I just watched this documentary on Netflix called "The Deepest Breath 2023" and I was so captivated by this extreme diving sport.
EDITED FOR CLARITY: I do not have a problem with the documentary, I enjoyed it very much. My problem is with one of the divers, Alyssia Zecchini, current womens world record holder, who attempted a very difficult diving stunt without the proper precautions and incremental steps required. She risked the lives of all involved, and one of them actaully died as a result. I feel this tragedy was VERY PREVENTABLE. You need to watch the documentary to see my point.
SPOILER ALERT If you have not watched the documentary, you may want to watch it first before you read my criticism below. Otherwise you may make yourself look silly.
As I watch the plot twists and the person you think will have the accident does not have the accident but someone around them does instead.
Watching Alessia Zecchini set world diving record after diving record really captures her personality, including the bad parts, her extreme ego.
I was so angry when Stephen Keenen, the Safety Diver ended up dying in her stunt to swim under the arch in the Blue Hole Arch in Dahab, Egypt.
She misses the rope and keeps on going past the place where the divers are expecting her to pop up, then when she does, and the Safety Diver, Stephen Keenen goes to rescue her, they both are so far away from other divers to be helped, both struggling for air, and both on the verge of blacking out. However, Stephen being the Safety diver has the decency to leave Alessia facing up as she blacks out trying to replenish her body with oxygen. In turn she does not notice Stephen who blacks out shortly afterwards, and has no one to notice that he does so facing down with his head in the water. He dies, saving her.
This stunt angered me so much because Alessia insisted that she did not want to use the uni fin in her attempt, the last female diver who did the arch used a uni fin Natalia Molchanova who's record Alessia has been chasing all her life, and who she has just eclipsed in terms of sheer depth.... but she has yet to dive under the arch which Natalia did using a uni-fin, Alessia decides she wants to be better than her, she will do it WITHOUT.
As she starts doing the side ways portion of her dive she remarks that its incredibly hard, no shit sherlock! The ego on this girl! This stunt kills her boyfriend, her love, Stephen Keenan as a result... and I have to go back and look at this ego maniac, who could not do it in small steps, just decided to do something this complex in a giant leap without a uni-fin! Is it too much to ask, to do this in small steps? Why risk peoples lives with these massive leaps so that you could look "better" than the last person doing so? Would it not help to have done the arch at least once with a uni-fin? I am shocked and speechless when I see Stephen die, I did not know about this, but watching the documentary I feel that Alessia's ego killed him.
You see this aspect of her in the Documentary when she blacks out 3 times in a row during competition and a doctor tells her that she will not be diving for a couple of days as a safety percussion... so instead of taking this like a good sportswoman, she gets all huffy and puffy about it and decides to swim away from the crowd a mile or two, defiantly.... and this point no one knows if she will try to dive by herself, but everyone is worried and concerned about her childish tantrum.
After watching this documentary, I do not like this woman. I think she is irresponsible and immature, and killed a good person because of her ego.
I am still shocked by what I just streamed on Netflix... and how none of the divers said anything about her not trying the feat with a uni-fin first. I feel this death could of been avoided and was senseless. You should be able to do this sport without unnecessarily putting people at risk, and doing the arch without first trying it with a uni-fin was an unnecessary leap that gambled not just her life, but also the lives of those around her.
I don't think you read my message, nor watched the documentary. Maybe I should edit my post to be more succinct in the first paragraph, as to the fact that Stephan Keenan lost his life needlessly and for the one person's pursuit of glory. It needn't have happened.
I have no problems with the documentary, I think its well made and shows us the dangers of the sport of free diving. My problem is with the actions taken by Alyssia in her stunt to conquer the Deep Blue Arch without uni-fin, which ended up costing her colleagues life.
The dive under the arch should have been attempted incrementally, and with a uni-fin first. Alyssia would have been accustomed to the route. The difficulty of the latteral part of the stunt startled her because she always dived with a uni-fin, so doing so without was biting off a lot more than she could chew. Doing so on the first attempt of such a dangerous dive, created the problems that we saw in the documentary. She put peoples lives at rist, and one of them dies as a result. That is what makes me angry. I do not mind goal oriented pursuits even diving for glory, but by all means make it as safe as possible for all involved.
This tragedy was completely preventable.
To understand the point I suggest you watch the documentary.