Original subtitles

- [car door opens] - [keys jingling]

- [car door slams] - [woman sighs heavily]

[keys jingling]

[car engine starts]

["Girl Don't Want Him" by Toddla T]

[horn blaring]

[woman, in Italian] 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.

[man, in English] Twenty seconds!

[splashing]

[Alessia inhaling deeply]

[man] Ten seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Alessia Zecchini. Italy.

Four minutes. World record attempt.

[heartbeat pulsing]

[rapid, high-pitched beeping]

[heartbeat slows]

[beeping slows]

[beeping fades]

[heartbeat slowing further]

[beeping fades in]

[faint beeping]

[heartbeat deepens]

[beeping speeding up]

[heartbeat slowing further]

[heartbeat slowing further]

[rapid beeping continues]

[heartbeat slowing and deepening]

[heartbeat slowing further]

[rapid beeping continues]

[Alessia chokes]

[steady beep]

[in Italian] Okay, look at me.

[loud, steady beep]

[poignant music playing]

[horns blaring]

[siren wailing]

[man, in Italian] 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?"

[girl, in Italian] 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.

[man, in English] Molchanova holds over 40 free diving records.

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

[speaking Italian]

[girl, in Italian] 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.

[Enzo, in Italian] If you don't have a dream to spur you on, you won't make it.

But the price you pay

is so high.

[scoffs]

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.

[man, in English] Alessia and Stephen really became a duet...

Ah! Remember?

[man]...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.

[seagulls calling]

Dad, come on!

Dad, come on!

Come on!

[man] I've always been curious.

I was always kind of fascinated by wilderness,

and animals, and the sea.

[Peter] 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.

[Stephen] 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.

[boy] Keenan, looking good!

[Peter] 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.

[Alessia, in Italian] 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.

[suspenseful music playing]

[man, in Italian] 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.

[inspiring music playing]

I think I had done about 100 meters.

It took us many years to reach those numbers.

The kid did 105 meters.

[applause]

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.

[Alessia] 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.

- [man, in English] Well done! - [cheering]

- [spectators] Brava! - [applause and laughter]

[Enzo, in Italian] 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.

[Alessia] 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?"

- [cheering and applause] - [man] Speech!

[in English] Being told you're being best man is usually a very emotional,

bonding moment between friends.

[woman laughs]

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

and through one of the lads.

[laughter]

[Stephen] 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.

[woman] Look who's there!

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

[Stephen] But then my mother just got sick.

I don't want to ruin another tape.

[laughing] No, no!

[Peter] Maura got cancer.

Do you remember last time?

[Peter] Both Stephen and his younger brother Gary

were really close to their mother.

It was very upsetting for them.

[woman] You're taking their mammy.

They were a great lift to her.

[poignant music playing]

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.

[Stephen] 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.

[optimistic music playing]

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.

[in French] What's your name?

Stephen. Steve.

- Stephen? - Yes.

- Huh. Are you Christian? - Yes.

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

No, Catholic.

[in English] Palm wine.

[man chuckles]

- [in French] Yes? - [laughter]

- [Stephen, in English] Hi. - Hello.

[Stephen] She's been the village queen for how long?

- [man] Six years now. - [Stephen] Six? Okay.

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

[child singing]

[children laughing]

[Stephen] 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.

[bird calling]

Just over the Congolese border.

[child calling out]

[inspiring music playing]

[Stephen] Whoa!

- So here we are. - [man] Okay.

[Stephen] 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.

[beeping]

[calm, ethereal music playing]

[Alessia, in Italian] 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 ♪

[Enzo] Once she turned 18...

she suddenly arrived, like a rocket.

[Homar, in Italian] She immediately showed her potential.

150 meters in the pool.

At first, it was, "Wow."

But Ilaria was better.

[in Italian] I certainly wasn't expecting this result.

[Ilaria, in English] I was the strongest in Italy.

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

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

[man, in Italian] Here's Alessia Zecchini. Near the 200-meter wall.

