Mens Journal

NOTEBOOK TRAVEL&ADVENTURE

I

N APRILduring this year’s

Vertical Blue contest — the

world’s most competitive

free-diving event — William

Trubridge shattered his own

record for deepest dive (397

feet). But rather than being

elated with the feat Trubridge

was miffed. The 35-year-old

New Zealander had managed

toextendhisrecordanextra

three feet but he’d fumbled

while retrieving a tag to verify

his depth losing precious sec-

onds. “I wasn’t in the right frame

of mind” he says. “It wasn’t

a perfect ending.” So he tried

again two days later. This time

over the course of four minutes

and 34 breathless seconds

Trubridge upped the record by

another six feet.

In the world of free-diving —

which includes disciplines like

free immersion (diving with no

aid) constant weight (diving

while wearing f ins) and constant

weight without f ins — Trubridge

is king. He earned his f irst world

record after a constant no-f ins

dive to 265 feet in 2007 and then

broke that record 10 times in

the next three years. He holds

15 world records and is often

referred to as “the human f ish.”

Trubridge who founded Ver-

tical Blue has been attracted to

the water since childhood. From

age 2 to 11 he lived on a boat

and his family sailed from their

native England to New Zealand

where Trubridge was raised.

“We were always snorkeling so

when I heard about free-dive it

drew me in” he says.

The sport emerged in 1949

when an Italian air force captain

took a bet and dived 98 feet into

a lake on Capri. Free-diving has

taken off since but it’s still prac-

ticedbyjustafewdaringsouls.

This year’s Vertical Blue event

which was held in the Bahamas

lured 35 divers up from 23 the

year before. “There’s something

really nice about losing the

noise the fray the distractions

and being so internally focused”

says diver and judge Francesca

Koe. “You both lose yourself and

find yourself in the ocean.”

At a Vertical Blue match

in 2013 American diver Nick

Mevoli tried for a record but died

when his blood vessels hemor-

rhaged. This year’s contest was

nearly disastrous as well. Israeli

diver Yaron Hoory blacked out

on the second dive of the compe-

tition and didn’t come to for five

minutes. But it turned out to be

a big weekend for more than just

Trubridge. Female diver Sayuri

Kinoshita of Japan obliterated

the no-fins record with a dive to

196feetintwo and a half min-

utes and Brit Dean Chaouche

set two U.K. records: 242 feet

with no fins and 328 feet with

each in about three minutes. For

all three further records await

at the year’s remaining events.Q

Trubridge

descends 406

feet into the

world’s deepest-

known saltwater

blue hole in

Free-Diving the Bahamas.

Goes Deeper

William Trubridge keeps breaking world

records in a single breath. byDAVID BROWNE

RECORD BOOK

Number of

competitive

free-divers

who have died

since 2002.

The short history of free-diving is riddled

with horror stories. Just last year 53-year-old

free-diving legend Natalia Molchanova

disappeared off the coast of Ibiza never to be

found. The payoff isn’t so great either.

6

Depth in feet where

lungs shrink to the

size of oranges and

the heart beats at

half the normal rate.

300

Number of divers

of 35 total who

suffered lung injuries

in 2016’s Vertical

Blue contest.

4

Cash prize in

dollars at Vertical

Blue (the only

competition that

offers one).

THE DANGERS OF THE DIVE 1500

MEN’S JOURNAL 32 SEPTEMBER 2016

DAAN VERHOEVEN