Freediver could be first Bermudian to represent the island

A telecoms engineer could have become the first Bermudian to freedive to 50 metres with one breath.

Scott Amos completed the 164ft freedive at Dean’s Blue Hole during a recent trip to the Bahamas with a group of friends. 

The 44-year-old is now considering taking part in an international competition held in Honduras later this year.

Mr Amos told the Bermuda Sun: “As far as we know there are no numbers on the board when it comes to Bermudians and freediving.

“I’m thinking about
going to Honduras to compete for Bermuda to see if I can put some official figures on the board for the country.

“The dive in Bahamas was obviously not accredited by the international governing body as it was not a proper competition.

“But we don’t know of anyone from Bermuda who has done a 50-metre freedive before.”

Mr Amos described the 50-metre dive he completed in the Bahamas last week as ‘fairly comfortable’.

He added: “It’s a very mental sport.

“You can feel the pressure building up and building up as you go down and everything in your body is telling you to breath.

“The sport combines all your fears — fear of the dark, fear of something coming out of the abyss and biting you and the fear of  not being able to make it to the surface again.

“There is a lot of technique involved and you are constantly battling self doubt.

“In many ways it’s the ultimate escape because you can not think of anything else apart from what you are doing while you are  down there.

“There is really nothing quite like it.”

Mr Amos travelled with a number of friends to the well-known freedive site of Dean’s Blue Hole, earlier this month.

International freediver Nicholas Mevoli died at the same spot in November 2013 trying to set a 200ft freedive record.

Mr Amos said: “It can be a very dangerous sport and you would never go out on your own.

“It should always be done with other safety divers.”

He added: “My interest in the sport started as a way of learning how to hold your breath for longer for spearfishing and lobster catching.

“When US  champion Ashley Chapman was in Bermuda with Performance Freediving International in 2011 I took the course and was able to
increase my breath hold from just over two minutes to four minutes 45 seconds.

“Recently Ashley and her husband set up their own company, Evolve Freediving, and that is who we went to the Bahamas with this time.

“There is now a small group of us in Bermuda that enjoy freediving including Craig Copik, JP Skinner and Dylan Ward and it’s become a very
social pursuit.

“It’s a bit like golf — you just try to improve on your own personal performance.”