Alessia Zecchini, a freediver and author, has broken 40 world records and earned more than 30 international medals, including 17 World Championship golds. In 2023, she reached a record-breaking depth of 123 metres (404 feet) unassisted, with nothing but a lungful of air.
Zecchini describes the experience of diving deep: 'After about 25 metres, I start to kick more gently. At around 60 metres, I stop moving my body entirely. I free-fall. That part is amazing. It's like flying in the water.' As she descends, sunlight dwindles and cold envelops her. She uses the diminishing light to gauge her depth, enjoying 'the blue that is becoming darker and darker.'
At extreme depths, freedivers can experience nitrogen narcosis, or 'rapture of the deep', where nitrogen stored in the lungs becomes compressed and enters the bloodstream. 'The deeper you go, the stronger the narcosis gets,' says Zecchini. 'It's like you're drunk. To be drunk at 100+ metres is not the best. The key is to stay focused – don't think, just feel – and live the present.'
Freediving carries health risks including shallow water blackout, decompression sickness, injury to the lungs and brain, drowning and death. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (Padi) advises that freediving should only be undertaken by trained individuals and never alone.
At the bottom of the line, Zecchini turns 'super gently' and prepares to ascend. 'You are less than halfway because the ascent is much harder than the descent.' She kicks hard for the first 60 metres, then meets safety divers at around 35 metres. When she reaches the surface and takes her first breaths, she says she feels oxygen surging through her body, filling 'every cell'.
Other record-breaking freedivers include Branko Petrovic, who held his breath for 11 minutes 54 seconds in 2014; Alexey Molchanov, who sank to 133 metres (435 feet) without weights or fins in 2023; and Budimir Šobat, who set the longest breath-hold underwater record in 2021 at 24 minutes and 37 seconds after inhaling pure oxygen.
