- Dean's Blue Hole, the Bahamas.
[ambient music]
* *
A 663-foot-deep freediving paradise.
* *
In freediving, you dive down as deep as you can
and hold your breath for as long as possible.
* *
No air tanks, just you and the ocean.
- Whenever you're ready.
- It's a constant battle
between your mind and your body.
But not knowing your limit could lead to blackouts...
- Breathe! Up, up, up, up, up!
- And death.
This is a more dangerous sport
than I think I've ever come across.
There's a subtlety and nuance to this
that is surprising and taken me off guard,
and it's really intimidating.
You're on a knife edge on this.
[heart beating]
- People train for months before freediving.
I felt completely unprepared.
- Five meters.
- I know how far you push it.
- It's in his system to push past
what you're supposed to do,
because it's worked for him.
- 15 meters.
- It's more a matter of your mind
and a matter of relaxing.
- 20 meters.
- If he does that this time,
there could be consequences.
- I felt about as close to death
as I could possibly get.
- 25 meters.
- I could feel it.
- My eardrum's gone. - Wow.
- 30 meters.
- He's got to control it.
- He wants to just push.
- I'm kind of stressed out.
I mean, they talk about people blacking out,
like, towards the surface, but what if you black out...
- Breath. - Halfway up?
- Breath. - What do you do then?
- Breath. - He can't help himself.
He wants to push it
and really find down there in the deep blue
what it is that he's looking for.
[upbeat music]
- I've always loved the ocean, ever since I was a child.
I still do.
After all this time, I am fortunate enough
to live near a beach.
And swimming--well, that has always centered me.
But freediving requires a really unique skill set:
slowing your heart rate,
being relaxed and in the moment,
and conserving your energy.
In some ways, you could say it's the opposite
of all the sports I've ever typically engaged with.
In the limited time that I have,
I've set a goal to see if I can muster
what it takes to freedive
to 100 feet on just one breath.
- You're not actually worried about going deep,
holding your breath, and messing it up,
like, personal safety?
- No, not that bit.
It's not rocket science, either, is it?
It's just like--well, I guess
it's life-and-death stuff in some ways.
- It is a bit life-and-death.
- I always like to minimize the idea.
Chris is one of my oldest and closest friends.
We just get each other.
He knows why I want to or perhaps even need
to push myself to that edge and beyond.
If I'm not, like, you know,
sucking the marrow out of life or whatever,
I feel like I'm not really living.
I like to push myself, right?
- Well, that--that is the bit that worries me a little bit.
Do you think chanting is going to help you with--
- Chanting's helped everything.
It's like, if you want a road map
or if you want the art of living,
then that's where it's at, right?
So it works for me, you know?
Getting to do this and learn a skill
that will take me and teach me something about somebody else,
about their art, and not actually go to a place
where anything bad has to happen.
That, in itself, will be a great education for me.
So we'll see.
We'll go on this little journey and see
what comes out the other side.
And just like that, I'm off.
Bahamas, here we come.
[upbeat music]
* *
This is Camila Jaber, Mexico's current record holder,
and at 26,
she's one of the world's best freedivers.
[cheers and applause]
She's here for the Vertical Blue Competition,
the most prestigious freediving tournament
on the planet.
And she is my teacher for the next week.
- Hello.
- Apologize in advance for being so jet-lagged.
- You get one good night's sleep,
and you'll be great.
- I'm so happy to be here. - Yeah.
It is a very special competition.
- Tell me. How's it been going?
So you've been here for four weeks,
and how many dives have you done?
- I've done five dives.
I have one more left
that is at the end of the competition.
It's been an incredible week
of breaking my own records,
that are Mexican national record.
Looking forward to closing on a good note.
Last year, I wasn't in a good mood at the end.
- No? - Yeah, I just had
a bad experience, kind of messed up
with your confidence for the next point.
- What do you put that down to?
- I blacked out on the last day.
[ominous music]
- A blackout is one of the most dangerous risks
of freediving.
- Breathe! Up, up, up, up, up.
- If the oxygen in your blood drops below a certain level,
you'll lose consciousness, and that can be deadly.
