Discovering secrets of the deep in one breath

. . A group of keen freediving enthusiasts has set up a club in Warkworth that meets weekly at the Mahurangi College pool. Freediving, for the uninitiated, involves diving underwater while holding your breath, rather than using a breathing apparatus such as a scuba tank. As a sport, competitions are run over three broad disciplines – depth, distance and time.

Phil Clayton is one of NZ’s top freedivers. With one breath, he can swim 200-metres (four lengths of an Olympic sized swimming pool) with fins and three lengths without.

Warkworth club instructor and Auckland Freediving founding member ...