Until the 1960s, scientists believed that diving beyond 38 metres (around 125 feet), could kill a human. The pressure, they thought, would crush the lungs. But in 1952, an Italian diver Raimondo Bucher took a 39-metre-plunge and came back up, proving them wrong. Since then, freedivers have been going deeper. Some use ropes, some fins, some add weights, and one discipline has crossed the 200-metre mark. But the risk is real. Seawater is 840 times denser than air, and as you sink, the pressure builds quickly. The deeper you go, the heavier it gets.
And yet, freedivers return for tranquility and slow fall. “What draws me to freediving, is the calmness and stillness. It’s just you and your body,” says Tamil Nadu-based Archana Thiagarajan. “I usually close my eyes. It’s like being in space, weightless, free-falling, neutrally buoyant.” A former squadron leader in the Indian Air Force, Archana, never expected to find a space in this world. But earlier this year, she made history. At the 34th AIDA Freediving World Championship in Wakayama, Japan (held from 28 June to 2 July, 2025), Archana became the first Indian woman to represent the country. In her debut appearance, she set four new national records across all pool disciplines (DYNB: 137m; DYN: 125m; DNF: 94m; STA: 4:22 Sec), bringing her total to ten (all in pool disciplines). A sabbatical in Indonesia in April 2024 with her husband (also ex-IAF), had sparked a casual interest in freediving after initially considering scuba. They had both retired from the IAF on 5 January, 2024 and planned a year of travel. Now, that spark has taken her to the world stage.
Trading uniform for monofin
“We decided to take a sabbatical and went to Indonesia,” Archana recalls. “That’s when a friend introduced us to freediving. I already had a competitive swimming background, so he suggested I give it a try while we were initially looking to take up scuba courses.”
After attending a beginner’s course in April 2024, Archana’s instructor encouraged her to participate in a local competition in May 2024. Despite being new to the sport, she set three Indian national records in her very first outing (DYN: 83m; DYNB: 81m; Static: 3:42 Sec).
“Thanks to a one-month yoga programme I had completed beforehand,” she says. “It helped with breathwork, which is central to freediving. A combination of yoga, pranayama, and swimming helped me achieve those national records.”
This blend of discipline, breath control, and physical endurance wasn’t new to Archana. It had been shaped by a decade of military service.
“The transformation was completely different. Every profession has its own challenges. Defence has its own, and freediving has another,” she explains. “But I would say that my military background has helped tremendously because freediving is 80% mental and 20% physical.”
Mental strength, she says, is everything underwater. “If I get anxious, my heart rate increases, and that consumes more oxygen. The more meditative and calm I am, the better I perform. That’s the bottom line: Stay calm and make sound decisions under pressure, something the military drilled into us.”
She describes freediving as “the best form of ‘me-time’ — completely meditative.” It’s this feeling of stillness, of being entirely in the present, that keeps her returning to the water. Archana admits that stepping onto the world stage wasn’t easy. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous or questioning myself,” she says. “There were a lot of thoughts running through my mind. But someone had to take the initiative, to go there and put themselves out.”
What made it even more meaningful was the recognition from the global freediving community. “The amount of progress I’ve made in a year, is commendable,” she says. “So yes, I feel everything aligned well for me, and it’s been incredibly rewarding.”
Archana is now working to bring that global momentum back home. “Freediving is still a niche sport in India. Many people haven’t even heard of it,” she says. “Part of what I’m trying to do is raise awareness here, because only when more people take an interest can the sport grow and produce strong athletes.”
But the gaps are many: lack of equipment, few training facilities, and limited underwater visibility on the mainland. “There are also challenges in terms of equipment. There aren’t many companies in India that sell the necessary gear. Even getting good fins or wetsuits can be a struggle; we usually have to import them,” she notes.
Freediving has two branches — pool disciplines and depth disciplines. While pool-based training is possible in Indian cities, depth training requires access to the sea and clear waters, which are limited to places like the Andaman or Lakshadweep Islands. Archana keeps shuttling between Chennai and Bengaluru and travels extensively for training (including Kaizen Freediving in Koh Tao, Thailand, and Camotes, Philippines).
Athlete to instructor
Archana recently became the first female Molchanovs instructor from India — certified in April 2025 after training in the Philippines — an internationally respected freediving certification with rigorous standards. “Molchanovs is one of the most rigorous freediving organisations globally, with tough criteria for becoming an instructor,” she says. She wants to have a community of freedivers back home.
Awareness and safety, she insists, must go hand-in-hand. “This is classified as an extreme sport. You must be at least 18 to participate because you are depriving your body of oxygen during breath-hold,” she says. “You must know your limits and when to surface. Every day isn’t the same. If you push too far, your body can shut down, and you could black out.”
Archana’s training routine reflects the demands of her sport. “I practise yoga and pranayama daily. Diving happens about four to five times a week. I also include strength training.” Rest days are crucial, especially for physical recovery. “Ears needs a dry day from time to time,” she explains. Even on non-diving days, she continues what’s called “dry training” — CO2 and O2 tables are designed to increase the body’s tolerance to breath-hold and carbon dioxide build-up. Her lifestyle follows a clean, plant-based approach. “I follow a vegan diet and take no supplements — only what’s advised by my Ayurvedic doctor, based on my health needs,” she says.
The 1991 born freediver credits her swimming coaches — Joy Joseph Thoppan, Saji Sebastian, and Tom Joy Thoppan — for her early foundation, and her freediving mentors Akshay Tatte and Aakash Raj for guiding her rise to national records.
So far, Archana has competed only in pool disciplines. But her sights are now set on the open sea.
“I’m planning my next one,” she says. “Soon, I’ll make my debut in depth competitions, hopefully later this year.”