- I just learned the lesson.
So I have one more left, and it's exciting.
- To know that even an expert like Camila
can have an accident like that...
well, I guess I just hadn't really thought
about it like that.
My family lives 3,000 miles away,
and if I have a brush with death like Camila,
what would that mean to them?
- What have you been up to?
Have you been doing some training?
- Yeah. Yes, I have.
I mean, listen, I won't lie, it's not--
I've been trying.
- Hola!
[laughter]
- When I first met Camila eight weeks ago,
she gave me a series of breathing exercises
that would prepare me for Dean's Blue Hole.
While I was filming on location in Australia,
I began my breath work.
I started with a two-minute breath hold,
and then I just kept increasing it from there.
I started doing the breath work,
and I tried to build it
into what I was doing.
I did it one time.
You know, I was, like, in the makeup chair.
- Three, two, one, breath.
- [inhales deeply]
- [laughing] Just don't die on us.
- So freediving, the way to keep it safe
is to do it very gradually and just focus
on your feelings, on your sensations,
on your equalizing.
At the end, you choose-- you choose your own dives.
- Right, right.
Wow, so it's really about taking
responsibility for yourself.
- For yourself, totally. - Yeah, got it.
Like, you have to choose for yourself what's best
and what's best for your training, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Deep water blackouts are very, very rare,
and if this happens when nobody's there,
it can be fatal.
- Yeah.
[suspenseful music]
* *
[upbeat music]
* *
- Mastering my breath holding,
getting comfortable with the discomfort,
learning to conserve my energy,
and knowing my limits.
In this sport, that's the difference
between life and death.
Hey. - Hey.
- You're holding your breath. - You're holding your breath.
And then when it starts feeling too much, you exhale.
[both exhaling]
- Good. Come back to center.
- So people who are like you, who are really good at this--
you've learnt to master your breath to a place
where you can live through the discomfort
of the buildup of carbon--
- Of carbon dioxide, exactly.
- You can push that.
- So people who are really good at this push through that?
- Exactly. That's what I want to say.
- And that's not super negative for the body?
- No, no, no, no.
- It's actually not? - It's not, it's not.
- So you're swimming down, right,
building up carbon dioxide. - Yes.
- At what point do you go, "Okay, I have to stop," right?
Because then you also have to think,
"I'm gonna turn around and come back up."
- Exactly, yeah.
Okay? So inhale up.
- Interesting.
- [clicks tongue]
- Yeah!
[dramatic electronic music]
- So here I am at Dean's Blue Hole
for the first time.
It's a 663-foot sinkhole,
just an easy swim from the shore.
Wow. - Yeah.
- People train for years to set freediving records
at the Vertical Blue Competition,
and here I am, practically a beginner.
I don't know how I thought I could just do this.
I'm, like, suitably butterflies.
I have that feeling of, like, "I'm about to compete,"
but I guess it's just--
I'm gonna have a go at doing something for myself...
- Yeah. - Which is crazy.
[pensive music]
* *
- So, Orlando...
Vamos.
* *
So one of the main obstacles is equalization, yeah?
So that's why we want to take it step by step,
so we make sure that you can equalize.
And this has to be done while you're diving down
because of the increase of pressure.
You pinch your nose, and you blow out.
Perfect.
Then, taking it like a progression,
you make sure that your body is prepared for it.
- Okay. - Muy bien.
[dramatic music]
* *
Today is all about listening to my body
as I hold my breath longer and dive deeper
while equalizing my ears.
* *
Seeing the beauty of Dean's Blue Hole
is so seductive.
You could almost forget
that if anything goes wrong down there,
you don't get another breath.
* *
I was close to the line that time.
I had a really weird sensation in my nose.
When I blow my nose, it comes out my eyes, when I equalize.
I'm going like this,
and I'm feeling it come out my eye.
Is that real?
- It's probably because you're equalizing your mask, then.
- Oh, okay.
- But maybe just do it less forcefully then.
- Okay.
What's the smoothest way to enter, to drop this hand?
- And spinning around.
Go slowly.
Right.
The idea for these repetitions
is for you to, like, get the technique right
at the beginning... - Yeah.
