Freediver breathes easy despite risk

Freediver William Trubridge says he will again attempt to break his own record of 101 metres.PHOTO/REBECCA WOODMORE

William Trubridge spent his formative years living on a yacht — which is where he developed an interest in diving. He tells deputy editor Mark Story danger is not what draws him to the depths.

Resurfacing semi-conscious after diving deeper than the length of a rugby field, his support crew tell him to breathe.

"Breathe William, breathe".

Given he'd spent 3min 35 seconds under water, it's hard to fathom why he'd need prompting to inhale. But such is the pressure of the deep.

William "Billy" Trubridge's record-attempting freedive in the Bahamas on December 3 stopped a nation at 8.15am. Kids missed the first school bell and their parents were late to the office, captive to the lounge while Trubridge's fraught and ultimately failed plunge to 102 metres was televised free to the nation.

Yet the reason the 34-year-old spends his life diving deeper than any human in history isn't the same reason we tune in to watch.

For those of us observing from home, it's the mortal spectre of death, the murky depths, creatures of the deep and the salty abyss known as Dean's Blue Hole that lure us to the flat screens.

More specifically it's that very human fear of suffocation and drowning - countered by Trubridge's defiance of these things.

Yet for him, the peril isn't the attraction.

"I don't think I'm a risk junkie, no. I do enjoy adventure and the exhilaration of doing things with an element of danger, but that isn't the reason I'm attracted to freediving at all," the former Havelock North, now Bahamas resident explains.

Neither does he think he'll suffer long term damage. Compression exposure, he claims, has little long-term bearing, unless someone attempts repetitive deep freedives in a single session. "Which I don't. There are plenty of freedivers or spearfishers who have been doing it their whole lives, and they seem to be still in charge of their faculties."

Like this response, all his answers to my questions are panic-free. Here's someone for whom calmness is a requisite for success..

Far from the notion of death, the sport, paradoxically entails elements of birth.

"As individuals we evolve out of an enclosed 'sea' of amniotic fluid inside the womb. We're essentially water creatures for the first nine months of our existence. People don't realise how physiologically adaptable we are to the marine environment."

Support divers moved in to assist William Trubridge after his freedive record attempt on December 3 last year.

Trubridge's recent attempt to break his own unassisted record depth was given a welcome profile boost after he took on the mantle as ambassador for Steinlager Pure.

It's a crafty association by the brewery. Everything about what this athlete does smacks of the serene. The silence in his pursuit, the pure azure blue of his sport's medium, the white sand, his lithe physique, environmental stance and tropical lifestyle.

Beer anyone?

And let's not forget the seafood to go with the lager. The ability to hold his breath renders him a feared underwater predator. "I do collect seafood for my family, yes. When I'm back in New Zealand I try to get out with Kane Grundy and some of the guys from Extreme Freedom in Hawke's Bay to chase kingfish or crays."

This "most ecological form of fishing" is consistent with his environmental stance. "I would never buy fish in a supermarket, as it most likely incurred bycatch, and in New Zealand there is the added danger that the bycatch was one of our endangered Maui's or Hector's dolphins."

"Definitely" is his response to whether he will again try to break his own record and, if it all comes together, it'll be within six months."

And there's plenty of time left, he reckons.

"Freediving is one of the few sports, like marathon running, where you peak later in life. The current female world champion is 53-year Natalia Molchanova, and she continues to dominate year after year, despite fierce competition.

"It's a sport that's benefited by a slow-down in metabolism, and also by the calmness and composure that comes with age and experience."

The flight time from New Zealand to the Bahamas is 36 hours. But that doesn't lessen the urge to return to the Bay. "I miss the view of Te Mata Peak, hiking in the Kawekas, the raspberries in the summer and swimming in the rivers."