All language subtitles for The.Deepest.Breath.2023

Alessia, how do you feel about death?

Honestly, I've never thought about it.

I think if someone has to die, they will.

Honestly, I don't think about death.
I'm not afraid of death.

I've never thought free diving
could lead to death.

Twenty seconds!

Ten seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Alessia Zecchini. Italy.

Four minutes. World record attempt.

Okay, look at me.

Alessia was born
in the afternoon, at around 20 to five.

That night, I lay awake in bed, thinking

about my wife, about my daughter.

You never forget it.

When you long for something...

you can't forget it.

This is one of Alessia's school essays.

"Do you ever think that
the people around you, your classmates,

your friends, your parents,

don't understand your dreams?"

I want to achieve my dream at all costs.

I want to become a famous free diver.

Natalia Molchanova is my greatest idol.

I want to be just like her,
a world champion.

Molchanova holds
over 40 free diving records.

She's regarded as a legend
in the sport's history.

I'm really embarrassed
about this great dream of mine.

It sounds like one of those things
you say when you're a kid

when asked what you want to be
when you grow up.

There are only a few people
who understand my dream.

My dad is one of those people.

He understands my passion
for the sea and for free diving.

I'd do anything
to make my dream come true.

If you don't have
a dream to spur you on, you won't make it.

But the price you pay

is so high.

Alessia and Steve.

Their connection was very strong.

What brought them together?

I've always believed

that nothing ever happens to us by chance.

There's always a connecting thread.

Something that leads you
down a certain road.

Alessia and Stephen
really became a duet...

Ah! Remember?

...in many ways.

It was destiny that they found each other.

I accepted that he was doing
a dangerous thing.

And I just kind of lived with that.

Dad, come on!

Dad, come on!

Come on!

I've always been curious.

I was always kind of fascinated
by wilderness,

and animals, and the sea.

Stephen loved
being out in the wild.

The two of us would go swimming at 5:00
in the morning, as the sun was coming up.

I'd dive down. I would snorkel.

And he'd be holding my hand
and pointing, with his own snorkel,

and pointing out fish here and fish there.

"What's the biggest this?
What's the smallest that?"

"What's the... the least common whale?
What's the most common whale?"

Those endless "Why?"

"What? Where?"

"How often? How many?"

His interest in nature started
with us watching David Attenborough.

I'm in the middle of central New Guinea.

One of the few places left
on the surface of the Earth

that are truly unexplored.

I always had it in my head
that I wanted to be an explorer.

I always loved looking at places
like the Amazon

and Congo, and Indonesia,
and imagining what it's like to be there.

Keenan, looking good!

When Stephen got to his teens,
I left the family home.

I almost don't want to think about it.

I feel very bad about it in ma... in ways.

He was very hurt.
He was very... He was heartbroken.

I do remember, when he was 17,
having a row with him

about spending money on alcohol
with his friends.

His mother was a bit worried about,
was he starting to drink a bit early?

He was looking at, "What am I going to be
after I leave school?"

"How am I going to follow my dream?"

He really hadn't a clue.

By the time
I was 13, I knew what I wanted to do.

It wasn't easy to find a class
when I was a kid.

They were all men.

I remember
Alessia turning up with her dad.

This little girl with blue eyes.

I remember that I didn't even hear
Alessia's voice. She just laughed.

I think I had done about 100 meters.

It took us many years
to reach those numbers.

The kid did 105 meters.

That's when
you ask yourself some questions!

How will it all end?

We went to some competitions
for free diving in the sea.

They dived from the boat
using a rock as a counterweight.

And I said,
"Let's see how deep I can go."

By holding your breath,

you get to understand
a lot more about yourself.

I managed to descend to 52 meters.

Well done!

Brava!

To see such a young girl

reach such depths

attracted a lot of attention.

And then the federation
releases a statement

banning under-18s
from taking part in official competitions.

In my darkest moments, I cried.

There were arguments with my father,
with my coach.

At that moment, I said,
"What am I going to do now?"

Speech!

Being told you're being
best man is usually a very emotional,

bonding moment between friends.

However, I found out
some months after the decision was made

and through one of the lads.

I didn't know what
I was going to do with my life.

Also, I'm a bit worried...

I knew I didn't want to stay at home,
settle down.

I knew that wasn't gonna happen.

Look who's there!

I just hope you're brave,
pointing that thing at her.

But then my mother
just got sick.

I don't want to ruin another tape.

No, no!

Maura got cancer.

Do you remember last time?

Both Stephen
and his younger brother Gary

were really close to their mother.

It was very upsetting for them.

You're taking their mammy.

They were a great lift to her.

She died at such an early age.

Stephen had seen firsthand
how unjust fate can be.

It did inform his personal philosophies.

Live for today,

for you never know
what's coming down the line.

So he wanted to drink up
every last drop of the world.

The Amazon,
Congo, and Indonesia.

It had always been a dream of mine
to get to these places.

When I was young,
I collected National Geographic.

I remember, it was a picture of a gorilla
wading through this peat bog water,

and this photograph was taken
in Northern Congo.

I was going to travel to Congo,
and then find the gorillas.

It was kind of a daunting experience.

I'd never done anything like this.

What's your name?