Let's see if she turns.

No, she's coming out.

[Ilaria, in English] She was really young, with a teenage mind.

She was sad.

She was upset.

[in Italian] It was really tough.

Hmm...

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

[announcer] Ilaria Bonin!

[man] Go on, Ilaria!

[cheering and applause]

[Ilaria, in English] If you want to be the best

and you always take silver medal...

[winces]

Ah, it's something that drives you mad.

[Enzo, in Italian] When someone out there is stronger than you,

it becomes another motivation.

[quiet conversation in Italian]

[Alessia, in Italian] 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.

[in Russian] 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.

[uplifting music playing]

[in English] She start to approach the competition in a different way.

She was so relaxed.

[man, in Italian] That's good. Stop.

Brava! [counting in Italian]

[woman cheers]

[man, in Italian] An amazing 224-meter performance.

[in English] She was so satisfied when she reached the gold medal.

[man, in Italian] Congratulations for this new Italian title.

Yes, it's amazing. At last!

[Ilaria, in English] That moment was the beginning

of our deep friendship.

This result was always written.

She had some supernatural power with free diving.

[applause and cheering]

But the pool was too small for Alessia.

[seabirds calling]

The sea was really her home.

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

With the lads in Ethiopia.

[Peter] Ethiopia, Sudan,

Sierra Leone...

[horns honking]

- Nigeria. - [cheering]

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.

[gunshots]

There's been gunfire all morning.

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

[gunshots continue]

[Peter] 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?"

[animal cooing]

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.

[insects chirping]

[Stephen] Been thinking about family, my friends.

It is, without doubt, the lowest,

awfullest time of my life right now.

Anyway...

until tomorrow.

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

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

[ethereal music playing]

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.

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

I got a real feeling of hope about this place.

[man] 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.

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

[children shouting]

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.

[Mahmoud] Dahab, for Steve, a second home.

[Peter] 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."

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

[ethereal music playing]

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.

[man] This is the most dangerous dive site on Earth.

It's thought to have claimed over 100 lives.

[man] 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.

[in Russian] Diving the Arch has left a lasting impression on me.

[man, in English] 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.

[woman] 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.

[man] 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?

[cheering and applause]

[Alessia, in English] I don't know. [laughs] Of course, it's a dream.

Really, a dream for every athlete, I think.

But it's really difficult.

[man, in English] Natalia Molchanova, champion of the deep,

holding over 40 free diving records,

some of them incredible, death-defying feats.

[in English] Today, my dive was 101 meters.

[man] That's 101 meters down and up.

More than two Statues of Liberty,

stacked ground to torch.

[woman] 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.

[in Italian] 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.

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

And really, everything is possible.

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

Talk about the feeling on the body of the pressure.

[Alessia, in English] The deeper I'm diving,

the pressure compresses the air in my lungs,

until my lungs are the size of my fist.

[heartbeat]

After 30 meters, the pressure pushes me down.

[heartbeat slowing]

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.

[heartbeat deepening and slowing]

[Adam] 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.

[urgent music playing]

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.

[William] 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.

[man] Right, one more.

[blowing]

[pensive music playing]

[William] 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.

[Kristof] 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.

[pensive music continues]

[Stephen chokes]

[Kristof] 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."

- [Kristof] How deep? - Sixty.

- Okay. - Shite.

[panting]

[Kristof] But Steve never gives up.

[inspirational music playing]

- Yeah! - [cheering]

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

[Peter] 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.

[gasping]

Stephen?

[Kristof] Steve had a really, really strong blackout.

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

- [man] Stephen... - [Stephen wails]

[Kristof] He almost died there.

[man] Release... release him.

We should go back.

[Kristof] 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.

[Stephen] 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.

[woman] Please get out of the way for the safety.

[Kristof] He worked very hard to make a name for himself.

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

[Kristof] After a while, Steve got the chance

to be on the safety team in Kalamata,

which was his first international big competition.

[man] That's all good. Put it down.

