Free-Divers Santamaría in Caribbean Cup Honduras, Roatan

Image Source and Courtesy ONE-OCEAN-ONE-BREATH

Free Diver Eusebio Sáenz de Santamaría and wife with capacities to break free-diving world records continue to promote the sport and highlight the importance of documenting the descents with impressive footage.

On May 31st Divers Santamaria posted through the One Ocean-One Breath Facebook page the latest results of Day 5 of the Caribbean Cup homed in Roatan Honduras. Diver Christina Saenz de Santamaria reached top position of the day with a dive of 80 meters.

Since its establishment in 2013, the Caribbean Cup has become one of the most important freediving competitions in the world hosting World and National Champions from all around the globe.

The couple has dived before in Honduras Roatan Island. “Frediving with sharks off Honduras's Roatan Island is a thrilling, if nerve-racking, experience”. Both divers take as seriously to the sport as they do to underwater diving photography and video. The images of their dives and not particularly the depths achieved is what has made them famous online. Eusebio runs a freediving school in Thailand and the photograph and video site –One Ocean One Breath.com

Free diving has come a long way since 1911 when the Greek Yorgos Haggi Statti become officially the first apnea diver recovering an anchor lost by the Italian Armada ship "Queen Margarita" at 77 meters of depth. Yorgos was reported then to be a fisherman and surprised the entire trained crew when recovered the lost anchor no one else could recover. It took decades of little or no progress for free-diving to be installed world-wide as a sport and for serious depths to be achieved. Officially no free-diver managed to reach 100 meters until late 1970s.

The technique that Yorgos utilized in 1911 is unknown. The little information that remains to the date is that Yorgos dived head down. It is well established that original communities who make their home in diverse ocean islands and coast and take to living resources from the sea have practices throughout generations free-diving for fish and other marine resources.

Eusebio’s holds the former National Record of Spain in the three depth categories. He is comfortably diving to depths of 100 meters. Christina has trained and competed in freediving competitions worldwide and currently holds the Australian National Records in two depth disciplines making her the deepest Australian female free diver in history.

Today free diving seems to be transitioning and becoming a discipline not only of depths record breaking but about discovering wonders, diving in breathtaking locations, and documenting the environment with high definition images.

“There are so many incredible adventure and action photographers shooting the world these days, many who focus their talents on specific sports such as surfing, extreme skiing, mountaineering, rock-climbing, and even niche sports such as basejumping. For me, there are a few standout photographers whose photos make me want to jump straight into their images – to go surfing in Tahiti…” One Breath-One Ocean recognizes the importance of photography and the power of inspiration of a single image.

From Roatan Island, Honduras, on the day 5 of the Caribbean Cup Cristina assured that last magic words before her 80 meter Constant Weight dive from his trainer and husband, Eusebio ... "If you turn... I kill you..."

Ocean Life News in Brief

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