Meet William Trubridge the Human Fish

New Zealander William Trubridge “is a man who both embraces and defies nature,” according to the Telegraph. The director of Vertical Blue, a freediving team and school based in the Bahamas, tells the newspaper what it takes to be a freediving superstar, having just broken two world records in as many days.

“I wasn’t expecting to achieve this coming into the competition. Several injuries and viruses had interrupted my training, so I hadn’t been hitting these kind of depths prior to the event,” Trubridge explains.

“However, once I started competing I felt really good, and my first two dives in this discipline, to 116 and 119m, felt very good, and I decided to go for it.”

The Telegraph asks Trubridge how it feels to descend and how it differs from ascending.

“The descent is the easy part. After 30m I can stop pulling on the rope and freefall the rest of the way to the bottom. If you’re relaxed and comfortable with the depth then it can be dreamy and beautiful.

“The way up is more of a grind, because I’m working against my negative buoyancy almost all the way, and I start to feel the lack of oxygen and build up of carbon dioxide. Regardless, it can still be an enjoyable phase of the dive if you don’t allow yourself to think about time or distance.”

Trubridge says that freediving is not a sport that requires super deep water. “You can freedive just on a shallow reef.

“So by learning the skills of freediving it would enrich your experience of cruising around the islands.

“One of the most amazing things is just to stop the boat, jump in and swim down into this ever-lasting expanse of blue. If you can acquire the confidence to hold your breath and the ability to swim efficiently, you can enjoy the water so much more and essentially become a sea creature yourself.”

Original article by Paul Joseph, The Telegraph, May 12, 2016.