Stephen. Steve.

- Stephen?
- Yes.

- Huh. Are you Christian?
- Yes.

- In Ireland, we are...
- Protestant?

No, Catholic.

Palm wine.

Yes?

- Hi.
- Hello.

She's been
the village queen for how long?

- Six years now.
- Six? Okay.

Looks like I'm staying here tonight
with this family.

Apparently, everyone who
crosses the river gets river blindness.

So I'm told that I have it now.
I'll have to get some treatment.

At last.

Flippin' heck.

Just over the Congolese border.

Whoa!

- So here we are.
- Okay.

It was one of my lifelong dreams
to be in such a place. I was, I'd made it.

And this really
lit something up inside me,

to do something really unusual
with my life.

To find what I was searching for,

I knew I needed to take
the less-traveled road.

I wanted free diving to be my life.

So even though I saw four years
as a really long time,

I said, "Okay.
Come on, let's keep doing this."

Plenty of others would have said, "Okay."

"I'll do something else."

But not her. She carried on regardless.

She continued going to the pool,

to the sea.

Then you realize
there's something that drives her.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

Once she turned 18...

she suddenly arrived, like a rocket.

She immediately showed her potential.

150 meters in the pool.

At first, it was, "Wow."

But Ilaria was better.

I certainly wasn't expecting this result.

I was the strongest in Italy.

Alessia was the only one
that can get anywhere close to me.

But Alessia, in that period,
was a really... crazy head.

Here's Alessia Zecchini.
Near the 200-meter wall.

Let's see if she turns.

No, she's coming out.

She was really young, with a teenage mind.

She was sad.

She was upset.

It was really tough.

Hmm...

I knew if I pushed more,
I wouldn't have come out well.

Ilaria Bonin!

Go on, Ilaria!

If you want to be the best

and you always take silver medal...

Ah, it's something that drives you mad.

When someone out there
is stronger than you,

it becomes another motivation.

I had to improve
so much to set an Italian record.

For me, it took watching Natalia's videos
to realize how I could get there.

My advice
is that mental relaxation

is the foundation of free diving.

If we want to be successful underwater,

we should be relaxed,
not running towards some goal.

She start to approach
the competition in a different way.

She was so relaxed.

That's good. Stop.

Brava!

An amazing
224-meter performance.

She was so satisfied
when she reached the gold medal.

Congratulations
for this new Italian title.

Yes, it's amazing. At last!

That moment was the beginning

of our deep friendship.

This result was always written.

She had some supernatural power
with free diving.

But the pool was too small for Alessia.

The sea was really her home.

Stephen thought that he'd meet
his ultimate destiny somewhere in Africa.

With the lads in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, Sudan,

Sierra Leone...

Nigeria.

He traveled with a lot of care
and seriousness.

However, very bad things nearly happened
on a number of occasions.

In Guinea, there was a popular uprising
against the president.

There's been gunfire all morning.

Every so often, you hear, "bam, bam, bam."

He was torn and conflicted.

He'd say, "I wonder, should I be doing
what all my friends are doing?"

"Getting married.
Some of them have children."

"What am I not doing
that I should be doing?"

"Am I right living my life the way I am?"

He asked me once

if I was disappointed in him.

Wandering around the world like this,

searching for something
that he couldn't put his finger on.

Been thinking about family,
my friends.

It is, without doubt, the lowest,

awfullest time of my life right now.

Anyway...

until tomorrow.

He was going to come home
and live the conventional life.

But before that,
he was going to make one last stop.

Stephen always loved the sea.

He loved scuba diving out in the ocean.

He heard that there was a town in Egypt
which is kind of a mecca for divers.

I recall going along the coast
and just listening to the sea.

I got a real feeling of hope
about this place.

When Steve drive from Cairo by bus,

all the way to Dahab,

he just throw the bag in the room.

He just, "Where's the bar?
Let's go have a drink."

Next day, he go diving.

He become a friend.

We see each other every day.

He loved the Bedouin culture.
He learned Arabic.

We become like family.

He stayed down there,
making a living instructing scuba diving.

So I arrived here
to do my Divemaster course,

and that was Steve.

He was my instructor.

Before long, we were hanging out daily.

And going out dancing.

Dahab, for Steve, a second home.

He had a little house of his own.
He just loved it.

'Cause he told me at one stage,

"I've discovered this new thing
called free diving,

and it's the business."

Steve asked me to join him
on a free dive session.

The first time I dived down,
holding my breath,

all the problems and the shit
from daily life just vanished.

It doesn't exist down there.
It's beautiful.

Steve just fell in love with free diving.

And especially the Blue Hole.

You literally walk
from the beach into an abyss.

Like, there is this gaping hole
in the coral reef,

which really, like,
wants you to go down there.

And then there's this arch,
like a chapel underwater.

Unfortunately, it also has a...
a bad reputation.

It took lives.

This is the most dangerous dive site
on Earth.

It's thought to have claimed
over 100 lives.

In terms of fatalities,

the Blue Hole is even more perilous
than Mount Everest.

As well as myself,

there's only a handful of people
who have free dived through it.

Natalia Molchanova was
the only woman to do it.

Diving the Arch has left
a lasting impression on me.

