09/26/2026
I had a really magical experience today on the boat heading out to the competition. I was so overwhelmed with joy. I had a huge smile on my face and I started to cry tears of happiness. This is the first world championship I've been to in 16 years. I've already seen many old friends that I haven't seen in a very long time. This has been a really special experience and I have a lot of people to thank for helping me get here! First off Natsuko has completely been my savior since I got to Cyprus. She's known everything that is going on here, but she's also been a pillar of the Seattle freediving community for the last number of years! She's done a lot to grow our community and to support new divers especially. Supporting our Seattle community is Lighthouse Dive Shop and Austin who has become a really close friend and also a major partner in putting on the Emerald City Apnea Challenge freediving competitions. Christina Molina Sours who I have the honor of co-teaching free diving courses with, being inspired by her amazing deep diving and she let me her dive bud, since mine wasn't charging anymore! Jecaeah from Deep Ocean Ventures and Cetma got me an amazing custom monofin in time for the world championships and all my fins arrived without any issues in their monofin bag! Thank you Heather for always being an inspiration, for being my #1 photographer and always taking my phone calls exactly when I need. Lastly, I want to thank all of the people who participate in Emerald City Apnea Challenge, both as volunteers and competitors. It's really cool hearing about the Seattle freediving community when I'm on the other side of the world! Let's keep it growing everyone! I love you all!