The beauty of free diving is in the breath: Neyvaa 2 smashes Guinness World Record yet again

Words by Jumana

It was a blustery sort of day with some heat. A sea of red green and white with the “Neyvaa 2” emblazoned across the chest were moving against the calm azure of the lagoon at Marquee beach, Crossroads Marina. Participants, organizers and stewards working together as one under the colors of the Maldivian flag. You may not see it at first glance, but assembled here are witnesses to months of hard work, a lifetime of loving the ocean, the desire to bring awareness to climate change impact – and making history doing so. Neyvaa 2’s telltale timer will begin its ‘tik tok’ precisely at 4:15 pm local time. When the sound of the timer breaks the din, everything fades away, with only the breath hold of about 152 divers are left in the quiet calm. All over this small island nation are the remaining 308 participants delving into the same attempt. Today is the day they are part of setting another Guinness World Record for Maldives.

It was back in 2019 when Freedive Maldives was approached by the Ministry of Tourism to put together a shindig to celebrate Tourism Day. Casting their nets broadly in hopes of capturing ideas, they landed on the idea to break a 20 second breath hold record set by 250 Italian freedivers at an event organized by La Scuola Del Mare 2 in Lake Garda, Verona back in 2009. The Neyvaa event in 2019 was joined by freediving record holders William Trubridge, Alana Caskey and Jonathan Chon alongside Parliament and Cabinet members as well as President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. 521 divers held their breath for 30 seconds below 3 meters inside the lagoon in Baros Maldives among choppy waves.

“We free divers dive with a single breath (Neyvaa).  That’s the breath that counts. A single breath is so important for everything, be it corals, humans, the entire environment, all of us are breathing. So just like that.. for our ‘Neyvaa’ “

Of all the freedive disciplines, this year explored the most number of people attempting static apnea with a breath hold of 1 minute 30 seconds in a whopping 11 different locations throughout this small low-lying archipelago. Static apnea is the freedive discipline where the person holds their breath underwater while remaining stationary and not swimming. Speaking of which, the Neyvaa 2 poster sends a powerful message with the depiction of a little girl dressed in Maldivian traditional libaas surrounded by water and a vibrant ecosystem on one side, with a bleak contrast on the other half. Fahd noted, “If we don’t take care of our reefs or our climate, there will not be any of the beauty left for future generations of Maldivians”.

Fahd noted “Even following the end of the 2019 event, we really wanted to create something of our own that would make it to the Guiness World Record. One of the proposals submitted was ‘most number of people doing static apnea simultaneously in multiple locations'”. He added that since the event is celebrating Tourism’s Golden Jubilee in Maldives, a major focus was cast on recruiting participants from the tourism industry. The past year has been littered with travel by the Neyvaa 2 crew who have been visiting resorts and conducting 5-day training programs. As a result, resorts such as W Maldives, Royal Island, Filitheyo joined this year’s breath hold. Several companies such as MWSC, MACL and Maldives National Defense Force as well as Maldives Police all united under the Neyvaa 2 banner to accomplish this feat.

“Compared to the past year, this one is much more challenging on many more levels due to the number of people involved. 97 percent of the people involved in this event are not actual free divers. They are all beginners and new to free diving. That’s the wonderful beauty of this event. We have been able to introduce freediving to a whole new group of people”.