This is the dive
that unlocked something within herself.

A fearlessness
that she didn't know was there.

It made her
the best free diver in the world.

With the Arch,
you've got to know if you're ready for it.

It's a really deceiving place to dive.

You have to find the exit.

If you aren't able
to see it clearly for any reason,

you're basically on your own.

If something does go wrong,
there's no way to come up.

There's 30 meters of rock over your head.

Outside the Blue Hole,

there are the memory stones
remembering the people who died there.

My boyfriend died in... in the Blue Hole,

just when I moved to Egypt.

It is dangerous because it is deep.

It is always the ocean.

And we are nothing.

So you've said that your objective

is to become the second woman
in the world, after Natalia Molchanova,

to conquer all the absolute world records.

So how long do you think
this is gonna take you?

I don't know.
Of course, it's a dream.

Really, a dream for every athlete,
I think.

But it's really difficult.

Natalia Molchanova, champion of the deep,

holding over 40 free diving records,

some of them incredible,
death-defying feats.

Today, my dive was 101 meters.

That's 101 meters down and up.

More than two Statues of Liberty,

stacked ground to torch.

Natalia was the first
female free diver to reach 101 meters

in competition.

And she held that number
for a very long time.

So 101 was the magical number
Alessia was trying to beat.

I want to improve
by a few meters.

In fact, I hope to go
well beyond 90 meters,

to then touch the three-digit number
in a couple of years.

Everybody must have a dream
and put all their effort in.

And really, everything is possible.

Can you describe the feeling
of diving at those... those kind of depths?

Talk about the feeling on the body
of the pressure.

The deeper I'm diving,

the pressure compresses
the air in my lungs,

until my lungs are the size of my fist.

After 30 meters,
the pressure pushes me down.

It's called the free fall.

And this is, for me, the best part.

It feels like you are flying.

The silence, it's unique.

It's like being
in the last quiet place on the Earth.

There's a surrender element to it.

It's like a high.

But getting sucked to the bottom
of the sea can be scary,

even for free divers.

You have to break this deep meditation.

'Cause coming back to the surface,
that's when the work really starts.

You've gotta swim the length
of a 70-storey skyscraper.

Swimming against all that pressure,
it's like swimming against the current.

By then,
your oxygen supply's already dwindled.

You're kicking hard
so your heart rate's increasing,

burning that oxygen quicker.

You're getting to the point

where you don't have enough oxygen
to keep the systems going.

That's when you can have a blackout.

The brain
basically just turns itself off.

It doesn't mean that your brain is dying.

But it's kind of like a safety mechanism.

The brain preserves itself
by shutting off all its functions.

And from that moment,
you still have one or two minutes

before brain damage would start to occur.

Right, one more.

If you don't have
the right kind of medical attention,

it can go downhill pretty quick.

It's definitely not something
to be taken lightly.

For years, Steve
and I were always trying to dive deeper.

It became like a game between us.
I was going for the Belgian record.

He was chasing the Irish one,
which was 61 meters.

When you start competing,
you wanna push yourself.

He had a few blackouts
in the beginning.

He likes to bang his head on the wall.
You know, really, like, "Let's do this!"

And, like, "I can't,
but I'm gonna do it anyway."

- How deep?
- Sixty.

- Okay.
- Shite.

But Steve never gives up.

Yeah!

And it made him very proud
to be the best Irish.

The other attraction
of free diving

was that it was a boundary.

A boundary to be pushed.

Free diving is an extreme sport.

And extreme sports
have extreme consequences.

Stephen?

Steve had a really,
really strong blackout.

The safety team just didn't know
what to do with him.

Stephen...

He almost died there.

Release... release him.

We should go back.

He didn't want
anyone else going through that.

So he started to be interested
in being a safety diver.

Steve had the best background for the job

because the only other person
that can do a safety for a free diver

is a free diver.

As a scuba diver,
you can't be a safety for a free diver

because they go up slowly to decompress.

So if something happens,
you have to react fast.

99% of all free diving incidents
happen within the last ten meters.

If there is an issue, we close the airways
so they can't swallow water,

and we take them to the surface.

Please get out of the way
for the safety.

He worked very hard
to make a name for himself.

No. I'm doing it myself. So, uh...

After a while,
Steve got the chance

to be on the safety team in Kalamata,

which was his first
international big competition.

That's all good. Put it down.

Natalia's son, Alexey Molchanov,

was the men's world record holder
at the time.

He was going for the deepest dive ever.

And his mom is watching.

Safety, keep your distances.

Eighty.

Steve was the first safety.

That means he has to dive the deepest.

Stephen kicked down to 30 meters.

You have to know,
as a safety diver,

you take in a mouthful of air,
you go down,

and if everything goes right,
you just swim up together.

You're never there
for longer than a minute.

But Steve was already waiting
at 30 meters for quite some time,

so he's running out of air.

Come on, Alexey.

3'30, it's a very long dive time.

Andrea, you go down as well.

- Trouble.
- Yeah.

Trouble?

Steve started
to have contractions.

He's seconds away from the blackout.

But then he saw Alexey get into trouble
around 40 meters.

Split-second decisions.

Save Alexey or save himself.

Breathe, Alexey. Breathe.

