Idea of exploring 75 per cent of the Earth inspired me, says freediver Archana Sankaranarayanan

CHENNAI: A lawyer by profession, Archana Sankaranarayanan’s fascination towards diving began during a holiday to Havelock in the Andaman Islands. “The freedom of not having to answer to anyone underwater was liberating. When I returned to work in 2019, I realised I couldn’t spend my life sitting at a desk. I revisited the Andamans multiple times, earning my open water scuba advanced certification, and eventually became a rescue diver,” starts Archana, who is currently the deepest woman in India with a personal record of 42 m depth.

In 2022, she became a scuba professional (divemaster) in Havelock. Despite her achievements in scuba diving, she was always drawn to the idea of diving without a tank. Last year, she discovered freediving in Bali and completed a course under the instruction of Shubham Pandey.

Archana’s explorer attitude inspired her to delve deep into the sport. “The idea of being one with nature and exploring 75 per cent of the Earth, while most people only explore 25 per cent, inspired me to dive deeper,” shares the competitive freediver and dive master in scuba diving.

Archana feels that being a single woman in her thirties and following her passion is not easy without the support of the family. “Despite coming from a conservative Tamil family, my parents supported me with all my dreams, though it involved a lot of convincing and arguing. They understood that my dreams were different from the usual ‘big fat wedding’ dream. Now, they proudly tell everyone that I’m a freediver,” states the 31-year-old with a proud smile.

When it comes to her achievements, Archana broke two records for India at the 18th AIDA Panglao Depth Games in the Philippines earlier this year. Recently, in Budapest, she represented the country in her first pool competition, the nOxyCup 2024 - Hungarian Open Indoor Freediving Championship AIDA, where she set a record of 37 m distance in the Dynamic No Fins discipline (DNF)- a competitive freediving discipline where divers propel themselves underwater horizontally while holding their breath.

Talking about the awareness of the sport in Chennai, she opines, “The city leans more towards scuba diving and surfing. Freediving hasn’t made a big splash yet, but I believe it’s going to be huge. Some of the best free divers are often local fisherfolk who naturally hold their breath for a long time. I remember reading about Tamil women in sarees who deep dive to collect seaweed, that is real freediving. If they start competing, the world won’t stand a chance.”

According to Archana, in a bigger picture, India has a long way to go as the global records have surpassed the 100 m mark. “However, the growth is steady with many Indian freediving athletes currently training and pushing for new and deeper records,” she remarks.

For the sport to expand more in the country, especially in her home state- Tamil Nadu, she requests the government to promote such upcoming sports. “For my recent record of DNF, this is often one of the most dreaded, difficult, and least preferred disciplines in freediving because of how much skill goes into it. I still have a very long way to go in my DNF (Dynamic No Fins) and CNF (Constant weight no fins done in open water). As DNF training is not taught separately by any instructor in India, I had to learn this online with Sergei from Thailand through his videos. I used to have Zoom meetings with him every week where he would watch my videos, correct my posture, and give me instructions on how to improve my technique and glides,” she states.

However, she admits that this is an expensive sport. “I am hopeful for the Tamil Nadu government because this year has been all about Formula 4 racing festivals, air shows, and much more. It’s not long until they spot freediving and decide to support it,” hopes the diver.

Archana’s ultimate goal is to learn every discipline of freediving, master the techniques, explore further depths of our oceans, and inspire more Indian women to take up this liberating sport.