[Adam] 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.

[tense music playing]

Safety, keep your distances.

Eighty.

[Kristof] Steve was the first safety.

That means he has to dive the deepest.

[tense music continues]

[Adam] Stephen kicked down to 30 meters.

[beeping]

[Kristof] 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. - [beeping]

Come on, Alexey.

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

Andrea, you go down as well.

[tense music continues]

- Trouble. - Yeah.

[woman] Trouble?

[Kristof] Steve started to have contractions.

He's seconds away from the blackout.

[beeping]

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

Split-second decisions.

Save Alexey or save himself.

[man speaking Russian]

[Alexey groaning]

[Stephen, in English] Breathe, Alexey. Breathe.

- [man] Breathe, Alex. - [Stephen] Breathe for me.

[Alexey coughs]

- [Stephen] Breathe. - Breathe, mate. You're good.

[oxygen hissing]

[Alexey, in English] I had severe lung damage.

My mama told me that Steve saved me.

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

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

[somber music playing]

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

Everybody knew him.

Stephen Keenan. [laughing]

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.

[woman] Right.

[in Italian] We're on day three of training.

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

I've done 88 meters.

- [speaking Italian] - [laughing]

[Francesca, in English] Alessia was inching closer and closer

to that magical number, 101 meters.

But she wasn't the only one.

[man] Excellent dive.

[Francesca] Hanako Hirose of Japan was a strong challenger.

[in Japanese] Can I have a message regarding the competition?

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

[man] Thank you.

[Adam, in English] Hanako has an innate connection to the sea.

It's something she was just born to do.

[Hanako, in Japanese] When I dive,

I often imagine myself swimming...

like a whale or dolphin.

[Francesca, in English] Hanako was going deeper and deeper and deeper.

And Alessia had to respond.

[in Italian] Alessia Zecchini was extraordinary.

Her dive was extremely elegant in every respect.

[William, in English] We had this amazing rivalry between Hanako and Alessia.

Hanako very consistently moved through the depths.

[Francesca] Alessia would come back at her.

[William] Eighty-nine meters.

[Francesca] Ninety.

- [cheering] - [William] Ninety-two.

[Francesca] Ninety-three.

[woman] Tell us how deep your dive was.

[in English] Ninety-four meters.

- [squeals and laughs] - [man chuckling]

- [in Italian] How many meters? - Ninety-four.

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

- [cork pops] - [cheering]

[William] 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.

[Francesca] Natalia Molchanova disappeared off the coast of Spain.

They didn't recover her body.

[man] 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."

[somber music playing]

[Alessia, in Italian] It was all too surreal.

I was shocked.

It was really sad because she was so strong.

[woman, in English] We lost Natalia Molchanova.

And in recognition of her great accomplishments,

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

[Adam] 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.

[Alessia, in Italian] 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.

[oxygen hissing]

I didn't feel safe.

[hopeful music playing]

[Peter, in English] Stephen had an idea

that he could use his own experience as a safety diver

to open this center for free diving.

[cheerful music playing]

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.

[Peter] He was very proud to tell me

he was finally making a success of his business,

following his dream.

[Kristof] I was so proud of him.

He finally had this purpose.

Hey, Steve. Hi!

[Stephen] 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. [laughs]

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.

[man] 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.

[wistful music playing]

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.

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

and for all the listeners of the show too.

[Alessia, in English] Thank you. It's a major pleasure.

[man] Do you think you push too hard sometimes

in search of records?

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

[Alessia] Yeah, maybe, sure.

[Enzo, in Italian] We had no idea she was after the world record.

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

[man, in English] What would you like to accomplish in the next few months?

[Alessia] I would like to go deeper.

I would like to do the world record.

[laughs] That's my goal.

[man] When is your next competition?

[Alessia] Vertical Blue.

[dramatic music playing]

[Francesca] Welcome to Vertical Blue in the Bahamas.

We have 42 competitors from all around the globe

who are announcing ten different national records.