- Breathe, Alex.
- Breathe for me.

- Breathe.
- Breathe, mate. You're good.

I had severe lung damage.

My mama told me that Steve saved me.

I am very grateful for his...
this selfless act.

And that was, like,
my first meet with Stephen, this accident.

From that moment on,
he was really the star of the competition.

Everybody knew him.

Stephen Keenan.

Who saved the world champion.

One of the things about that story
was how amazing the safety diver was.

At that time, it was the deepest
blackout safety dive in competition.

I consider that an act of heroism.

To save Natalia's son,

Stephen took his job as a safety diver
so seriously that he put himself at risk.

Right.

We're on
day three of training.

I'm really pleased, because
I've already beaten my personal best.

I've done 88 meters.

Alessia was
inching closer and closer

to that magical number, 101 meters.

But she wasn't the only one.

Excellent dive.

Hanako Hirose of Japan
was a strong challenger.

Can I have a message
regarding the competition?

This time,
I'm going to get the world record.

Thank you.

Hanako has
an innate connection to the sea.

It's something she was just born to do.

When I dive,

I often imagine myself swimming...

like a whale or dolphin.

Hanako was going
deeper and deeper and deeper.

And Alessia had to respond.

Alessia Zecchini
was extraordinary.

Her dive was extremely elegant
in every respect.

We had this amazing
rivalry between Hanako and Alessia.

Hanako very consistently
moved through the depths.

Alessia would
come back at her.

Eighty-nine meters.

Ninety.

Ninety-two.

Ninety-three.

Tell us how deep your dive was.

Ninety-four meters.

- How many meters?
- Ninety-four.

Wow. With Zecchini, we're not gonna stop.

There had been this dominance
by Natalia Molchanova for so many years.

And then suddenly,
these women were so close.

But when you push close to a limit,
trying to set world records,

there's a lot that can go wrong.

She is considered to be
one of the greatest athletes ever

in what is one of the world's
deadliest extreme sports.

Free diving.

Natalia Molchanova went for a dive
on Sunday, and she simply vanished.

Natalia Molchanova
disappeared off the coast of Spain.

They didn't recover her body.

Molchanova's son, Alexey,
a record-breaking free diver himself,

told the New York Times,

"It seems she'll stay in the sea.
I think she would like that."

It was all too surreal.

I was shocked.

It was really sad
because she was so strong.

We lost Natalia Molchanova.

And in recognition
of her great accomplishments,

please join me
for a one-minute breath-hold.

It shocked the free diving world.

They realized that they're more at risk
than they thought.

Because if it can happen to Natalia,
the greatest ever,

it can happen to anybody at any time.

After Natalia's accident,

I began to realize
that it could be dangerous.

I was going deeper and deeper.

It's black. It's dark.
You feel locked inside.

You can see things that don't exist.

I was too scared.

I wanted to turn around and go back.

I didn't feel safe.

Stephen had an idea

that he could use
his own experience as a safety diver

to open this center for free diving.

Stephen and his friends saved some money.

They built a premises
on the seafront in Dahab.

Here, uh... in front of my free diving shop.

This is where I'm working.

He was very proud to tell me

he was finally making a success
of his business,

following his dream.

I was so proud of him.

He finally had this purpose.

Hey, Steve. Hi!

Hello, hello!

It's a nice, chilled evening
in Dahab free divers.

When I first met him,
I was super intimidated.

He had this massive reputation
as the best safety diver.

I heard about the famous rescue
he did for Alexey.

I was looking for a place
to teach free diving.

They asked if I wanted to join the team.
I said, "Yes, sure."

I was in charge of social media.

And Steve's not the type
to put himself in the limelight.

But for me, it was obvious.

"Steve, come on! Like,
you're super famous in the community."

"You have to start promoting yourself."

Because Stephen knew all the free divers,

they were able to invite
all these big names,

like Alexey Molchanov, to give workshops.

And this attracted a lot of free divers.

The school became super famous.

For you, what is success in life?

I suppose success is fulfilling
your aspirations, goals, dreams.

I'm currently living in Egypt,
where I run a free diving center.

I guess I'm happy in that respect.
I like what I do.

Other parts of my life
are not so successful, I guess.

Unfortunately, I'm a 38-year-old man,
and I don't have any kids.

I suppose that's, people say,
something that I haven't quite fulfilled.

He had some relationships in Dahab,
but, uh,

nothing that lasted.

He would've liked to, like, fall in love

and have a long-term relationship
and kids.

Part of him was missing that side.

He needed to meet a super special person.

Thank you so much
for taking the time to talk to me,

and for all the listeners of the show too.

Thank you. It's a major pleasure.

Do you think
you push too hard sometimes

in search of records?

I guess that's, uh,
maybe more typical of younger athletes.

Yeah, maybe, sure.

We had no idea
she was after the world record.

She doesn't like to worry us,
so she wouldn't tell us.

What would you like
to accomplish in the next few months?

I would like to go deeper.

I would like to do the world record.

That's my goal.

When is your next competition?

Vertical Blue.

Welcome to Vertical Blue
in the Bahamas.

We have 42 competitors
from all around the globe

who are announcing
ten different national records.

Vertical Blue is like
the Wimbledon of free diving.

