Three years ago travel writer Lydia Gard discovered freediving almost by accident. It’s an extreme and beautiful sport defined by one simple objective: to dive as deep as you can on one single breath. Record holders are now routinely diving to more than 120 metres, pushing the sport and their bodies to find out what’s humanly possible.
Through her coach, Lydia was drawn into a small but fanatical community of competition athletes all united in their drive for depth, and that’s where she stumbled on a darker side of the sport. Rumours swirled that a group of top divers were doping to get deeper, faster.
As the community began to turn on each other over the allegations, one prominent diver decided to take the law into his own hands. A secret sting operation was meant to put an end to the problem by bringing the alleged dopers out of the dark, and into the light. But the issue hasn't gone away. And now, a lot of people who’ve been too scared to speak up, are ready to talk.
Episodes 1-4 are available to listen now.
Subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to binge listen to the entire series today.
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Click here to subscribe today for just £1 for your first month.
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Three years ago travel writer Lydia Gard discovered freediving almost by accident. It’s an extreme and beautiful sport defined by one simple objective: to dive as deep as you can on one single breath. Record holders are now routinely diving to more than 120 metres, pushing the sport and their bodies to find out what’s humanly possible.
Through her coach, Lydia was drawn into a small but fanatical community of competition athletes all united in their drive for depth, and that’s where she stumbled on a darker side of the sport. Rumours swirled that a group of top divers were doping to get deeper, faster.
As the community began to turn on each other over the allegations, one prominent diver decided to take the law into his own hands. A secret sting operation was meant to put an end to the problem by bringing the alleged dopers out of the dark, and into the light. But the issue hasn't gone away. And now, a lot of people who’ve been too scared to speak up, are ready to talk.
Episodes 1-4 are available to listen now.
Subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to binge listen to the entire series today.
Subscribe to The Observer today and get access to:
Click here to subscribe today for just £1 for your first month.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
When Donald Trump declared victory in the US presidential election, he told an adoring crowd that "a star is born". He was referring to Elon Musk.
After months of reporting on the billionaire's use of private investigators, Alexi asks whether the insights he gained from that investigation reveal how Musk will operate in his new political era, and what that means for everything in his orbit.
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Reported and produced by: Alexi Mostrous, Gary Marshall, Matt Russell & Patricia Clarke
Sound design: Bart Warshaw
Original Music: Tom Kinsella
Podcast artwork: Jon Hill
Executive producer: Basia Cummings
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.