- Before we start anything deeper.
- Yeah, yeah. - Yeah?
- I won't go far. I'll just go a little bit,
like you did at train-- - Exactly that.
Just try-- just to try the turn.
[calm music]
* *
Great.
- That felt good.
- Keep your chin in for the way up,
but you still have a little tendency
of looking where you're going.
And that just adds stress here and here.
- Yeah, yeah.
- And for deeper dives, that's going to maybe get
in the way of your equalizing.
So just keep-- try to keep that in mind.
- Yeah.
- That was great. Muy bien.
- Yeah. Muy bien.
- Muy bien. - Thank you.
It's a really unique sensation, isn't it?
- Yeah, but you did amazing.
Your equalizing is perfect,
and then you do very smooth entrances.
So we have a busy day tomorrow.
I'm diving.
- Yeah.
So I can be cheering you on.
That's fantastic. - Yes, yeah.
I'm excited.
* *
[upbeat music]
* *
[crowd chattering]
* *
- Camila, hi, guys. - Hola.
- Hey, how are ya?
- Hi, I'm Orlando.
I'm gonna fist bump, you know, this world we live in.
- William. - So nice to meet you all.
- So happy for you to meet them.
- Yeah, I've been looking forward to it.
So this is your freediving crew?
This the crew? - Yeah, the freediving fam.
- Freediving fam, even better.
How long have you been diving?
- I started here. I took his class 2014.
So about seven years.
- I'm the newbie here.
I started less than four years ago.
- Okay. - My first dive was in Utila,
in a small island in Honduras. - Ah.
- So maybe, you know, you're gonna have
the same, like, mind-blowing, opening experience.
- I mean, if today was anything to go by,
I'm pretty mind-blown. [laughs]
- Why don't we sit down?
- Yes, should we sit down?
Today was my first day at the Dean's Blue Hole,
and I can see the vibe.
It's magical, it's unpretentious,
but it's, like, competitive.
But it's mostly against--
you're competing with yourself, right?
So I was really blown away by my first experience.
So, William, you started Vertical Blue?
- Pretty much. In 2007,
I had a world record attempt,
like, just myself here in the Bahamas.
It was a record attempt with no fins to 81 meters.
- Just swimming down, hands and feet?
- Yeah. And from there,
it kind of seeded
this idea of bringing in more athletes
and attempting world records together
and built bigger from there until, now,
it's the kind of pinnacle of competitive freediving
in the world now.
- I love this story.
- So all the world records--
- Are made and broken at this spot?
- Currently, they're all held by dives
that were done at Dean's Blue Hole, yeah.
- Fantastic. - And where have you taken
your record now? - Yeah.
- So the world record since then, 2007 was 81,
and I've been kind of, like, increasing it year by year.
Now it's 102 meters.
- Wow.
How long were you underwater for?
- That dive was, like, four minutes 10, 12.
Something just over four minutes.
- That's--that's amazing.
For William to have, you know, swum to past 100 meters
must be like the Everest of freediving.
It doesn't feel fantastically safe.
I haven't fully grasped the stakes completely,
but I'm here to have
the experience of understanding and learning,
and I think it's something I'm intrigued about.
[dramatic music]
- 80 meters.
[cheers and applause]
Touchdown. [cheers and applause]
Official top.
Two, three, four, five.
- Today is the last day
of the Vertical Blue competition...
- 40 meters, first place.
- Where divers from all over the world
compete to set both national and world records.
- One minute plus 10. Plus 15.
- How are you, man? - Good.
- I've got lots of questions, but I'm gonna ask you
after I go in and see Camila.
- Yeah, I'll come out with you.
- All right, cool.
Camila is attempting to break her own national Mexican
freediving record by diving to 82 meters,
which is about 270 feet.
These depths are so far beyond my comprehension
at this stage in my training.
It's nerve-racking.
- Four and a half minutes.
- It's amazing to see her focus.
It's a whole mindset
and a meditative state and a prayer,
and it's all kind of landing.
- Five, four, three, two, one.
Official top.
Plus one, two, three, four, five.
Camila Jaber.
