Australian freediver heads into abyss

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is in Hawaii to prepare for a world record 89m deep dive. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria Source: Supplied

• Can hold her breath for more than six minutes
• Has free dived with sharks, manta rays and dolphins
• Lives with her Spanish husband on Thai island

A MERMAID-LIKE Australian professional freediver has arrived in Hawaii to make final preparations for an unprecedented double world record attempt.

Christina Saenz de Santamaria has been practising in the stunning cenote caves of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and the waters around Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand.

The current holder of two Australian records after diving to 60m in Hawaii in 2011, Saenz de Santamaria, 32, has just arrived in Hawaii to complete final preparations for a world record attempt to 89m. This would break the Free Immersion Apnea world record currently held by Russia's Natalia Molchanova.

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina and her husband Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria at home in Thailand. Photo: Gregory Grouiller Source: Supplied

Together with her husband Eusebio, she will also attempt to break the tandem freedive record, diving together to 100m.

Holding her breath for more than five minutes while she descends to depths that shrink her lungs to the size of oranges, she says her sport takes competitors back to mankind's roots.

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is in Hawaii to prepare for a world record 80m deep dive. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria

"Anyone can free dive, we have the mammalian reflex built into our bodies." 

"I have seen complete beginners learning to hold their breath for five minutes after three days of instruction."

"Most people can comfortably dive to 20m in one day."

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is training for a dive to a world record 80m. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria Source: Supplied

"It's incredible what the body is capable of so quickly, [our freediving ability is] definitely in-built."

Originally from Vaucluse in Sydney's eastern suburbs, Mrs Saenz de Santamaria began freediving six years ago while working as a dive instructor.

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is training for a dive to a world record 80m. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria Source: Supplied

Already her sport has taken her around the world, most recently to Mexico's stunning cenotes.

Cenotes are deep natural sinkholes in the Yucatan's limestone bedrock filled with water.

Often used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial and spiritual purposes, they are now a magnet for adventurers looking for an unusual challenge.

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is training for a dive to a world record 80m. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria Source: Supplied

"They are beautiful and mysterious, with a mythical aura," said Mrs Saenz de Santamaria.

"I went there to train in depth. The whole of Yucatan is like Swiss cheese with more than 6000 cenotes."

According to the Maya the cenotes were portals to the underworld, and Mrs Saenz de Santamaria's dive was a spooky experience.

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is training for a dive to a world record 80m. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria Source: Supplied

"Following a weighted line, we dived down through freshwater to the halocline [a zone where saltwater and freshwater split] at about 30m, attaching glow sticks to the line to dive deeper."

"It was pitch black and so absolutely essential to maintain contact with the line at all times."

"We were diving through into pitch blackness, it was otherworldly."

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is training for a dive to a world record 80m. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria Source: Supplied

At depth, the airspaces in the human body come under great pressure, so Mrs Saenz de Santamaria has learned to control her lungs and equalise eardrums and sinuses at depth.

"Mentally you need to have a lot of confidence. Your body must be nice and relaxed, but your head needs to be focused."

While professional freediving takes many years of training, Mrs Saenz de Santamaria emphasises that her sport is accessible for everyone.

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is training for a dive to a world record 80m. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria Source: Supplied

"You don't have to be a swimmer, after just a few days of training the majority of people can freedive to 20m, so it's not just an extreme sport."

Devotees do go recreational freediving in Australia, but finding the right combination of depth and calm seas makes world record attempts impossible: calm tropical seas are favourable.

Simon Crerar is News Limited's Visual Story Editor, follow him at twitter.com/simoncrerar

Into the deep: Australian freediver Christina Saenz de Santamaria is training for a dive to a world record 80m. Photo: Eusebio Saenz de Santamaria Source: Supplied

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