Diving deep for new low
Ant Williams has swum 223 metres on a single breath. He has freedived to 100m and held his breath for 8 minutes.
His next freediving challenge is to plumb sub-zero Arctic depths.
The 46-year-old wants to break the world record for the deepest ice dive. The record, set in 2015 by Russian ice diver Konstantin Novikov, is 65m on a single breath.
‘‘There will be an incredible darkness under the ice,’’ Williams said. ‘‘In normal conditions, when you’re diving that deep, it’s isolating, intense and uncomfortable.’’
Williams, who grew up in West Auckland, works in Melbourne as a business coach.
The keen freediver is planning to practise his technique at Lake Taupo¯ from March 7 to March 15.
‘‘In Melbourne, the maximum depth I can get to is 65m. In Taupo¯, I’m wanting to dive between 70m and 80m,’’ he said.
Williams and his support team are planning an expedition to the Arctic circle in the last week of March. ‘‘We’re expecting the ice to be 1 metre thick, with a metre of snow on top of that,’’ he said.
‘‘The surface of the lake and the whole way down will be pitch darkness.’’ A hole will be cut in the ice to reach the water.
‘‘On March 27, I’ll attempt a dive to 70m. Then we’ll try for 75m down the next day, and then push it even further on the third day,’’ he said.
The water was expected to be 0.3 degrees Centigrade, he said.
‘‘The air temperature will be between -20 degrees and -25 degrees, so we’ll have the challenge of staying warm enough to do the dive.’’
Williams said his interest in freediving came from a desire to push himself to his limits.
‘‘I’ve been freediving for 17 years and I’ve had a great run. I started the sport late: I picked it up when I was 30,’’ he said.
Williams said he started freediving to become a better sports psychologist.
Williams won the USA National Freediving Championship in 2006 and won a silver medal at the Pan Pacific freediving championship in 2015.
The Freediving New Zealand Depth Nationals 2019 will be held at Lake Taupo from March 14 to March 19.