It's gonna be a beautiful day.
Lot of great dives going on today.

Only the best
of the best are invited.

Alessia Zecchini, and I'm from Italy.

Within the competition,

there is an exceptional team
of medics and safeties.

Stephen, want to introduce
the safety team?

I wanna make sure there's a good dynamic
between the safety team and athletes.

That's vitally important to me.

Stephen was working
as a chief of safety in Vertical Blue.

Being responsible
for the overall safety of this,

like, one of the biggest
free diving events in the world.

There will be two safeties always
to meet you, a deep and shallow.

The deep will meet you

between anywhere from 20 to 40 meters,
depending on the dive.

We take safety very seriously
at Vertical Blue.

One of the only incidents,

fatal incidents
that's happened in competition,

was a death here of an American athlete,
Nick Mevoli.

Never take a dive for granted.

You don't know what...

you don't know what dive
is gonna be your last.

Nick had a long history
of pushing a little bit too hard.

And things catastrophically went wrong.

Nick had a lung squeeze.

With the lung squeeze,

the blood vessels
inside your lungs can burst

and leak blood into your air spaces.

We're talking about
tissue that is torn

and then scarred.

If you are consistently injuring yourself,
it's cumulative.

And ultimately, that led
to Nick getting a very bad squeeze.

And we... we couldn't save him.

Of course, we have our medics
who will be giving a pep talk as well.

Okay, I'll keep this pretty quick.

If we think someone might be in danger,
we have the authority

to tell a diver
that they cannot dive any longer.

I always say to them,
"I want you to go home."

"To be able to get on that plane
and go home to your family."

And secondly, I don't ever want them to be

that diver that's on oxygen
at the age of 40

because they've messed up their lungs
so terribly.

In competition,
we have to retrieve a tag

attached to the bottom plate
at target depth as a proof.

She's reaching for her tag.

A white card
is a 100% valid performance.

- Yeah!
- Yes!

As soon as somebody helps you,
or you lose control,

even on the surface,
that's disqualification.

It's a red card.

Over two weeks of competition,
the athletes get six attempts each.

It's very simple.

The deepest dive wins.

...is coming to meet you.

Okay.

I want to do so much. Yeah.

A world record, that's the main point.
So, I mean, it's super important for me.

It was clear
that Alessia was after the world record.

So she was going to push her limits.

Unfortunately,
Alessia had a problem with the dark.

And Vertical Blue is unique
in that it's this collapsed cave.

It's like going into space.

She's on her way back.

We've got Stephen Keenan,
who's our deep primary safety,

and he's going to meet her.

Well done, Alessia.

- Breathe.
- Breathe.

- Breathe, breathe, breathe.
- Breathe. Breathe.

Breathe, breathe.

I'm okay.

I'm okay.

The judges are conferring.

I'm sorry, Alessia, red card.

Breathe.

Grab her. Keep her up.

Support her. Just support her.

Just support her head.

- Breathe.
- Somebody hold her.

Hold her for me. Up.

Up. You okay?

Come on. Hold her.

She was really pushing hard,

experiencing blackouts several times.

A lot of free divers
were not approving her way.

I'm checking Alessia
for potential lung squeeze.

So I did ask her,
"Are you coughing up any blood?"

And, um... and she said no.

And, um...

And, in all honesty, I kinda...
I didn't believe her.

Listen.

You can't do that again.

Not here.

I want you to succeed.

That is why I want you to plan.

You... you gotta quell the horses.

We told her
she couldn't dive for a day or two.

She gets mad, and she goes
and swims across the bay.

And being that she just blacked out,

we don't want her to have an issue,
you know, a mile away.

Alessia!

She didn't win too many friends
with that behavior.

Some people saw it as...

yeah, the wrong kind of reaction.

Alessia had a very high temper,
and, boy, you knew it.

Why the hell
are you getting angry?

You had a bad start. Chill out.

There were hecklers

who said she didn't look like
she could muscle up these depths.

The Internet trolls were robust
in their criticism.

Hello. I'm making this video

to reassure everyone who cares about me
that I'm fine.

And to disprove the rumors on Facebook
that I passed out at 20 meters.

I had no problems with a lung squeeze.

The dive overall went well,
and I ask you not to write lies.

Keep the head in a neutral
position, not letting it hyperextend.

The tongue and liquids and fluids
can go down into the larynx

and cause more of a spasm.

We would have a meeting every
morning to go over every single diver.

She was out for a while
but remembered nothing.

She just said she came up
and there she was. Okay?

Stephen was so good at knowing
the ones that could be in danger.

He studied them,
and he knew their weaknesses.

He would say,
"We gotta watch out for this one."

And he was dead-on every time.

Kind of freakishly so.

With Alessia, it was driving Stephen
absolutely crazy,

because he was seeing all of these
little things that she was doing wrong,

and that it was probably
contributing to her blackouts.

And so he started training with Alessia
during the competition break.

Breathe.

Breathe.

- Are you okay?
- I am okay.

Yes!

He inspired trust straight away.

I saw in him
the only one who could coach me.

Are you okay?

The thing
that struck me most was his eyes.

They were blue, so blue, like the sea.

His gaze was enough.

Before diving,
we would look at each other.

