Earlier this month, Alenka Artnik, a 39-year-old Slovenian, set a world record for free-diving. She did this in the “constant weight” category, in which she must dolphin-kick to depth and back wearing a monofin. This is attempted after trying to pack one’s lungs with air and then taking one final breath at the surface before upending and descending. Artnik used a four-pound weight to help her sink, kicking slowly and methodically for a little while. Then, at 70 meters
Artnik closed her eyes, stopped finning and the momentum sucked her down like a tractor beam. She surrendered to the free-fall, knowing it’s best not to think or move at all. Thoughts require oxygen. Stress torches it. As she sank deeper the increased pressure made her feel as though she was being hugged by the ocean (NYTimes, 11-26-20).
As she made her way further down, she kept her eyes closed until her alarm went off, signifying that she was close to the destination at the bottom of the dive. She reached her intended depth of 114 meters (374 feet under the surface of the ocean). She grabbed a tag hanging from the end of the line, a requirement for an official world record, and then began her return to the world above. She would need to carry the tag and her four-pound weight back to the surface, use her mono-fin to move through the water, and somehow stay calm as her lungs cried for oxygen.
And here is a key. Artnik has an ability to become one with her element (feeling hugged by the ocean). According to her deep safety diving partner, Tito Zappalá, one needs to “try and be like milk in the water. Dissolve yourself in water.” Zappalá said Artnik “is like this. She has the feeling. She has the big connection with the sea.” When later asked about the dive, Artnik said “I definitely felt like I belonged there in that moment [during the free-fall after 70m]. It felt so right.”
Obviously, there is a lot of training that goes into these dangerous dives. Individuals need to be in excellent aerobic and anaerobic shape. They need to be able to move through the water fluidly. They need to assess and increase their biomechanical efficiency as they undulate their body to power the monofin. They need to eat properly and hydrate correctly.
But all of this pales in comparison to what they really need to learn: how to breathe deeply, hold one’s breath while exerting, and then to relax when all instincts would be telling you to panic.
Most of us can learn to extend the length of our breath-holding ability. This can be done during dry-land training fairly safely. But what Artnik and other elite free-divers have mastered is the ability to stay calm and relaxed, to turn off thought, and to trust. This is not always successful. There are plenty of stories of free-divers blacking out and even dying. The ascent is particularly dangerous. Hence, the huge support and safety team that is involved in these world-record attempts.
Still, it ultimately depends on Alenka herself. How she maintains the calm and flow. In an interview over Facebook Messenger (via the Washington Post), she says:
It’s very important that you stay cool. Ego has a very strong role in our life. Here, if you can just imagine this place where there’s peace. In this case, it was at 114 meters, then you can come back. I came to this place and thought, ‘I’m the deepest woman, 113, 114 meters deep, but I still have to come up.’
“This is the end of the dive when you start thinking about that. All these thoughts are burning oxygen, so the key for a successful deep dive is to be completely in the present moment.”
Think about that. Even your thoughts (thinking about that) are burning oxygen. And she needs every precious molecule of it. I don’t know whether Artnik has a mindfulness meditation practice. But here she talks about how life has helped her reach this ability to be able to flow with the present moment
Euphoria or gasping for breath “cause you a lot of stress, and stress is burning oxygen. You need to be, how you say, cool as a cucumber — super, super chilled. You really need to control your emotions — your ego, basically. In my opinion, the fact that I have a background that was anything but sport gave me a lot of experiences and helped me mature. This kind of attitude helps me in diving.”
Congratulations to Alenka Artnik on this world record dive. May she stay healthy, safe, and continue to find peace and connection in the ocean and in her life.