On the day that William Winram first tried freediving on a line, he descended to 47m below the ocean’s surface in Hawaii. He felt as if he was meant to be there – a natural affinity with the deep that has since earned this ocean explorer several freediving world records and the trust of our oceans' primary predators.
When William was 2 years old, he would swim the
length of a pool entirely submerged underwater,
holding onto his father’s neck; by 10, he was breath-
hold diving to 15m. His father taught him to spearfish
and scuba dive at home on Vancouver Island in
Canada, and to respect the value of the oceans. At 20,
he had an encounter with a 4m tiger shark that would
pull his conservation ideals into sharper focus. “I was
petrified, but after a time found the shark to be a shy,
cautious and curious predator, not the villain that it’s
often portrayed as,” he says, “I’ve now been diving with
sharks for over 30 years and never had a scratch.”
RAW TALENT
William discovered freediving on a line during a chance
meeting with a US freediving champion, and William
quickly realized his own innate talent. He applied his knowledge of osteopathy, internal martial arts,
mindfulness, and meditation to his practice of the
sport, and in 2005 – after he admits being seduced by
Luc Besson’s Le Grand Bleu – he started to compete.
The following year he won three world cup events, was
the top-ranked male at the world championships and
set several Pan-American records. “I’d kind of arrived,”
he quips.
GREATER DEPTHS
In 2007, William became the first person in history to
swim the Arch in the Blue Hole of Dahab, Egypt – a
30m long and 60m deep passageway that he swam
without fins on a single breath of air. Then, in 2013,
William challenged himself further than ever before:
to reach a depth of 145m. Despite the pressure and
nerves, as soon as he set his weighted sled in motion
to the predetermined depth, he was in the zone: “I go
into a meditative state and focus on my equalization.
When I hit the bottom I’m off the sled in a second,
finning hard initially and then slipping into a rhythm.”
When he emerged after an incredible 3 minutes and 8
seconds, he didn’t gasp for air: “I dive within my limits,
not at the edge of my envelope. I dive with a margin to
protect myself.” It was a new world record.
HUMAN POTENTIAL
“We all have a mammalian diving reflex, like dolphins and
whales,” explains William, “and there are physiological
things that happen that allow us to go to these depths.
Blood is shunted to your heart (to keep it beating) and
your brain (to keep you conscious) and your lungs (to
protect them from the crushing pressure). Like mountain
climbing and altitude, it takes time for us to adapt to the
depth.” It’s a physical sport that hinges on varied and
vital disciplines of the mind, breath and body, and a skill
that rewards first-class freedivers like William a unique
perspective of our oceans: “I’ve never had with scuba the
kinds of encounters with marine life I’ve had freediving,”
he explains.
William’s success in the sport has given him a platform
to raise awareness about the grave challenges our
oceans face today. He’s witnessed first-hand how reefs
that were once abundant with fish schools, sharks and
marine mammals have decayed into underwater deserts.
“There’s an evolution in my diving,” he says sadly, “BP and
AP – before plastic and after plastic.” For the last three
decades, William has used his freediving skills to study
sharks at close range, including great whites. He’s tagged
sharks for 11 years, advocating for their conservation, and
he uses his own peaceful experiences with these large
predators to dispel popular myths.
EXPERT GUIDANCE
William is also working with private clients to give them a level of proficiency to freedive recreationally through a
new elite sports club called Somerton. “I can join a family
on their yacht and help them achieve specific objectives
so that they’re comfortable freediving to between 30m – 40m,” says William, adding: “I was approached by Somerton to be one of their professional mentors
because of both my experience and my incomparable risk
management protocols.” William begins his instruction
onboard, teaching clients to manage their breath and
discover their limiting factors. Considering the average
person breathes 15 times a minute, it’s daunting for any
amateur, but William - who naturally breathes 3-4 times
per minute - is calmly reassuring: “You can go without
breathing for a number of minutes,” he says, “It’s something that is under our control.”