And this gave me strength.

Feeling his presence
made you feel safe in the darkness.

We see a special relationship

between the safety diver and the athlete.

For example, Alessia asks about you
in every deep dive she does.

It's massively important, because, um...
free diving is a very psychological sport.

Okay? There's many little facets
that can affect a dive.

And if somebody, when diving,
wants to feel secure,

they're very happy if they're diving
with someone they're familiar with,

and they know that
the safety diver is familiar with them.

How they dive. The speed they go at.
The habits they might have.

Things to look out for that we know.

There was a
relationship that went beyond free diving.

With some people,
you have an understanding.

You don't need words or time.

I saw this connection.

The first thing you did...
And then you went, like, "No..."

Okay.

Oh my God.

Yes?

Brava!

Brava!

Your biggest opponents
for breaking the record are the Japanese.

Do you fear them?

I certainly fear my Japanese opponents.

One hundred meters.
It was a big number.

A Japanese record.

And I was nervous.

And Stephen came and he grabbed me
by the shoulders in a very serious way.

I remember him saying,
"It's going to be okay. I've got you."

Second safety.

She's with both the safeties now.

- She's slowing down a bit.
- She's slowing down a little.

Here she comes.

Got it.

- Okay...
- I'm okay.

Oh, yeah!

And the judges say... white card!

Hanako Hirose of Japan,

first female after Natalia
to make 100 meters in competition.

This is a huge dive!

When Hanako made the 100-meter mark,

that set a fire underneath Alessia.

Stephen Keenan
is going to meet her.

- Forty meters.
- Here she comes.

- First safety.
- She's with the first safety.

Now, hope for Alessia.

Breathe.

Come on!

I'm okay.

Yeah! Yeah!

Stay up! Stay up! Stay up!

Stay up!

- She has the tag.
- She has the tag!

Stay up, Alessia, stay up.

And the judges say

white card!

It was amazing. It was just...
We were just, like, flabbergasted.

Oh my gosh.

She blacked out three days in a row,
then she gets a world record.

What the hell? You know?

We were so happy for her,
'cause that's all she wanted.

It was wonderful
to hug Steve after the dive.

It was simply fantastic.

Today, I'm so happy.

I achieved the dream I've had for so long.

Right, cheers to Alessia.

- Hi.
- Hi, Ale. Are you happy?

So happy!

- You were great, you know that?
- Yes, I know.

What are you thinking now?

I'm really happy.
I kick ass at Vertical Blue.

Once you start touching...

world records,

you raise the bar so high.

That's when things get worrying.

The athletes
had to email myself

with their announcement for the final day

to decide how deep
they wanted to attempt to go.

In free diving,
we announce secretly.

The idea behind it is that we should
announce safely what... what we can do.

There's a little bit
of strategy and chess.

If you announce too much,
maybe you're not able to perform it.

But if you announce too little,

maybe someone else walks away
with the title.

It's super hard to choose.

If I do a mistake, it will be bad.
I will have a red card.

It's...

It's hard.

You've talked about limits.

What is Alessia Zecchini's limit?

I don't think a limit exists.

It doesn't exist until I choose to quit.

Welcome back to Vertical Blue.

Today could be
the most historic day in free diving.

We're here with our host
and athlete, William Trubridge.

Talk to me about what you're seeing
from the women especially.

Just epic.

I don't think we've seen anything
like that in the history of the event.

It seems they have
still got more in the tank,

so I think we can probably expect
some more fireworks from them as well.

We have even more
exciting diving coming up.

Another world record attempt announced.

Five, four, three, two, one.

And Hanako Hirose
is trying to make history

to take the world record,
deepen it by one meter to 103.

She's already down below 90 meters.

- And...
- 100 meters.

One hundred meters!

- Touchdown.
- Touchdown!

Stand for Hanako Hirose of Japan,
103 meters!

Come on, Hanako.

Make that big swim back up.

- Two forty-five.
- Two forty-five.

Diver in sight,

Hanako Hirose of Japan,

hoping for 103 and a world record.

I'm okay.

Yeah! Good luck!

- Whoa! She has the tag.
- Yeah!

White card!

Hanako was clean as a whistle.

World record, 103 clean.
Fantastic.

Whoever
comes up first, and they do it clean,

is just adding pressure
for the person who's gonna go next.

To then go into the water
and attempt a record very soon after that

is a big ask.

Ten seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Alessia Zecchini, Italy.

104 meters world record attempt.

On streaming,
you can see the whole event.

Final record attempt of the day.

As you see her go down...

you get a flood of worries.

Someone check the sonar.

Surface safety,
check the sonar, please.

Yeah, I have no signal.
Can someone check?

- And Alessia...
- Should be at 80...

I have no signal.

The sonar allows them to see

whether they've stopped.

...forty-five...

We're having a little interference
in our sonar.

- Two minutes.
- Two minutes has passed.

Three forty-five...

- Eighty.
- We're not sure.

- We're not sure.
- She's okay.

- Dive time 2'15.
- 2'15.

- Seventy meters.
- Two-one-five.

We should see her coming out by now.

First safety.

- Here's Alessia.
- Breathe, breathe!

I'm okay.

There she is!