[intense music]
* *
- Watching Camila disappear into the Blue Hole
is both breathtaking and terrifying.
It really puts what I'm hoping to accomplish
into perspective.
- 82 meters.
Touchdown.
* *
40 meters.
[clock ticking]
* *
First safety. 30 meters.
Second safety, 20 meters.
[soft voices and splashing]
[cheers and applause]
- Viva Mexico!
- I was so nervous for you.
Camila officially broke the Mexican national record
by diving to 270 feet.
It's the end of the competition,
and to my surprise,
I'm invited to make a dive of my own.
With everyone watching, that's a lot of pressure
I wasn't expecting.
- I just need to relax and think about my breath work
and the techniques that Camila has taught me up until now.
I've been building up a CO2 tolerance.
All I have to do now is put it to the test.
[ambient music]
* *
It's in moments like these that my Buddhist practice
gives me the courage and determination
to push past the feelings of discomfort.
* *
[uplifting music]
* *
- Way to go, Orlando. Breathe.
Breathe. Okay. - I'm okay.
[cheers and applause]
Being a novice to all this--
the freediving, the competitions--
it's wonderful to feel so welcomed and encouraged
by this community of freedivers.
[bell chimes]
Yeah, last night, I started noticing
a, like, crackling in my ears.
[heartbeat]
We'll see how it progresses, but it's obviously, like...
It's not ideal.
But the concern is just that I don't do
any damage to my eardrums.
It might have a little bit of an impact on the dives
and how far I can push it sort of thing, so...
It's--it's frustrating because, you know,
but maybe it's the universe stepping in and going,
"Uh, not today, buddy."
Hey, guys.
Hey. - Hey!
- I just can't believe how clear it is today.
- Beautiful, yeah. - Look at that, yeah?
- How are you feeling? - Good?
- Good, good. I, um...
I felt like I was having water in my ears.
It was like a little crackling.
Like, when I went down yesterday,
I think I was equalizing pretty good,
but I think maybe there was one point
where I didn't do it quite quick enough.
And I think it kind of made me just get
a little bit of an expansion or inflamed it,
maybe--I'm not sure. - Because normally,
most people, when they equalize,
you hear like, a "sh." - Yeah.
- That's what you're hearing? - Yeah.
- Or is it more like a kind of crumpled paper?
- Crumpled paper.
- And it's only happening in one ear?
- Both. Both.
- When the tissue is inflamed, then it's susceptible
to the natural bacteria that are in the water in your ear.
That can cause an external ear infection.
- Well, we definitely want to avoid that.
- Yeah. - And it's very painful,
like, turning to an ear infection.
- Yeah, yeah. We can see everything
that you're doing with your fins
and in the water, like position, everything.
We can't see inside your ears.
So that's kind of your responsibility,
to, like, feel what's going on there and to be
as conservative as you can.
- I think it's worth trying. I'd like to try
and see how we feel or maybe just try.
- If it blows out or jams up-- - I'm done.
- You're done. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Gonna be, like...
- I'm obviously frustrated
because this ear situation is--
it's something for me to be listening to,
the part I'm paying attention to.
I also feel like I got
a bit [indistinct] in my head about it.
I think it's the inner child in me going,
"Wait, what? You can do this better.
"You're the best.
"Why aren't you competing better?
"Why aren't you achieving more?
Why aren't you"--you know.
It's okay.
I'm old enough now to recognize that that voice
is a part of my programming.
- With freediving, the ear is kind of like an Achilles' heel.
It's this tiny little membrane, and if you don't manage
that membrane perfectly,
then you get this kind of a problem.
- Actually, it's a little bit of a lesson, isn't it?
- Mm-hmm. - Yeah.
This is a sport where, like, trying to push through barriers
is always gonna--
it's always gonna go sideways.
- Yeah, typically I've probably always--
- Had that approach?
- Had that "push through" approach.
I think, in all honesty, there is a lot more to this
than just, you know, swimming down and holding your breath.
I think there's--and I think that that's something
that I'd underestimated.
I guess I'm human and I'm fallible
and I'm not, like, you know,
the superhero that I am in my brain.
