Not even a near-death experience can stop Lim Anqi from diving into her love.
Two years ago, while practising for a freediving competition in Honduras, she blacked out as she surfaced from a 51m dive that was done on a single breath without using breathing equipment or fins. Luckily, safety divers near the surface pulled her out of the water in time, and she regained consciousness.
Out cold for a few seconds, the ordeal felt twice as long.
But Anqi ended up making waves at the Honduras meet, freediving to a depth of 65m in constant weight bifins and setting four national freediving records at the event organised by the international federation for underwater activities.
To put that into perspective, a scuba diver with open water certification is only allowed to dive to a depth of about 18m. For dives any deeper than that, advanced open water certification – which allows divers to reach a maximum depth of 30m – is required.
“Like any other sport, freediving pushes human limits and boundaries. It is very demanding both physically and mentally, and I would say even more so than most sports, as any mistake could be fatal,” she explains.
But freediving is “also like meditation”. Imagine being completely untethered deep beneath the surface of the ocean, quietly gliding past psychedelic corals and curious fish.
“For a few hours, I can be wholly present in the moment and shut everything else out. I leave my worries behind on land and be one with the ocean, with nature,” she explains.
The Nanyang Business School alumna fell in love with the ocean after she began scuba diving in 2004. The thalassophile never looked back.
“I was scuba diving in Koh Lipe in Thailand when I saw a freediver. I was amazed to see someone exploring the ocean so freely without the aid of an oxygen tank. I then went on to learn freediving from this very person,” says the 38-year-old.
That was in 2014, and over the next five years until COVID-19 struck, she went on to take part in more than 10 international competitions in what is one of the most extreme sports known to man.
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Freediver Anqi has hung up her fins for now, although she occasionally practises in the swimming pool.
“I can’t freedive in Singapore – our waters are too shallow,” she says. “I’m pursuing a second degree in physiotherapy in the meantime, and eagerly waiting for international borders to reopen so I can return to the ocean soon.”
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This story was published in the Aug-Sep 2021 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
