Record Without Air

Wellington architect Kathryn McPhee, 29, has broken a freediving world record by two metres swimming underwater without breath for 151 metres, in a time of 2mins 48sec. Freediving, also known as breath-hold or apnoea diving, uses no breathing apparatus and McPhee says the challenge is as much mental as physical. “It’s definitely mind over matter. The body goes through different phases; you have to continually resist the physical urge to breathe.” To prepare for the event, her warm-up routine included 15 minutes of full body stretches and up to half an hour of lung stretches, involving long, deep inhalation. The dive, swum at Porirua’s Aquatic Centre, was the last national competition before the world championships in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, in September.