[laughs]
I'm really upset.
I feel like my body has, in some way, let me down.
But if I don't listen to it,
it could lead to permanent hearing loss.
Tomorrow I'm really hopeful that I wake up
and my ears have dried out
and the crackling sound in it is not there.
I put a certain amount of pressure on myself
to perform.
There's no real rhyme or reason to why one breath,
I feel very comfortable, and another time, I'm like,
"Okay, no, it's time to come up."
You know, William had passed out the day before last.
He was attempting a dive
which is a big dive, it's 90 meters,
but he's done over 100.
He came to the top.
- Up, up, William. - Breathe.
- Up. - Up, up!
- Breathe! - Up, up, William.
- Breathe! - Up, up, up, up!
- And he said 90 meters should be doable,
but it wasn't, and he passed out.
The risk is removed through repetition
and practice and training.
And I have none of that.
[ominous music]
* *
[birds tweeting]
- Protein powder and nuts and almonds
and hazelnut milk.
- I slept like shit, actually.
No surprises there.
I took, like, a--
I woke up, and I don't know what time it was.
It was still dark outside, so--
and I kind of lay there for a couple of hours,
and then I took a melatonin.
I don't--I don't really know why I've created
such a monster out of it.
It's really, really not--
doesn't make any sense.
I don't know.
I probably haven't pushed it
as far as I could have yet, maybe.
[bell chimes]
[chanting]
[bell chimes]
- Hey. Good morning. - Good morning.
- How are you?
- I'm a little frustrated, I think, today, yeah.
I guess what I'm realizing is,
I'm sort of trying to find my path.
- Yeah. - And what my path usually is,
is working out twice a day...
- Mm, I understand. - Like, pushing myself
'cause I'm, like, a red liner. Like, I'm like...
- Pushing, pushing. - I have to be in the red.
I usually sort of push myself right to the brink...
- Mm-hmm.
- And then I understand where my edge is,
and then I can pull back.
And if I feel exhaustion, I know how to shut down
and know how to use, you know, my chanting,
or my--I know how to do it.
- Okay, great.
- But I would just suggest that you are very careful
with your ears, because we don't want to, like, compromise
depth training with another-- another activity.
- Yeah, I agree. I agree.
- Yeah, well, let's sit down.
- Okay.
- All right, ready? - Yeah.
- Deep breath.
[dynamic music]
- My ear issues are a real concern.
I didn't come all this way just to sit it out.
And of course, it's forcing me to confront
my greatest enemy:
myself.
- So we're thinking of just doing
a quick, brief exercise here in the shade.
Does that work for you? - Yeah, that'll be great.
- Normally, I would kind of bring it out
as an advanced technique, but I think in your case,
it would be really beneficial because it will give you
an outlet with which you can push as hard as you want.
And so this is pretty much
one of the more difficult exercises that I would do.
And it basically involves empty lung breath holds.
Just a full exhale, and then you hold
your breath seated in that position--
- With no breath. - With no air in your--
- Yeah. I mean, you still have
some air, but it's not much. - Yeah.
- And then you're gonna hold as long as you can.
And when you feel the urge to breathe,
which will come quite quickly, try and relax further
and just tell yourself, "I'm at home like this,"
to make peace with this sensation, to let it in.
You probably want to take your shirt off,
because otherwise you're just gonna be
dripping with sweat.
- All right.
- And you want to be comfortable,
with straight back.
When you're ready, you'll take a full breath,
and then exhale everything.
Again, you don't have to squeeze out.
And the goal is not a time or anything.
The goal is just to make friends with that sensation,
to find your peace in it.
- Okay.
- [breathing deeply]
- Exhale.
And hold.
And relax.
[pensive music]
* *
Close your eyes.
Go into the sensation.
Relax into it.
Find your peace here.
Find your home here. - Peace.
Relax your neck, relax your face.
- [breathes] - Good.
- Okay, and hold.
- One, two, three, four, five.
Good, exhale and hold.
You're doing good.
Exhale.
Relax with the exhale.
Good. Close your mouth and hold.
Five, four, three, two, one, good.