She's no longer swallowed
by endless darkness.

The judges
are conferring. She has a tag.

We don't know what's going on,
but she has a tag.

World record, 104!

She just showed up and kind of
blew everybody out of the water.

She set the world record,

and I think she silenced
a lot of those naysayers.

It was clear
that Alessia was a force of nature,

and she was here to stay.

I got the new world record
of 104 meters, and I'm so happy.

Thanks to all. Fantastic!
That's enough for now. Ciao!

And in first place,

with an incredible dive today
of 104 meters,

and a new world record,

Alessia Zecchini!

Alessia gave Stephen
the biggest hug.

He really did believe in her.

There was just something about her
that he knew that she could do it.

He didn't doubt her for a second.

Give a round of applause
for Alessia Zecchini!

- Hi, Alessia.
- Hi.

- Welcome.
- Thank you.

Beautiful, talented, young.
You've got it all.

So, nine world championship gold medals,
four silver,

one bronze.

The ultimate record, the most famous one,
the one you are proudest of,

so much so, you put it around your neck,

the 104-meter world record.

Any other ambitions, aims, goals?

Even after
becoming the deepest woman in the world,

Natalia was still her inspiration.

Alessia was motivated
by all the achievements

that Natalia had garnered in her lifetime.

And there was one thing left.

The Arch in Dahab.

People thought she couldn't do it.

And she wanted to prove,
both to herself and to everyone else,

that she could.

As fate would have it,

Stephen wanted her to train
with him in Dahab.

And there was definitely
an amazing connection

between Alessia and Stephen.

Stephen told us he was going
to pick Alessia up at the airport.

"Look what I made."

He pulled out

an airport sign
with "Alessia" written on it.

He was really excited, really happy.

He wanted everything to be perfect
for Alessia's arrival.

I haven't told you where we are yet.

I'm in Dahab for training.

It's beautiful here.

Okay, everything is ready.

We're here at the diving center,
packing everything.

Then we'll head to the sea.
I'll show you the Blue Hole.

He seemed
more excited than I was.

And I found that quite endearing.

That's prickish.

But we were both a bit awkward.

It was the first time
that we would see somebody cross the Arch,

and being involved in the dive
was super exciting.

We're gonna go training together.

I was like, "Oh my God.
I'm gonna train with Alessia. Dear Jesus!"

And she shows up
with a ham sandwich and a can of Coke.

I was like,
"Oh my God. Okay, I love her already."

Ooh!

Okay, Alessia. On your feet.

I knew
she'd just set a world record.

She matched the world record
one day in training.

It was inspiring

to see someone do these depths
that I'd kinda only dreamed of doing.

And you could tell, like...

Like, even Steve, he'd be like,
"Ah, she makes it look too easy."

You know? But it was...
That was, like, that was her.

Alessia and Steve
were together all the time.

He was coaching her
and preparing her for the Arch,

sitting down every evening
after her training for weeks,

going through everything,
telling her what she should do next.

It's another evening in Dahab free divers.

Then they were together
every evening.

Say hello.

Hello!

Say hello, guys.

Hey.

It was an amazing summer.

They had a very special connection.

It was just a really good match.

Simon! Belated happy birthday, bud.
Hope you had a great one.

Sorry it's only me to say happy birthday.

Or actually, no,
there's somebody else. Wait.

Happy birthday!

He adored being in the desert.

The happiness we shared was amazing.

We thought, "Okay,
this could be something pretty special."

We are gonna win the world championships.

We are gonna make world records.

And this amazing lady

is going to win the world championships.

True that.

We were all together
that evening. It was our last night.

And I remember
he turned to Alessia and said,

"You'll be the first woman
to do the Arch after Natalia Molchanova."

We told Stephen,

"Look after Alessia."

And obviously, as a safety, he told me...

"Leave it with me."

We're discussing the dive
before getting in the water.

This is my coach, Steve,
and these are some other athletes.

We'll get in the water soon.

I'm preparing all the gear.

We're ready to get in the water.

Steve asked me
to take photos of this dive.

I took pictures
doing briefing for all safety divers.

Steve really went through each detail.

Everybody knew
exactly what they were supposed to do.

The plan was Alessia would dive
52 meters, pulling herself on the rope,

and then, entering the Arch,
swim horizontally for 30 meters.

As she arrived
on the other side of the Arch,

the safety line should be there
in the middle.

Steve would be there
at the end of the line waiting for her.

Natalia crossed the Arch with a monofin.

What Alessia prepared for
was a dive without the monofin,

which is the hardest way you can do it.

Maybe she wanted to do it that way

to be better
than the best free diver ever.

Everything was timed.

They had made practice runs

to know how long exactly it takes
her to go down to 52 meters,

how long it takes for her
to swim horizontally for 30 meters.

And we had a countdown,

so we would make sure that Steve
would be already there before she arrived.

I go down
with the other two technical divers

with a camera to do the filming.

After she goes down,
my job was to hold the rope,

wait until we felt her hit the bottom,

go down a few meters, look.

If she wasn't coming back up,
come up and we're done.

After she swam through the Arch,

she was relying on finding the rope
on the other side to pull herself back up.

Five, four, three, two, one, zero.

We watched Alessia go down.

