In just over a week William Trubridge will make an attempt at the unassisted freediving world record with a dive to the monumental depth of 100 meters (one hectometer) to beat his own world record of 95 meters.
William is dedicating the dive to the Project's namesake, the Hector's Dolphin. It is the littlest dolphin in the world, and the only one that is endemic to New Zealand, but the species is threatened with extinction, and a bill being considered by the Minister of Fisheries could determine its fate.
Trubridge will attempt the freedive between December 10 to 16 at Dean's Blue Hole, on Long Island, in the Bahamas (the deepest blue hole in the world, at 203 meters deep). Unassisted freediving is the most refined and challenging form of the sport: using only his bare hands and feet Trubridge will swim down into the abyss and back up to the surface on a single breath.
New Zealand's own dolphin species
There are now only 100 remaining North Island (Maui) Hector's Dolphins - one of the smallest and most beautiful species of dolphin in the world. Hector's Dolphins are found only in New Zealand, and only in shallow coastal waters, less than 100 meters deep, putting them at the mercy of gill-net fishing that takes place in those waters. Their population has been reduced by 75% in the last 30 years, and the Maui Dolphin subspecies is teetering on the verge of extinction.
The public can support William's dive by bidding on the individual meters of the 100-metre dive rope, earning memorabilia from the event and supporting the Hectors Dolphin at the same time. Visit www.verticalblue.net to find out more. Funds raised will be donated to the New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust, and William hopes that increased awareness of the plight of this iconic sea-mammal will encourage fisheries and government to make the right decisions to safeguard them against extinction.
Background on William Trubridge
When he was an infant, Trubridge’s family sold their house in England to buy a boat and sail from Spain across the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific Ocean to New Zealand. Like Hawaiian children, he learnt to swim and walk at the same time, and by the age of 8 was already freediving to 15 meters, competing with his older brother to see who could bring back a stone from the deepest depth. However he didn't discover freediving was a sport until eight years ago, when he was 22, and traveled back to the Caribbean, where he became hooked on the sport, spending hours underwater every day descending the huge coral walls or lying in sunny sand gardens watching the tropical fish.
Trubridge is 30 years old, and when he was born in 1980 the world record in 'No Limits' freediving, where the diver can use a weighted sled to descend and an inflatable balloon to ascend, was 100m. Now 30 years on he will attempt the same depth in the purest form of the sport, where the freediver cannot use any propulsive aids, not even fins. He trains 5 to 7 hours a day, and uses yogic breathing exercises and mind control techniques in order to deal with being so deep under the sea, with nothing to depend on other than his own hands and feet. In recent years he has left his nearest rivals behind, single-handedly taking the world record from 80 to 95 meters, but he continues to push on to explore the limits of what the human body is capable of doing underwater.
Deep freediving
At 100 meters the pressure exerted by overhead water crushes Trubridge's lungs to the size of small grapefruit, and the blood vessels inside them swell with blood in order to stop the lungs from imploding. The heart slows to 25 beats per minute, and Trubridge has to fight the narcotic effects of pressurized carbon dioxide and nitrogen - the so-called ‘rapture of the deep’ that tempts him towards a fateful sleep. Using yoga and techniques such as visualization and mental programming Trubridge is able to keep his body going even when the mind is ‘not completely there.’ This depth is more than three times the depth limit for recreational scuba diving, and it would be considered suicidal to go this deep breathing from a normal scuba tank of air.
The dive is expected to last four minutes in total, but since the muscles are using precious oxygen in order to propel the body up and down it is more difficult than a straight breath hold for even twice that amount of time.
Trubridge uses a silicon-coated wetsuit specifically designed by Orca, as well as swimming goggles that have been adapted with corrective lenses mounted on the inside so that they can be flooded and enable vision underwater. The record depth is verified by an official Suunto D4 depth gauge that Trubridge wears on his wrist, as well as underwater cameras that are viewed by judges from AIDA - the official organization for verifying freediving records.
Safety technical divers using rebreathers will be stationed along the vertical descent line that William will follow, without touching, to the bottom and back.
Various
William Trubridge and his wife Brittany spend seven months of the year training in the Bahamas, and the rest of the time traveling through Europe teaching freediving and yoga courses. They were the hosts of the recent AIDA World Championships, where William won gold and bronze in the disciplines with and without fins.
Compared to Scuba, Freediving offers a greater interaction with the liquid element. Fish aren’t scared off by noisy bubbles, and the maneuverability of a stream-lined body makes it possible to swim with sharks, eagle rays and dolphins, or explore tight caves, and the freediver feels absolutely integrated with their environment. During his travels William works to clean beaches and raise awareness of the fragile nature of the oceans. Living the aquatic life has generated his greater respect for an environment that we too easily take for granted.
Check also William's video where he tells about his freediving world record attempt at www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8LOUfpf5dE
For more information, visit www.verticalblue.net or www.facebook.com/williamtrubridge