Hold for two, three-- you're doing really good--
- You're doing very good. - Four, five.
This will be the sixth.
And exhale.
Exhale.
- Hold there, try to push through that sensation.
It's very intense.
- And hold.
Feel your weight sinking into the ground.
Relax and let go.
The more that sensation builds, the more you just need
to find your home there.
Good.
Five, four, three, two, one, inhale.
Hold, hold it.
- You're doing great, Orlando. Stay there.
- Three, four, five, and exhale and just allow it--
just the air to come out completely.
Relax it out. Relax it out.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Good. Hold it, hold it.
So I want you to really push this one.
Okay, relax more. Let go.
Ten, nine... - Let go.
- Do this. Eight, seven... - Relax your neck.
- Six, five, four, three, two, one.
Good, good, good.
Hold it. Hold it.
That's good, that's okay.
Hold it in.
One, two, three, four, five.
And now just sigh, let it out, and hold again.
This will be your last one.
- Stay in the present, stay in your body.
The sensations.
- Ten, nine--you can do this-- eight...
- Again. - Seven, six,
five, four... - Close your eyes.
- Three, two, one, good. - Relax your face.
- Finished. - [gasping]
Oh.
[bleep].
- Good job. - That was great.
- Wow.
That was a lot.
- A lot of people would have just bailed
after, like, two or three.
- Yes, that was impressive, Orlando.
Muy bien.
- So everything you were experiencing there was...
- It was very intense.
- [bleep].
- Good.
- Ah, [bleep], that's a lot, bro.
That's all.
[bleep].
Oh, God. That was so intense.
- So you basically spent six minutes
holding your breath with empty lungs,
and you took ten breaths in that time.
That's how you can push it in training.
- Oh, God. That's so much.
- [laughs]
- We did this breath work,
and William calls it his death table.
I don't know what--
I didn't know what I was walking into.
- Death table?
- His death--his death table, because it's just--
I guess it makes sense now, because I felt about as close
to death as I could possibly get.
It's a technique that you do to figure out the CO2,
the carbon dioxide, in your system
to get comfortable with the discomfort of that.
You exhale all of the breath that you have,
and then you hold that exhale of breath
so there's no breath.
And you do that, like, ten times.
It was basically, on a very deep, spiritual level,
just confronting life.
It made me want to cry.
- I love this journey for you.
I think it's really important.
- I'm surprised by it, to be honest.
- Mm-hmm.
- Talk tomorrow? - Yeah.
I love you.
- You want to just do, like, a quick dive,
and I'm gonna show you the ledge.
- Thankfully, my ears are feeling a little better.
But it's the setback that's really got into my head now.
I need to regroup.
I've got to let go and stop thinking
that I can control this.
[dramatic music]
* *
Okay, so that was great.
That's pretty fascinating.
- This is a very challenging exercise also for the mind,
because you're just sitting and staying still.
- On that last one, were your ears working perfectly?
- Yeah. - No crackle, no pop?
- Tiny bit of crackling now.
But only the slightest bit.
But not like-- just when I push them out.
They feel like--yeah.
- Just a tiny bit? Okay.
So if it gets any worse again,
then maybe--maybe slow down or stop.
- We'll see when I come up on the next one.
- Yeah. - Okay.
- Whenever you're ready.
[calm music]
* *
- I'm just so grateful to be diving again.
I'm a little nervous about my ears, if I'm honest,
but I have to trust this process,
and I'm ready to go for it.
* *
- Breathe.
- I'm okay.
- That's good.
- That was your best one by far.
- Remember using this hand to just slowly...
- Pull yourself. Yeah, exactly. - Let yourself in.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because what am I doing at the moment, what I've done--
- You're going a little bit [indistinct].
- I'm like...
- Yeah. - That's an exaggeration.
- Sí.
- Hey, looky.
It's an Englishman abroad.
[laughter]
- How pretty is this? How special.
- I mean, I just--this freaks me out a little bit.
* *
[blows bubbles]
- Give yourself a good chunk of time here,
just think about, like, as if you want to take a nap
at the surface before you go.
* *
- Oh.
- We've got the whole night. - Give me the heebie-jeebies.