I'm feeling the rope,
so I can tell when she reaches the bottom.

After we felt her let go
of the rope, we'd give an okay sign

to tell the other safety divers
that she entered the Arch.

That should've triggered Steve to go down.

Ten seconds.

I started to give
the countdown to Steve.

Five, four, three.

He asked me for ten more seconds.

I just didn't really understand why,
because, um...

so far, everything had been going
according to plan.

So maybe the heart was going
a bit too fast for his liking,

so he wanted to take a few more seconds
to be really ready.

I really don't know,
because you can't discuss with him,

because he's preparing for his dive,
so he's not gonna talk.

It took him a little bit extra
to give me the signal.

Alessia is coming out
of the Arch, but Steve is not there.

She doesn't see the rope.

She is swimming the wrong direction.

She didn't realize
that she was already out.

I have, uh, one hand on the rope.

I'm waiting for the feel of the pull
to say that they're starting to come up.

The pull is not coming.

I start to worry.

Maybe she was swimming
a little bit slower.

Let's wait a little bit longer.

They should've been coming up

by the time
we swam across to the other side.

I knew at that point something was wrong.

Now it's too long.

Something is not right.

Alessia needs
to go up immediately.

She didn't know
that she's in completely the wrong place.

In one moment,
Steve left the rope super quickly.

As a scuba diver, I cannot do shit.

I was very far.

I was just screaming.

I could see
all the way to the end of the line.

There was no one.

We just can't see them.

Think fast.
Maybe the water current took them.

We would need to search
a much bigger area.

Thirty meters away, there was loads
and loads of tourists snorkeling.

We're looking for someone amongst a mess
of people that can't properly swim.

Everywhere I look,
they're not there.

I decided to come up and see
if I could see them on the surface.

There was no explanation.

I was swimming
as fast as I could.

I need to see if they are alive.

The first meters,
everything seemed normal.

Until I reached the Arch.

I remember while I was swimming,
I felt it was a bit strenuous.

There was a problem.

Steve wasn't there,
but neither was the rope.

I just tried to follow the reef,

trying to see where the rope was.

But I realized I couldn't find it.

I'd made a mistake.

I suddenly saw Steve in front of me.

I remember he took my hands.

And he swam, bringing me to the surface.

I don't remember
the first seconds when I surfaced.

I only remember, after a while,

looking around
and not understanding a thing.

Steve's face was in the water.

And I started screaming on her,
like, "Turn him face up!"

But I didn't realize
that she had blacked out.

And when I started screaming,
because I really screamed a lot,

she basically woke up,
and she started acting immediately.

Um...

Maybe I could have done more.

If I had been more conscious,
I don't know.

If you are
on your own, and you start blacking out,

you have to be on your back.

If you're not on your back, you're done.

Steve probably took
his last seconds of consciousness

to make sure she was in a position
that she'd survive in

at the expense of ending up face down.

The worst thing is
we couldn't do anything.

We couldn't save him.

He rescued me, but I couldn't rescue him.

He was a hero,
and he showed it till the end.

You can see in the last photo,

he lost his life to save hers.

I was diving the lighthouse.

Like, actually, over there.

I finish my dive, I...

I look at my phone,

even, like, with my suit on, like, I...

My phone, I look at my phone,
like, "What?"

Like, there are 50 missed calls.

And I received a phone call.

Something happened to Steve.

And...

It... They couldn't bring him back.

My first reaction was,
"Shit. I wasn't there."

"I could've saved him
if I would have been there."

He was choosing her
over himself.

I'm very clear that he knew
that someone was gonna die that day,

and he wasn't gonna let it be her.

I would give my life.

Mine instead of his.

He wouldn't...
he wouldn't have forgiven himself

if he wouldn't have saved her, you know?

Everybody,
we'll just dive until we feel

we want to release our flowers

and give thanks
for such a wonderful human in our lives,

sending all the good energy

that Stephen gave to all of us.

Everybody who loved Stephen
did a big underwater vigil.

They all held their breath for 39 seconds
to represent each year of his life.

There was never ever a death

which moved the place
the way that this... this one did.

It was hundreds of people.
I mean, everybody.

How? How can one person touch so many?

He must've been
a pretty special person, right?

Part of grief is kind of selfish.

And the selfish part of grief...
makes me miss him. I miss him.

I miss him not coming home.
I miss him in my life.

But I am much consoled by how he lived.

He was pretty courageous.

The Masai plains.

We're completely alone.

Jebel Toubkal.

Nice mountain in North Africa.

Stephen was searching
for something all of his life.

I did it!

He had found something he loved

and somebody who shared his dream.

Alessia and the sea.
They were all he needed.

He will always be with me.

I remember his eyes...

and try to remember
all the things he'd tell me.

To live, to be happy.

To believe in myself.

Enjoy yourself to the max!

Okay? Kiss.

I try and remember his hugs.

He's the person who made me realize
what it really means to hug someone.

From the hug, you'd understand
how deeply he cared about you

and all the feelings
you could share together.

He gave his life

for Alessia.

A pain like this stays with you.

You go on.

But that wound is there,
and it won't heal.

He will always be in my heart.

He's going to be with me forever,

because I want him to stay with me
for the rest of my life.