Traveling into the abyss on a single breath, they dive into the water with no scuba gear just themselves and their breath, relying only on their own strength and determination. This is the world of freediving, a sport which has its roots in ancient times, where cultures promoted the art in order to gather food, harvest resources like sponge and pearl, reclaim sunken valuables and to help aid military campaigns.

During this time the Mediterranean saw large amounts of maritime trade and as a result there was quite a few shipwrecks, primarily due to the fierce winter storms. It was these freedivers that would be commissioned to try and salvage whatever they could from the seabed. Like today these divers would face many dangers on the job and as a result laws were brought in to protect their rights. One such law was Lex Rhodia, this saw divers earn a percentage of what they salvaged.

These days however freediving is practiced more so as a sport as men and women from all over the world push themselves to the limit in order to break new records, despite the serious risks involved.