- [laughs]
[tranquil music]
* *
It's crazy.
* *
- [clears throat] - Breathe.
- [exhales heavily] - [exhales heavily]
That was it. - Wow.
- That was it. [laughter]
- Muy bien, Orlando.
- That is incredible.
I've never-- my heart is racing.
Like, it's so much deeper than you can imagine.
- Oh, God.
- I couldn't see you.
- Yeah. - Entirely gone.
I was like, "He's dead." - It was like--
- [laughs] - Yeah, it's insane.
- First thing, that dive was really good
in terms of your technique.
- Yeah, that dive felt good in terms of technique.
- Control all the way down and all the way up.
The second thing: that was a lot deeper
than you've ever gone before.
- Really? - 27 meters.
- Oh, my God. - [cheers]
- The main thing about that is, it just felt better.
- That's a good place to leave it,
I think, for today. - Yeah.
- Sí.So grateful. - Definitely.
That was awesome.
- Anyway, welcome to the Bahamas.
[laughter]
- It's just like the pool we were in.
[laughter]
[upbeat music]
* *
- Wow. - Right?
Isn't it such a nice walkway down?
- Wow, look at that.
- I know. - [whistles]
- We did this thing yesterday.
We did this thing called a death table.
This is, like, a breathing technique
that William has that was just, like--I wanted to cry.
I think I did start crying, actually.
I think I was just, like--
I don't know. - Why?
- It was just really, like, painful.
And not in a physical pain, like in a--
I don't know. It was a discomfort.
It was a level of discomfort.
- Yeah, but you--
you've had loads of pain.
What's different about this pain?
Why cry at this pain? I mean...
- Don't know.
- You've broken almost every bone, right?
- Maybe. I don't know.
It was just confronting my value, probably.
My worth. I don't know.
I think I felt very close to an edge,
and then it was-- it wouldn't stop.
- I would have just stopped.
- There's subtlety and nuance to this
that is surprising and taking me off guard,
and it's really intimidating.
- Was it that you found some of a limit
and then you're, like-- that brings up emotion?
Because any more, and, you know, you could die, right?
If you don't breathe, you die.
So does it-- - Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, I think it's definitely a life-death thing.
And I think, if I look historically
at all of the past and all of the things, then yeah.
And I think that, you know, there's way more at stake
because I'm happier in my life than I've been...
- More to lose, right.
- In a long time.
And, you know, family,
and it's just, there's more at stake now.
- Coming out to the thing, you know, like,
there's lots of people,
you've got professional instructors, that's great.
Yeah, it feels safe.
And then I looked down
and just saw that rope disappear,
and I'm like, ooh.
But then it seemed just that you were falling.
And then you went out of view, and I couldn't see you anymore,
and I got this anxiety,
this sort of almost like a panic attack
that you had--
you'd made a mistake and that actually,
you had fallen all the way
and you weren't gonna come back.
And suddenly, all the professionals
seemed like they don't know what they're doing.
And then I can't--honestly, the relief seeing you come
back up--I was like, I can't believe it's possible
to go that far down.
- Yeah.
But when you push through the fear
and you push through the discomfort,
you actually find a sense of peace.
I think the thing at the end of the death table
was probably--the reason why I got so upset
is probably because of how hard
I am on myself.
Not push myself, 'cause I don't know
that that's a bad thing.
I think it's about how hard my head is to myself, right?
Somewhere on a much deeper level that--you know--
and I don't want this to be like--
it's not like a therapy session.
- You're gonna pay me after this?
- Yeah, exactly.
I think if there was, like, a takeaway, it was like,
"Oh, probably, like, just don't be so hard on yourself."
Because that's the bit that you can do something about.
[uplifting music]
* *
[tranquil music]
* *
[blender whirring]
- People train for months to do anything that I'm like,
"Oh, I'm gonna be able to go to"--
- Oh, exactly.
I mean, you're already a winner.
- Oh, thanks, mate. [laughs]
Tell that to my brain.
- Yeah, that's a good point, actually.
Orlando brain, listen.
- My psyche.
Tell that to my therapist.
- You're already a winner.
