While the sport of freediving is relatively new, the practice has a long and storied history!
The foundations of many techniques used today date back to ancient times, when breath-hold diving was used to catch food and gather resources. Here we explore key moments in freediving history and the evolution of the practice over the centuries.
When did people start freediving?
While this is difficult to know for sure, the first evidence of freediving dates back to around 6000 BC!
Archaeologists have found remains of Chinchorro people displaying signs of a type of exostosis (surfer’s ear) caused by repeated submersion. As this condition was especially prevalent in those living in the coastal areas of what is now northern Chile, it suggests these populations were regularly deep-water diving.
The evolution of freediving
The history of freediving can be broadly broken into three different phases. These are loosely defined by what the technique was being used for, though most older applications do continue to the modern day.
Freediving as farming
The earliest uses of freediving techniques were generally as part of hunting and gathering activities.
Since the Chinchorro, many cultures have relied on freediving to help feed their populations. For example, the nomadic Bajau people have been freediving for fish in the waters around Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines for hundreds of years.
This has led to physical changes within the population, who have spleens that are 50% larger than average, allowing them to dive for longer.
Freediving has also long been used to harvest sponges, with records suggesting this practice dates back as far as Ancient Greece.
Both Homer and Plato mentioned using sponges for bathing, which were mostly sourced from around the island of Kalymnos. Kalymnian divers were revered within the community and used stones to help speed up their descent, much like modern freedivers use weight belts.
Freediving for pearls has also been practised throughout the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Mannar for around 2,000 years. Evidence has also been found of Native American pearl diving in freshwater inland lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.
Japan also has a long tradition of pearl diving, which is kept alive by the ama (“seawomen”).
Freediving as exploration
The establishment of busy trade routes throughout the Mediterranean created a new demand for skilled freedivers.
As the number of ships operating in the area grew, so too did the prevalence of shipwrecks, particularly during severe winter storms. Acknowledging this, freedivers were often engaged to explore the wrecks and salvage the most valuable items.
Freediving also played an important role in many of the battles fought in the region. Records indicate that, during the Peloponnesian War (431 – 404 BC), divers were used to identify and dismantle underwater barricades. During the Siege of Tyre (332 BC), divers were also responsible for cutting the anchor cables of the attacking Macedonian ships.
Freediving as recreation and sport
Until the early 20th century, freediving was largely seen as a “profession”. However, this began to change in 1913 when Greek sponge diver, Stotti Georghios offered to help locate an anchor lost from an Italian naval vessel, the Regina Margherita. His success, and resulting fame, helped increase interest in breath-hold diving.
This was built on further in 1949, when Italian Air Force Captain and avid spearfisher, Raimondo Bucher, set the first official freediving depth record. His dive of 30 m in waters near Naples was done on a bet and earned him a prize of 50,000 lire.
The growing interest in freediving as a sport was aided by the development of equipment designed to make diving more comfortable:
- The first diving mask to enclose the nose was patented in 1927, with rubber material added in 1938 to pinch the nose and make equalisation easier.
- In 1933, “swimming propellers” were first patented, which have evolved over the years into the diving fins we know today.
- The first wetsuit was created in 1951, when physicist and avid diver, Hugh Bradner, created a prototype using neoprene.
These innovations led to a boom in recreational freediving, with US Navy diving instructor, Bob Croft, considered an early pioneer of the sport.
Credited as the inventor of the lung packing technique still used today, Croft repeatedly challenged scientific beliefs about dive limitations. Most significantly, in 1967 he broke the 63.7 m dive barrier, which was thought to be the absolute limit for humans.
Italian diver, Enzo Maiorca, also continuously broke depth records throughout his diving career, which spanned from 1960 to 1988. Known as the “Lord of the Abyss” by the Italian media, in 1961, he became the first person to dive deeper than 50 m. By his final dive in 1988, he had doubled his maximum depth, setting a new record of 101.8 m.
This pushed Maiorca past long-time rival, French diver Jacques Mayol, who was the first person to dive deeper than 100 m. It also pushed the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS, or World Underwater Federation) to stop ratifying depth records. Worried about the risks associated with divers going ever deeper, they felt stopping records would discourage further attempts.
However, interest in freediving only grew and divers continue to push their limits to this day. This has been supported by the founding of the Association Internationale pour le Développement de l’Apnée (AIDA, or International Association for the Development of Apnea) in 1992.
This non-profit organisation was created to help grow freediving as a sport, through standardisation of rules and safety guidelines, as well as ratification of records.
Responding to the formation of AIDA, CMAS began recognising records again in 1995, based on their own rules and standards. With two peak bodies, the sport is now thriving, with each organisation hosting a range of events throughout the year.
Records also continue to be consistently broken, as new techniques and equipment allow contemporary divers to reach depths previously unimaginable.
Be part of freediving’s future
While freediving history is long and rich, as the above shows, the story is far from over!
By completing one of our freediving courses in Sydney, the Central Coast or Jervis Bay, you can get involved in the next chapter of freediving history!
With classes catering to every experience level, including level 1, level 2 and level 3, we’re sure to have a course to suit you.
Get in touch with us today if you’d like to continue this 6000 year tradition.