'From the opening of this memoir, you know you are in good hands as William Trubridge plumbs the spiritual depths of freediving: the sensation of shedding the physical self and the ego to achieve a state of awareness "like a camera filming in darkness". While much of this account documents his many world-record-breaking free dives, it is his meditations on consciousness, yogic breathing practices and the sensual pleasures of the ocean's embrace that lift Oxygen above the ruck of sportsman's tales about the fear of failure and the need to prove oneself over and over again. As a four-year-old, Trubridge was choking on an ice cube when an "atavistic" part of him took over and kept him calm as he fished it out of his throat. In the experience of freediving he recovers and revels in "that same self-control in the face of an extreme urge to breathe".' - Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald
'An honest, compelling tale from the world's best freediver.' - Linda Herrick, NZ Listener
Description
LEARN THE POWER OF THE HUMAN MIND FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST FREEDIVER
One of the most mesmerising books about the ocean you'll ever read...
New Zealander William Trubridge has reached depths never thought possible on the precipice of low oxygen.
In a sport where failure usually means blacking out, it is a freediver's daily life to contend with suffocation, narcosis, hallucinations, lactic acidosis, compressed lungs, and immense water-column pressure - all while diving into depths of ink black ocean.
Exquisitely written, Oxygen is a mind-altering and immersive coming-of-age story about a boy who grew up on a sailing boat, with the sea his classroom and playground. It is about fighting the trappings of life on land, and pushing the limits of human physiology, to become the world's greatest freediver.