[Francesca] Vertical Blue is like the Wimbledon of free diving.

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

[Francesca] Only the best of the best are invited.

Alessia Zecchini, and I'm from Italy.

[Francesca] 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.

[William] 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.

[Nick] Never take a dive for granted.

You don't know what...

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

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

And things catastrophically went wrong.

Nick had a lung squeeze.

[William] With the lung squeeze,

the blood vessels inside your lungs can burst

and leak blood into your air spaces.

[Francesca] We're talking about tissue that is torn

and then scarred.

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

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

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

[Stephen] 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.

[pensive music playing]

[William] In competition, we have to retrieve a tag

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

[Francesca] She's reaching for her tag.

[William] A white card is a 100% valid performance.

- [man] Yeah! - Yes!

[Alexey] As soon as somebody helps you, or you lose control,

even on the surface, that's disqualification.

It's a red card.

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

[Alexey] It's very simple.

The deepest dive wins.

...is coming to meet you.

Okay.

[Alessia, in English] I want to do so much. Yeah.

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

[Francesca] 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.

[slow heartbeat]

[Francesca] She's on her way back.

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

and he's going to meet her.

[tense music playing]

[man, in Italian] Well done, Alessia.

- [woman] Breathe. - [man] Breathe.

- Breathe, breathe, breathe. - [woman] Breathe. Breathe.

[Alessia groans] - [team] Breathe, breathe.

- [in English] I'm okay. - [man speaking Italian]

[in English] I'm okay.

[Francesca] The judges are conferring.

I'm sorry, Alessia, red card.

[man 1, in Italian] Breathe.

[man 2, in English] Grab her. Keep her up.

[Francesca] Support her. Just support her.

[man 2] Just support her head.

[man speaking Italian]

- [man 1, in Italian] Breathe. - [in English] Somebody hold her.

Hold her for me. Up.

Up. You okay?

Come on. Hold her.

[coughs]

[oxygen hissing]

[Alexey] She was really pushing hard,

experiencing blackouts several times.

A lot of free divers were not approving her way.

[Leigh] 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.

[Francesca] 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.

[Leigh] 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.

[woman] Alessia!

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

Some people saw it as...

yeah, the wrong kind of reaction.

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

[in Italian] Why the hell are you getting angry?

You had a bad start. Chill out.

[Francesca, in English] There were hecklers

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

The Internet trolls were robust in their criticism.

[in Italian] 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.

[in English] 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.

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

[Stephen] She was out for a while but remembered nothing.

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

[Leigh] 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.

[peaceful music playing]

[in Italian] Breathe.

Breathe.

[man speaks Italian]

- [in English] Are you okay? - I am okay.

[man] Yes!

[laughing]

[Alessia, in Italian] He inspired trust straight away.

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

[calm, uplifting music playing]

[man speaking Italian]

[in English] Are you okay?

[Alessia, in Italian] 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.

[woman, in English] 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.

[Homar, in Italian] There was a relationship that went beyond free diving.

With some people, you have an understanding.

You don't need words or time.

[laughter]

I saw this connection.

[in English] The first thing you did... And then you went, like, "No..."

[laughter]

[man] Okay.

Oh my God.

[chuckles]

[man] Yes?

Brava!

Brava!

[birdsong]

[suspenseful music playing]

[woman, in Italian] Your biggest opponents for breaking the record are the Japanese.

Do you fear them?

I certainly fear my Japanese opponents.

[Hanako, in Japanese] 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.

[chuckles]

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

[Stephen, in English] Second safety.

[Francesca] She's with both the safeties now.

- [Stephen] She's slowing down a bit. - [Francesca] She's slowing down a little.

[suspenseful music playing]

Here she comes.

- Got it. - [woman shouts in Japanese]

[woman speaking Japanese]

- [in English] Okay... - I'm okay.

- [Francesca] Oh, yeah! - [cheering]

And the judges say... white card!

[cheering]

Hanako Hirose of Japan,

first female after Natalia to make 100 meters in competition.

