surface, it was bliss. It felt amazing,” Elgammal remembers.
Freedivers like Elgammal rely solely on the power to carry their breath whereas diving underwater. By means of coaching, these divers grasp leisure to decelerate their coronary heart fee, permitting them to remain beneath the floor with out respiratory tools for minutes at a time. Very deep dives just like the one he did lately often require divers to carry their breath for round three minutes at a time.
The follow of freediving may be traced again to conventional fishing in communities like Asia’s Bajau people, the place coastal teams have used freediving to hunt underwater for 200 years. As a sport, freediving is now present process report development, attracting individuals trying to join with the ocean and higher perceive their physique’s skills.
As for Elgammal, he says he was captivated by the distinctive sensations of diving with a single breath.
“I always say that scuba diving is everything in slow motion; you’re moving slow, breathing slow, and the sound of the bubbles is hypnotising, so everything is in slow motion. Freediving is like you’ve paused… and are the only thing moving down there. So you give yourself the chance to sink within.”
The game is now rising in reputation around the globe. In response to AIDA Worldwide rankings, 2,889 freedivers registered to compete in competitions in 2023, greater than twice the quantity a decade earlier.
The freediving organisation instructed Al Jazeera that round 20,000 individuals have grow to be licensed freedivers in recent times. Scuba Colleges Worldwide (SSI) has equally seen a gradual 10 % annual rise within the variety of individuals incomes their first freediving certification.
Many of those certifications are awarded in Dahab, a bohemian enclave on Egypt’s Pink Sea shoreline which has grow to be house to quite a few freediving faculties and elite instructors. Dahab featured a shoreline of palm timber and conventional Bedouin properties only a few many years in the past. Whereas nonetheless thought-about a small city in the present day, it boasts a thriving beachfront of Egyptian and worldwide eating places and attracts a rising crowd from Cairo, Europe and Asia. A handful of luxurious resorts have emerged however Dahab nonetheless maintains an genuine allure – with herds of goats freely roaming the streets.
It’s additionally one of many world’s best-known freediving hotspots as a consequence of its year-round water situations and proximity to Egypt’s Blue Gap. Simply 20 minutes away by automotive, the Blue Gap is a well-known reef-lined sinkhole accessible from the shore.
Right here, divers can descend to round 90 metres (295 toes) – nearly the peak of the Statue of Liberty.
A heightened state of self-awareness
However what has contributed to the rise of freediving?
The game is linked to a number of psychological and therapeutic advantages. A 2013 examine by teachers at Atilim College in Turkey, discovered that freedivers are likely to exhibit decrease stress and nervousness ranges than non-freedivers.
Carlos Diezel, the supervisor of Dahab Freedivers, a college that trains divers, defined that a lot of that is right down to “breathwork”.
“The fact that we have to pay attention to our breath, our mind and relaxation when we go down teaches us awareness,” he says. “I believe that part of the problem, statistically speaking, for mental health issues is related to the lifestyle in modern society, that’s leading people to forget or block any kind of self-awareness.”
This heightened state of self-awareness is one thing that devoted freedivers like Elgammal attempt for. “I’m always aware now of what I’m feeling, what I’m sensing,” he says. “Freediving helped me to connect with myself.”
Freediving’s reference to nature and immersion in water may contribute to its psychological well being advantages. Diezel says the commonest causes individuals join freediving programs are a fascination with the ocean and studying extra about themselves.
“They grasp this connection with themselves when you hold your breath and go deep,” he mentioned, including that college students take into account it “a ‘deep’ experience – sorry for the pun”.
Social media equally performs a job in bringing freediving to the forefront. Many freediving photos allude to a way of freedom, that includes divers amongst marine life and vibrant reefs. The hashtag #freediving has amassed greater than 3.5 million mentions on Instagram to date. “It’s getting a lot of attention as it’s quite photographic. Some videos are just mesmerising,” Diezel provides.
Diving safely
Inside the present freediving group, the game’s surge in reputation brings added duty. Thought-about an “extreme sport”, freediving may be dangerous if security protocols aren’t adopted, or divers push themselves past their bodily limits. They’ll expertise oxygen deficiency signs like hypoxia and blackouts, in addition to pressure-related dangers like a ruptured eardrum, an instance of a barotrauma.
Opposite to portrayals resembling Netflix’s The Deepest Breath, divers dropping consciousness – often known as blackouts – are comparatively unusual, notably in leisure diving at shallower depths.
Freedivers are additionally educated to rescue a fellow diver safely as a part of their earliest coaching, studying to watch every dive, spot indicators of misery and how one can react. Beneath the buddy system, which helps to make sure freedivers stay secure, divers by no means dive alone.
Tamsyn Signe is an expert freediver who champions security every time she enters the water. She has labored as a security freediver in a number of competitions, and it’s her function to make sure the competing divers make it to the floor safely. Final yr, she saved a diver’s life 30 metres (98 toes) underwater in a uncommon instance of a deep rescue.
“As he got in front of me, the lights went out,” Signe remembers, describing the second the ascending freediver simply stopped transferring after dropping consciousness. At 30 metres under the floor, Signe was additionally holding her breath. Nevertheless, she wasn’t excited about the carbon dioxide constructing in her physique – she had a job to do.
“Everything really slowed down,” she says. “I knew I was his best shot at being ok.” As she’s educated to do, Signe closed his airways together with her fingers and began finning (swimming up with flippers) with him towards the floor – a tough job with the added weight of one other diver. The competitor regained consciousness after reaching the floor, partly due to Signe’s fast considering and supportive staff. He would later attain out and thank her for saving his life.
Signe says the rescue modified her life too, making her extra observant and ready for sudden dangers, but it surely’s a part of the job. Most freedivers imagine that practising security in freediving, resembling by no means diving alone and being educated for rescue, is essential to the game’s survival.
However this isn’t only a tick-box train; security additionally forges shut bonds throughout the group. “When you go through an experience with people where you could potentially die, there’s some sort of connection that happens that is way deeper and intimate than normal. And those friendships do last a lifetime,” Signe provides.
Duties past the breath-hold
Alongside valuing security, Zahraa El-Husseiny, a freediving teacher and Egyptian nationwide report holder, believes that defending our oceans can also be an essential duty which comes with freediving. Many freedivers accumulate plastic they discover floating within the water; others, like Diezel, stopped consuming seafood after studying in regards to the human affect of overfishing.
As Earth’s oceans face growing pressures from air pollution and international warming, those that depend on the ocean will play a significant function in future conservation. First drawn to freediving as a result of she was fascinated with marine life, El-Husseiny tries to show others about respecting the ocean by means of her sport.
“We are very connected to the ocean, and we owe it to this to protect it. We know how essential it is to move freely underwater, so… we need to protect it,” she says.
For a lot of, freediving provides a path for self-discovery and a deeper connection to the pure world. As a sport, it’s poised for continued development sooner or later.
Freediving isn’t reserved for a choose few both, and freediving communities are increasing in lots of coastal areas. “Everyone can learn how to hold their breath,” El-Husseiny provides.
“Everyone can learn how to enjoy the ocean and the peacefulness of diving. I would like people to know that this is something they can do, learn and progress in”, she says.
Passing on the love of this sport is one thing many freedivers take severely. When Elgammal isn’t coaching for record-breaking dives, he’s working as an teacher and coach. He equally urges these within the sport to “be curious”.
“Relax, enjoy, trust. Think about what you like and try to visualise that feeling.”
