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Orca Group SeriesIndependent ocean storytelling
Portrait of William Trubridge

William Trubridge portrait: New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0. Cropped/resized for display. Source · CC BY 4.0

The person behind the conversation

Bio & achievements

William Trubridge is a New Zealand freediver known for deep dives without fins. In this interview he describes the demands of no fins freediving, how his body responds at depth and the connection between his ocean challenges and dolphin conservation.

  • Internationally recognised no fins freediver
  • Appointed MNZM for services to freediving

Meet the guest

William Trubridge

The body at 100 metres

William Trubridge explains his experience of deep freediving, the physiological demands of the sport and his connection with the ocean.

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Freediving, physiology and the ocean

Freediving physiology

  • What happens to the body during a deep breath hold dive
  • William’s perspective on freediving and physiology
  • Why a personal account is not a substitute for supervised training

In their own words

What changes during a deep freedive?

From Nick’s question: “what actually changes in the body and mind between the surface and the deepest part of a no fins dive?”

It's a sport that is completely different to every other sport in the sense that physiologically your body is experiencing pressure and changes in gas concentrations and so many other things which just simply don't happen in our regular day-to-day life or other sports.

This is an elite athlete describing his experience, not instruction for attempting a breath hold or deep dive. The full conversation includes supervision, preparation and safety context.

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