Free Diving: Would You Try?

Ellie Kim, Sports

Many people in Hawaii go to the beach on the weekends, but some people like to do something more extreme than just swimming. Freediving or skin diving is a sport where divers descend underwater without using a breathing apparatus, especially in deep water.

How many people know what freediving is? Moreover, do they want to try it? All seven people interviewed said they knew about freediving.

“I am pretty sure that freediving’s a sport where divers go down holding onto a rope thing without air tanks,” Viveka Lin (9) said. “But I do not want to try freediving because I have seen many people dying in the ocean trying to do the extreme sports, and I do not want to end up bad.”

She had the right thought of what freediving was but lacked details. Lin refused to try freediving because she thought it was such an extreme sport. Kikyo McCall (9) responded the same as Viveka Lin except Kikyo McCall wanted to give it a try.

“Freediving is an extreme sport where the diver goes down the water hanging onto a rope,” Kikyo explained. “I have seen it on TV, and I wanted to try it, but again, it seems too dangerous like what if I die freediving.”

Jasmynne Kang’s answer was entirely different. She had no idea what freediving was but also didn’t want to try it.

“I thought that freediving was like scuba diving, wearing an air tank and descending the ocean,” Kang said. “I do not want to try freediving though, it seems dangerous, and I cannot swim, so it is not a sport for me.,” expressed Jasmynne.  

All the other answers were similar; most people know the basics of freediving, but have never tried because it seems dangerous. Although many Kalani students know only know the basics of freediving, few want to try it. They consider dangerous because they are not educated about it.