Take a breath, and dive. It sounds simple, but the way our bodies work is anything but! The safety protocols which underpin the sport of freediving have been developed from a scientific understanding of the body’s responses during a dive. It is a modern and rich area of research, with many important discoveries having only been published in the last one or two decades.
Athletes are frequently asked questions such as “Why don’t you get brain damage? Don’t you drown if you black out underwater? What if you black out at depth?” These questions, and more, are answered in the following pages.
Freedive myths
Here, we debunk the most common myths about breath-holding and the sport of freediving.
The dive response
Find out why the dive response is the most important part of breath-hold.
Hypoxia in freediving – coming soon!
Find out what actually happens when someone becomes hypoxic and what reflexes the body has to protect itself should someone suffer a hypoxic blackout.