This is a huge dive!

[Francesca] When Hanako made the 100-meter mark,

that set a fire underneath Alessia.

[energetic music playing]

[Francesca] Stephen Keenan is going to meet her.

- [man] Forty meters. - [Francesca] Here she comes.

- [man] First safety. - [Francesca] She's with the first safety.

Now, hope for Alessia.

[man, in Italian] Breathe.

[Stephen, in English] Come on!

I'm okay.

[applause]

- [man] Yeah! Yeah! - [cheering]

[Francesca] Stay up! Stay up! Stay up!

- Stay up! - [team speaking Italian]

- [man] She has the tag. - [Francesca] She has the tag!

[cheering]

Stay up, Alessia, stay up.

And the judges say

white card!

[cheering and whooping]

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? [laughs]

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

[Alessia, in Italian] 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.

[in English] Right, cheers to Alessia.

[cheering and whistling]

- [in Italian] 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.

[somber music playing]

[William, in English] The athletes had to email myself

with their announcement for the final day

to decide how deep they wanted to attempt to go.

[Alexey] 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.

[Alessia, in English] It's super hard to choose.

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

It's...

[sighs] It's hard.

- [radio playing hip-hop music] - [car horn blares]

[woman, in Italian] 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.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Francesca, in English] 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.

[William] 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.

[Francesca] We have even more exciting diving coming up.

Another world record attempt announced.

[woman] Five, four, three, two, one.

[Francesca] 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... - [woman] 100 meters.

[Francesca] One hundred meters!

- [woman] Touchdown. - [Francesca] Touchdown!

[cheering]

Stand for Hanako Hirose of Japan, 103 meters!

Come on, Hanako.

Make that big swim back up.

- [woman] Two forty-five. - [Francesca] Two forty-five.

Diver in sight,

Hanako Hirose of Japan,

hoping for 103 and a world record.

I'm okay.

[cheering]

[man] Yeah! Good luck!

[triumphant music playing]

- [Francesca] Whoa! She has the tag. - [man] Yeah!

[Francesca] White card!

Hanako was clean as a whistle.

[in Italian] World record, 103 clean. Fantastic.

[Francesca, in English] Whoever comes up first, and they do it clean,

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

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

is a big ask.

[low tone pulsing]

[woman] Ten seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Alessia Zecchini, Italy.

104 meters world record attempt.

[cheering and applause]

[Enzo, in Italian] On streaming, you can see the whole event.

[Francesca, in English] Final record attempt of the day.

[Enzo, in Italian] As you see her go down...

you get a flood of worries.

[quiet music playing]

[woman, in English] Someone check the sonar.

[Francesca] Surface safety, check the sonar, please.

[woman] Yeah, I have no signal. Can someone check?

- [Francesca] And Alessia... - [woman] Should be at 80...

I have no signal.

[Enzo, in Italian] The sonar allows them to see

whether they've stopped.

[Francesca, in English] ...forty-five...

We're having a little interference in our sonar.

- [woman] Two minutes. - [Francesca] Two minutes has passed.

[Stephen] Three forty-five...

- [woman] Eighty. - [Francesca] We're not sure.

- We're not sure. - [woman] She's okay.

[foreboding music playing]

- [Francesca] Dive time 2'15. - [woman 1] 2'15.

- [woman 2] Seventy meters. - [Francesca] Two-one-five.

[Enzo, in Italian] We should see her coming out by now.

[woman 2, in English] First safety.

[slow heartbeat]

[heartbeat slowing]

[heartbeat quickening]

[emotive music playing]

- [man] Here's Alessia. - [man 2, in Italian] Breathe, breathe!

[speaking Italian]

I'm okay.

[cheering]

[triumphant music playing]

[Enzo, in Italian] There she is!

She's no longer swallowed by endless darkness.

[Francesca, in English] The judges are conferring. She has a tag.

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

[cheering]

[whistling]

World record, 104!

