Category: Freediving

Posted on

girls who freedive

girls freediving

Above photo by Danielle Eakins

We’ve all seen the images on Instagram of the hot girl freediving in a bikini.  Maybe you are that girl. Maybe you’re not and maybe you muttered under your breath something like, “I bet she can’t even dive past 10 meters…”

Awhile back I was scrolling through Instagram and noticed that PADI posted a picture of a girl getting out of the water in SCUBA gear. She was very pretty. There was nothing else remarkable about the photo. Not a lot of skin. Not a suggestive pose. But somehow this image triggered a pretty strong response among PADI’s social media followers. Many of the comments expressed disappointment that PADI would post the photo. A few of the comments picked the girl apart for wearing makeup and not having her hair tied back. They accused PADI of not picturing ACTUAL women divers because real female divers don’t look like that. 

I don’t understand what a REAL diver is supposed to look like.

So I studied the picture intently trying to pinpoint what it was that was so wrong about it. She had SCUBA gear on. Her mask was on. Nothing seemed out of place. The only real issue that people seemed to have with the photo was that she was pretty.

Photo by Nick Fuist

I hesitate to post many pictures from days that are too warm for a wetsuit because I worry people will think those same thoughts about me. That I’m not a real diver. I don’t want to invite people to pick me apart. And when I do post a photo of me diving in a bikini I worry that I’m losing respect among some people in my community.

But what is it about seeing an image of a girl diving in a bikini that triggers us to the point that we insult her?

Here in Hawai’i there’s no shortage of cute girls getting their pictures taken underwater. I’ve been told so-and-so IG model with hundreds of freediving photos and tens of thousands of followers can’t even dive that deep. Would we say that about someone else? Would we critique them so harshly for their capabilities if they weren’t hot?

I don’t think so.

What if it stems from insecurities that many of us have? We see someone getting likes and follows on social media. We decide this is because they’re attractive and therefore, undeserved. Next we assign negative qualities to that person in order to feel better about ourselves. This picture of the gorgeous human makes me feel insecure and instead of turning inward to recognize that I have something (poor body image, low self esteem, etc.) to work through, I focus outward on this other person in a negative way.

I’m guilty of doing this, too.

As I continue to grow and “do the work” on myself I have started to recognize why these negative thoughts come up and I’ll try to shut them down right away.

None of us should care what someone else chooses to wear, in or out of the water. If someone wants to post a diving photo with their butt front and center, hell yeah! Post that booty pic! At the end of the day, I just want people to dive. The more people we have in the ocean, the more ocean lovers we create.

I’m super interested in what everyone else thinks about this topic. Please comment below, send me a message, or DM me on Instagram.

Posted on

how freediving saved me

female freediver

Freediving saved me. 

It’s made me feel powerful, strong, athletic, actually good at something… the opposite of what I had been feeling. For months and months, maybe even years, before my introduction to freediving I was feeling weak, ugly, less than, not skinny enough, not good enough and, after being cheated on by my then-partner, I felt stupid and naive on top of it all. I felt broken. Lucky for me I lived in Hawai’i so I could escape to the ocean. I’d always loved being in the water and the more time I spent shell hunting the more I wanted to push myself further. I had seen photos here and there on Instagram of girls freediving with these long fins. They looked strong, powerful and beautiful. I wanted that. 

After some friends posted about a class they took under Kurt Chambers I decided to take the class, too. Maybe I could learn some tricks, hold my breath longer, buy a GoPro and get some cool underwater pictures that would make me feel good enough again.

I was ready to take my first freedive class.

The class wasn’t very big but boy did I feel like a badass when I had the longest static breath hold in the class (just barely! The only other girl, Chloe, was just a few seconds behind me. Girl Power!) The instructor, Kurt, made some offhand comment to me about my breath hold being pretty good and that was all I needed. I went out to buy some long fins and a real freediving wetsuit, I mean, I had to look the part, right?

A month later I took Kurt’s class again and he asked me if I had ever thought about competing because he was organizing an amateur competition in Kona in a couple of months and he remembered that I had a “monster” (I think that was the word he used) breath hold and I should consider coming. To learn, to improve and to meet new dive buddies. By this time I looked up to Kurt alot, if Kurt thought I belonged at a freedive competition then maybe I should listen to him? I said yes. My life has never been the same. 

That trip to Kona was everything Kurt had promised. I had the opportunity to push myself to deeper depths than I ever thought possible. I learned new techniques and I hit 100 feet for the first time. But the best part wasn’t the diving, it was the people I met. Everyone was so kind and welcoming to me, the newbie. It really helped me put aside my nerves and self conscious thoughts to fully embrace the experience. The people I met there and through other freedive classes and camps are now my best friends. My fellow dive nerds. My people.

Freediving has shown me how to meditate in the ocean.

It’s no wonder many of us find freediving so calming. We spend minutes breathing up, slow and deliberate inhales and exhales. Our Mammalian Dive Response (MDR) kicks in and helps us dive longer by lowering our heart rate. I try to shut off my thoughts and just breathe. Then I dive and as I travel further and further from the surface, the increasing pressure feels like the ocean enveloping me, welcoming me. The experience I have when I’m diving can only be described as flow state. I have found a place that is quiet, where I am completely in the moment. When I am under the surface, diving on just one breath, the thoughts from the world up above are gone. My normal hamster-on-a-wheel-brain; my constantly thinking, judging, worrying mind is clear. It’s just me and the ocean now. 

Photo by Bob Nguyen

Freediving has helped me learn to appreciate my body for the incredible things it is capable of. How can I hate a body that can take me deep into the depths of the ocean and bring me back to the surface safely? The self loathing that, at times, was completely consuming faded. I knew I was bigger than my negative thoughts because I had the mental toughness to dive over a hundred feet deep. If my brain could manage that without a panic attack, I felt like I could manage a lot more on land than I’d previously thought possible. I was right. 

Fast forward a few years and here I am. A new freediving instructor. I am so thankful for this sport, hobby, lifestyle, whatever you want to call it. I want to share it with others. I started teaching because I don’t believe that my experience with freediving is unique. I’d like to show people that they too are capable of feats that they never thought possible. It is such a privilege to introduce others to an activity that has given me so much. 

Freediving has given me self confidence and strength. 

Freediving has given me a community of people I love & who love me. 

Freediving has given me purpose.