There is a very calming part to freedive
which, you know,
Orlando is not a calm person.
- I haven't just been here stressing
about how deep I'm gonna dive.
I've been here thinking about the show.
Like, if I black out, that would be great for the show.
- Yeah. - [laughs]
Do you want to know what that does
to how your process of, like, diving is?
- His chanting, the Buddhist practice,
is like the medicine that's so valuable to him.
He's building today up quite a lot, I think, in his head.
He wants to have no expectations,
but he can't help himself.
He wants to push it.
What I'd love for him is to let go of the pressure
and be in the moment and feel comfortable
and really find down there in the deep blue
what it is that he's looking for.
Do you feel-- do you feel very relaxed?
- No, I don't know I'm too relaxed at the moment.
It's like-- I don't know, maybe.
I mean, I'm trying to be.
There's just a lot going on in my head.
I can't quite quieten my mind.
And, like, you know, all the meditation and chanting
in the world doesn't seem to be helping right now.
- It's in his system to push
past what you're supposed to do,
because it's worked for him.
That gets to be a problem when you're dealing
with deep ocean,
'cause the ocean does have some pretty set laws
that you can't really break.
You know, I'm just here to remind you
that being in the present moment
is a really great place to be.
- Yeah. - And...
your strong suit is this kind of active mind
that's always a step ahead, pushing the boundaries.
You know, he's done his training,
and so today is the last day.
When you have to decide when to turn around,
that's something that I think he's unfamiliar with.
I don't think he's had much experience
with being his own gatekeeper, with saying,
"Okay, I'm good now, Orlando."
There's some subconscious understanding
that he knows he always goes past what he's supposed to do
and that if he does that this time,
there could be consequences.
[bell chiming]
[dramatic music]
- Today is the day.
It's my last chance to reach 100 feet.
I think I'm genuinely, like, quite intimidated by it.
There's aspects of my inner character
which are being revealed to myself,
and I'm finding it a little bit stressful,
like waking nightmares.
I'm thinking about swimming in the blue hole
and not swimming up again.
And then I'm gonna be, like, out of breath,
and then what do I do?
I black out at the top, or where do I black out?
I'm literally having all of these thoughts.
I'm the guy that just wants to go down.
Oh, my God, look at that. He did it, he did it!
But now I'm actually gonna have to do it,
and I don't know how far I'll go or not go.
* *
- There's pressure building up in your ears.
Don't force it. - Okay.
- Just take it easy.
- Yeah, just be very mindful of your body.
[pensive music]
* *
Five, four, three, two.
Whenever you're ready.
[heartbeat]
[device beeps]
[airy music]
- 40 seconds dive time.
* *
[rising music]
* *
- I'm okay. - Yay!
- You did good.
- [panting]
- 30.8.
- Are you serious?
[laughter]
- Bravo! - 30.8 meters.
- Wow! - You did a good job.
[laughter]
So congratulations, you're in the 100-feet club.
- [laughs]
- Now just keep building.
- I'm in the 100-feet club. - Yay.
- Says the man from the 100-meter club.
[laughter]
That, mentally, was way more challenging
than anything I've ever come across in my life.
It was a minefield of, like--oh, God--
I keep trying to, like, let go of controlling this moment
and be comfortable with the discomfort
so that you can just go.
And it was way more challenging
than anything I've ever done and felt.
[birds chirping]
[tranquil music]
* *
Hi, baby. It's all done.
I'm still alive. Look.
Look at this beautiful view.
- Are you all right? - Yeah.
- Every single day, I'm waiting for this call.
Every single day, I'm like, "Be okay,
everybody, protection, safety."
- Yeah. - Is he okay?
There's been such an amazing safety team.
Camila has been such a great teacher,
and Will, who's here, is, like--
Will's the guy who's swum to 100 meters,
which is, like, I'm just now having--
- But I just--
I know how far you push it.
- I think the universe tapped me on the shoulder
and was like, "No, no, not today."
- Baby, I'm so proud of you.
You look like you conquered something
bigger than feet or meters.
- Yeah.
I love you, baby. All right.
- On to the next adventure.
- Yeah, baby.