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A Singaporean woman has set a new national freediving record at the International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA) Panglao Pool Championship Finale in the Philippines on Apr. 23, 2022.

Patricia Paige Ong, 32, recorded a dive of 174m and came in second in her women's Dynamic with Bi-fins event.

Broke previous record by 8m

The Dynamic with Bi-fins event, or DYNB for short, is a discipline in freediving where a diver attempts to travel a horizontal distance underwater in a single breath, and with the use of bi-fins.

Ong successfully dived a distance of 174m, breaking the previous national record of 166m held by Elys Lai.

For this dive, Ong held her breath for 2 minutes and 41 seconds.

Though in a distance discipline like this one, the time taken is not measured.

Some divers may choose to swim faster or slower, balancing between swimming too fast and burning oxygen faster, or swimming too slowly and not covering enough distance before having to resurface.

Ong started freediving two years ago, and has competed in four AIDA competitions prior to the international event held in Panglao.

Ong's coach Fu Xing Qiang, who is himself a multiple national record holder, said he was not surprised by her progress and record-breaking performance.

"Her swimming background meant she picked up the technique very fast and physically, she was ready for 175m," he added.

He also recognised the challenges that Ong faced in preparing for the competition, which involves a lot of mental demands that come with holding one's breath for so long during a dive.

"We focused on mindfulness during training to help her focus on the moment rather than the target during the dive. Once she’s focused, she can complete very long dives," said Fu.

Funds her own training, entry fees

Ong currently funds her own training, competition travel and entry fees.

Ong works as a swimming coach and part-time operations manager at the Molchanovs International freediving office in Singapore, meaning that her training is scheduled around work or on the weekends.

She has to find time in her busy schedule for strength and cardio training, as well as for drills in the pool.

Ong said that it was difficult even for top-level national freedivers to secure funding or sponsorships.

"I think freediving is not as popular a sport as swimming or tennis and therefore government organisations and private companies may not yet want to support," she said.

Ong has not asked for sponsors yet, but she said she will need to start looking for some to support her future training and competitions.

Ong said her attraction to freediving was rooted in her childhood, and she remembered how much she loved being in water.

"I've fantasised about being a mermaid since I was a child and also dreamt of being able to fly. When I realised it was actually possible to do some version of both those things, of course I had to find out more!", she said.

Ong is focused on her current training and her upcoming competitions.

"I plan to train depth and also [to] keep competing for pool, testing my body to see how long, how far and how deep I can go," she added.

Freediving a growing sport in Singapore

The Apnea Association of Singapore (AAS) said that freediving has experienced a surge of interest and participation both as a competitive sport and as a leisure activity in Singapore.

AAS president, Afiza Affandi, said the rising popularity of freediving in Singapore can be partly attributed to the pandemic:

"AAS saw a 55 per cent increase in membership in 2021 and now that Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted we are seeing an increase in competitions too."

Afiza said there are exciting prospects for top freedivers in Singapore.

She highlighted another top female freediver in Singapore, Elys Lai, who holds four national records across a few disciplines in freediving. She was also selected as a wildcard athlete to compete in the 2022 AIDA Individual Pool World Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria.

"It goes to show that we have outstanding athletes and coaches here in Singapore," Afiza added.

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Top photos via Pablo Zhang and Karl Angelo Plar.