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

[all cheering]

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.

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

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

[in English] And in first place,

with an incredible dive today of 104 meters,

and a new world record,

Alessia Zecchini!

[cheering and applause]

[Leigh] 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.

[in Italian] 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.

[applause]

Any other ambitions, aims, goals?

[Francesca, in English] 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.

[uplifting music playing]

[in Italian] 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.

[Alessia] He seemed more excited than I was.

And I found that quite endearing.

[man, in English] That's prickish.

[Alessia, in Italian] But we were both a bit awkward.

[Lily, in English] 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.

[man] 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. [laughs]

[Lily] 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.

[Lily] Then they were together every evening.

[Stephen] Say hello.

Hello!

Say hello, guys.

[all] Hey.

[Lily] It was an amazing summer.

They had a very special connection.

It was just a really good match. [laughs]

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!

[Stephen laughs]

[Alessia, in Italian] He adored being in the desert.

The happiness we shared was amazing.

[Lily, in English] 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.

[Homar, in Italian] 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."

[bells clanking]

[in Italian] 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.

[Kristina, in English] 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.

[Lily] 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.

[Nathan] What Alessia prepared for was a dive without the monofin,

which is the hardest way you can do it.

[Lily] Maybe she wanted to do it that way

to be better than the best free diver ever.

[rhythmic beeping]

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.

[beeping continues]

[Kristina] I go down with the other two technical divers

with a camera to do the filming.

[Nathan] 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.

[man] Five, four, three, two, one, zero.

[Nathan] We watched Alessia go down.

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

[rapid heartbeat]

[faint, slow heartbeat]

[Nathan] 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.

[Lily] Ten seconds.

[rapid heartbeat]

[Lily] I started to give the countdown to Steve.

[Lily] Five, four, three.

He asked me for ten more seconds.

[beeping]

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.

[steady heartbeat]

[somber music playing]

[heartbeat slowing]

[Kristina] 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.

[rapid heartbeat]

[Lily] 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.

[beeping]

Maybe she was swimming a little bit slower.

Let's wait a little bit longer.

[Nathan] They should've been coming up

by the time we swam across to the other side.

I knew at that point something was wrong.

[Lily] Now it's too long.

Something is not right.

[rapid heartbeat]

[Kristina] 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.

[very fast heartbeat]

As a scuba diver, I cannot do shit.

I was very far.

I was just screaming.

[Lily] I could see all the way to the end of the line.

There was no one.

[fast heartbeat continues]

[Nathan] 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.

[man laughing]

[inhales]

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

[Lily] Everywhere I look, they're not there.

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

[speaks French]

[Lily] There was no explanation.

[Kristina] I was swimming as fast as I could.

I need to see if they are alive.

- [high-pitched ringing] - [Alessia gasping]

[sounds fade]

[sighs]

[Alessia, in Italian] 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.

- [high-pitched ringing] - [Alessia gasping]

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

I only remember, after a while,

looking around and not understanding a thing.

[Kristina, in English] 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...

[in Italian] Maybe I could have done more.

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

[Nathan, in English] 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.

[poignant music playing]

[in Italian] The worst thing is we couldn't do anything.

We couldn't save him.

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

[mournful music playing]

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

[Kristina, in English] 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."

[sighs]

[sobbing]

[Francesca] 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. [sniffles]

[in Italian] I would give my life.

Mine instead of his.

[in English] He wouldn't... he wouldn't have forgiven himself

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

[Francesca] 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.

[poignant music playing]

[Peter] 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?

[laughs]

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.

[hopeful music playing]

[Peter] Stephen was searching for something all of his life.

I did it! [laughs]

[Peter] He had found something he loved

and somebody who shared his dream.

Alessia and the sea. They were all he needed.

[Alessia, in Italian] 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.

[in English] Enjoy yourself to the max!

Okay? Kiss.

[Alessia, in Italian] 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.

[Alessia] 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.

[music fades]

[water rippling gently]

[emotional music playing]