Born
William was born on 24th may, 1980 in the United Kingdom but later moved to New Zealand at the age of 18 months old.
He spent much of his early life on a yacht. His family had sold their house to buy a boat and that became his new home!
History
He started swimming at a very tender age and by the age of 8 years, he could free-dive to 15m.
He used to compete with his older brother to see who could make it to a deeper depth, but didn’t really get serious about freediving as a career until the age of 22.
In 2003, he heard that there was a freediving competition and he decided to give it a go.
He returned to the Caribbean where he spent three months diving everyday, it became a routine and he has never stopped since!
He has broken many records including the 121 m (396.98 ft) Free Immersion dive, 10 April 2011. Free immersion is where the freediver has a rope they can pull themselves down and up with, but no other assistance.
He was the first to break the 100m barrier unassisted.
William Trubridge - One Breath
What is William Trubridges Superpower?
He is quite literally the human submarine. With the ability to dive below 100 m on a single breath of air
In 2010, he scored the highest points for the freediving championships held at Okinawa.
He also won the world’s absolute freediver award(WAFA) on 18th January,2011 - he was ranked as the world’s best free diver.
He has won 15 records and as of 2013, he holds the record in freediving for free immersion and for constant weight without fins (descending and ascending without the help of fins, ropes or weights - you can stop yourself with the rope once on descent and tug once on ascent).
What Can We Learn From William?
We managed to get hold of Will and asked him what advice he would like to pass on to the SapienPlus tribe and this is what he had to say..
Rob from SapienPlus - William.. firstly - If our website visitors could learn one thing from you, in regards to everything you have found out about yourself over your lifetime, what would you tell them/advise them?
I’m no authority on life experiences and wisdom - I feel like I’m still taking the first steps! Perhaps this mentality is important to maintain - the moment we believe we are ‘there’ then we grow complacent or stagnant. I can say it has allowed me to move past both obstacles and achievements, which can both be dead ends if you let them. Instead I’ve always tried to stay focused on the process - the journey - of just training or diving better/smarter/deeper. We can never obtain perfection, which means it is an inspiration that can’t be exhausted.
Words that can inspire us all!
What is William Doing Now?
Currently, he spends most of his time in the Bahamas where he trains at the deepest blue hole in the entire world, Deans blue hole.
He founded and established a school called Vertical Blue which is also a venue the for annual free diving event in the Bahamas.
Genetic or Learned Super Power?
We believe this is a learned super power, a great deal of commitment, perseverance and training would be involved though - to replicate similar feats.
Of course though, there is no better way than to get it from the horses mouth, so again we reached out to Will and this is what he had to say..
SapienPlus- We realize there are other free divers out there, which may come close to your abilities. But do you think there is anything genetically involved in someone having the talents such as you do? or does it purely come down down to training, hard work and persistence?
I don’t believe I have any anomalous genetic advantage - at least I haven’t discovered any so far. When I started freediving my performance wasn’t much different to most beginners. If I do have an advantage then it was that in my childhood I spent a lot of time in the water, snorkeling from the boat I lived on with my family in the Caribbean and Pacific. So I do feel at home being underwater, and enjoy it immensely, which matters a great deal. I guess the rest is training.
More Links and Videos of William Trubridge
William’s Website
William Trubridge on Facebook
