WATCH: Waterford woman sets new Irish free dive record of six minutes 12 seconds
Kathy only recently discovered her talent for the sport during the middle of the pandemic and since then has been training and competing at an international level
Waterford native Kathy MacDonald has set a new Irish free diving record, holding her breath for more than six minutes while underwater.
In just 18 months Kathy has amassed an impressive 10 Irish national records and now holds the Irish number one ranking for remaining underwater for six minutes and 12 seconds.
An internationally competitive sport, freedivers attempt to remain underwater for as long as possible without the use of a breathing apparatus.
Kathy only recently discovered her talent for the sport during the middle of the pandemic and since then has been training and competing at an international level.
She moved to Greece to support her mother who was receiving treatment for cancer and joined up with One Breath Freediving in Athens as a way of taking a break from daily life.
She described the sport as a way of helping her manage her mental health, saying the one time she was free from negative thoughts was at the bottom of the ocean.
"I think I was always searching for something but I never knew what it was", she says.
“For me, it is mindfulness using one breath and you return to the surface calm and free, you have emptied your mind of any thoughts, lowered your heart rate to adapt underwater and trusted your body to allow you to go to depths where you wouldn't normally think it's possible to go to.”
Speaking about her personal best of six minutes and 12 seconds Kathy said those extra seconds after the six minutes "really matter".
"I jumped from two minutes to three minutes to four and a half and to five and a half in some months but it is only after you reach the sixth minute you are really pushing your body and mind to its limits.
"So those 12 seconds are important to me and in the freediving world!"
No stranger to a challenge, Kathy previously hiked to Mount Everest base camp and raised more than €5,000 for Pieta House by hiking Kilimanjaro.
Now back home in Dublin, she continues to train in the Markeveizc gym and pool where she previously signed up for swimming lessons before the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The irony isn't lost on me but it just shows it's never too late to try something new", she added.
In 2022, Kathy plans to enter the Big Blue competition in September alongside some of the world's top freedivers.
