My name’s Alice Hickson and I’m a breathholding beast! I can hold my breath for over 7 minutes…

Last year I began training for Freediving and I’ve been breathless ever since! I swam 156 metres in my first competition, earning a place on the GB team to compete in the 2015 AIDA Pool Freediving World Championships 2015 in Belgrade, Serbia.

I’d been freediving less than a year and it was only my second competition, but I set three new National Records and came away with a Bronze and Gold medal, making me the 2015 Freediving World Champion for the discipline DNF – Dynamic No Fins. For this I swam 174M (7 lengths of a pool) on one breath.

At the end of 2015 I was ranked No.1 in the World for DNF and No.5 in the World for Static. This entitles me to automatic entry to the next AIDA Pool Freediving World Championships in Finland.

But what is Freediving?

It’s swimming underwater on one breathe. In a pool it’s known as Dynamic Apnea. Without fins I can swim 175m and I can hold my breath for 7 min 23 sec and this is only just the beginning.

Freediving requires sport specific training, which I do with Bristol Freedivers. We practice breath holds in and out of the pool, as well as swimming and fining technique and the fine art of bubble rings!

I’ve been training for just over a year and achieved distances that would take most athletes much longer to reach.

More about me

I’m 26 years old and live in Bristol. I’m studying occupational therapy, which requires me to be in Oxford 3-5 days a week, whilst juggling work as a swimming instructor. In between this I’m training up to six times a week, leaving me little time to find extra funds. Entry to the Freediving World Championships alone is €750.

If I receive sponsorship I can pay for:

•  Airfare, entry and accommodation at the AIDA Freediving World Championships in Finland
•  A much needed pool suit
• Technical guidance and mentoring from a coach
•  Pool hire for extra training and sport specific coaching

My goal

To be the best I can be. I hope to go on to achieve National and International Freediving success as I develop into a top-class mermaid! I am a determined individual and I intend to work as hard as I can to achieve my goals and inspire others.

It is with the support of individuals and organisations like yours, that I will have the opportunity to try and succeed in reaching my goal.

Any donations, regardless of the amount, are a great help in realising my potential for competing and representing the UK in the underwater world.

THANK YOU for taking the time to read my campaign 🙂

(photo by Daan Verhoeven)