Archana Sankara Narayanan, Lawyer-turned-free diver with 9 national records
Archana Sankara Narayanan (Image:DC)
Free diving is her calling. Archana Sankara Nara-yanan, a deep female free diver, has created six new national records for India in the world of freediving across two major international competitions held in the Philippines recently.
The Chennai girl smashed six national records at two international competitions, with a personal best of 42 meters and setting a national record at 35 meters. With a total of nine national records under her belt in less than a year, she emerged as first Indian female diver to have broken nine records in a single year — the first female in India to have held all the depth records at once.
Freediving is a breath-hold diving sport where divers explore underwater without using breathing equipment. 32-year-old Archana began her record-breaking spree at the AIDA Mabini Depth Quest, held from May 1 to May 6 in Mabini, Philippines, where she claimed four national records, outshining one of her records. Then, she went on to break two more national records — both her own at the Hug Cup, held from May 16 to May 18 in Panglao, Philippines. She now has national records in all four depth disciplines of the sport: Constant Weight, Constant Weight Bi-Fins, Constant Weight No Fins, and Free Immersion.
Life-changing first plunge
One dive simply changed her life. During a new year vacation with friends to the Andaman in 2019, she did scuba diving for the first time. “I loved the experience and discovered a mesmerising world. “I felt an instant connection with the mother ocean. The serenity and calmness of the marine world were amazing, with no network, cut off from the stressful world,” says the former corporate lawyer.
“Hailing from a traditional Tamil family, my parents supported me, though it involved a lot of convincing and arguments at times, as all concerned parents, initially, could not understand my passion for diving and leaving a successful career in Law. Now they are proud of me,” states the passionate diver.
She began her diving journey with an open water scuba advanced certification and eventually became a rescue diver. “Later, I was spellbound with videos of Shubam Pandey Indian free diver diving without oxygen support and inspired took guidance from him. I was drawn to this sport. So, I went to Bali to train in freediving with Shubham, one of India’s top free diving coaches and a national record holder and later with Apnea Bali, one of the leading freediving schools in Asia,” says Archana.
Training to go deep
Archana’s training and preparation as a competitive free diver include visualisation, breathwork, and meditation to improve lung health. By practising breathing techniques like diaphragmatic breathing, one improves diving performance and is more confident in the ocean. She also trained at Kaizen Freediving in Ko Tao, Thailand, under the guidance of Sergei Busargin, who helped her to improve Constant weight no fins training and Akshay Thatte — India’s first PADI Freediving Instructor Trainer, who provided strategic counsel during both competitions.
Archana is now all set to intensify her training regimen, as India has a long way to go, as the global records have surpassed the 100 m mark. “Many divers are now training in our country to plunge deeper. I’m participating in the Manado depth competition in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, from August 1-3 and will train at Amed, Indonesia, with Shubham Pandey,” concludes Archana.
Freediving is a breath-hold diving sport where divers explore underwater without using breathing equipment. 32-year-old Archana began her record-breaking spree at the AIDA Mabini Depth Quest, held from May 1 to May 6 in Mabini, Philippines, where she claimed four national records, outshining one of her records. Then, she went on to break two more national records — both her own at the Hug Cup, held from May 16 to May 18 in Panglao, Philippines. She now has national records in all four depth disciplines of the sport: Constant Weight, Constant Weight Bi-Fins, Constant Weight No Fins, and Free Immersion.
Life-changing first plunge
One dive simply changed her life. During a new year vacation with friends to the Andaman in 2019, she did scuba diving for the first time. “I loved the experience and discovered a mesmerising world. “I felt an instant connection with the mother ocean. The serenity and calmness of the marine world were amazing, with no network, cut off from the stressful world,” says the former corporate lawyer.
“Hailing from a traditional Tamil family, my parents supported me, though it involved a lot of convincing and arguments at times, as all concerned parents, initially, could not understand my passion for diving and leaving a successful career in Law. Now they are proud of me,” states the passionate diver.
She began her diving journey with an open water scuba advanced certification and eventually became a rescue diver. “Later, I was spellbound with videos of Shubam Pandey Indian free diver diving without oxygen support and inspired took guidance from him. I was drawn to this sport. So, I went to Bali to train in freediving with Shubham, one of India’s top free diving coaches and a national record holder and later with Apnea Bali, one of the leading freediving schools in Asia,” says Archana.
Training to go deep
Archana’s training and preparation as a competitive free diver include visualisation, breathwork, and meditation to improve lung health. By practising breathing techniques like diaphragmatic breathing, one improves diving performance and is more confident in the ocean. She also trained at Kaizen Freediving in Ko Tao, Thailand, under the guidance of Sergei Busargin, who helped her to improve Constant weight no fins training and Akshay Thatte — India’s first PADI Freediving Instructor Trainer, who provided strategic counsel during both competitions.
Archana is now all set to intensify her training regimen, as India has a long way to go, as the global records have surpassed the 100 m mark. “Many divers are now training in our country to plunge deeper. I’m participating in the Manado depth competition in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, from August 1-3 and will train at Amed, Indonesia, with Shubham Pandey,” concludes Archana.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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