Beyond Limits: The Women Growing Scotland’s Freediving Scene

The ocean is the biggest love story of my life. I have always been a bit of a water baby. Even though I was never considered a 'good' swimmer at school, I have always felt a deep peace and connection to the water. The water always felt like a deeply calming and serene place to be, where I could fully be myself and relax. I learnt to scuba dive when I was 12 years old, it was something I did with my Dad, and was an amazing father, daughter bonding thing we shared. For me the prospect to be fully immersed in a magical world underwater was something so incredible. I never had any fear or nerves, I just felt like I belonged. I continued my scuba journey through my teenage years, joining the local scuba club and completing my divemasters when I was 18. When I was 22, I became a Scuba instructor and I have worked in the water ever since. I have worked as a scuba instructor in New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Scotland and Timor-Leste. As I taught more and more thousands of students, I had a deep yearning to connect to the ocean differently. In a more accessible way, without the cumbersome gear and expensive tank hires. Something that possibly challenged and humbled me. 

In 2017 I did my first official freediving course, whilst I have always snorkeled and freedived, this course changed my life as it totally revolutionised the way I saw my breath and body connection and totally upskilled my understanding of safety. After completing my AIDA 2* and realising I was still a total novice with so much to learn, I quickly did my AIDA 3*. When I was working as a scuba diver in New Zealand, I found a local freediving club who trained weekly in the pool. It was inspiring to me because the organiser, Gemma O'Brien really celebrated everyone no matter where they were on their journey. She encouraged folk to train in their swimming cozzies (in the pool) and wear whatever they had. This felt like such a tonic in a sport where often gear is enormously expensive and I really felt like this kind of inclusivity is something I wanted to recreate one day. 

One thing that Scotland is not short of, is depth! With many Loch's being WAY deeper than I am currently diving. I really enjoy diving adventure days with my buddy (and fellow freediving instructor) Hannah Wright of Selkie Freediving. We use Navionics to find a deep loch and go and explore / line dive there. Sometimes the water can be pretty dark, murky and cold at depth but that is all part of the challenge and surrender. Sometimes the appeal is that the spot we are in has probably never been freedived before, and we sometimes get some odd looks from the locals. When I am not freediving on a line in a beautiful loch somewhere I go for fun diving or adventure snorkelling. This is much more about shallow dives finding cool marine life. I had a very magical seal encounter a few weeks ago on the Isle of Tiree when I was doing a scouting mission to take my retreat guests on. A colony of seals became very curious with myself and my dive buddy, made better because the water was so clear. It was really special. The biggest challenge faced here is the cold. I wear a 7mm wetsuit with 5mm gloves and socks, and sometimes the thermoclines drop to below 9 degrees at depth. Because you are wearing so much neoprene you also then need to wear loads of weights, which is a bit cumbersome. There is not the freedom of movement that you may experience in the tropics in minimal weights. But you get used to it. And if you love the water as much as I do, this is not a barrier. 

HAHAHA! An enormous amount of patience and resilience. When you start something regardless of what it is there are always going to be people who doubt your idea. Many, many people (including my freediving instructor mates) told me teaching here wouldn't work because there isn't enough interest in the sport and it is too cold and the conditions too challenging. I persevered because at the end of the day, I wanted to celebrate the ocean in my home. Where I choose to stay. I am so happy to have created a thriving pool training club called the Oban Pool Babes, who train weekly, where I live. And I oversee many other satellite training crews across the country, enabling safe freediving practices and accessible training. I am happy I wouldn't take no for an answer when countless swimming pools refused to rent me lanes due to misunderstanding safety. And I am slowly getting to grips with the idea that if your head is above the parapet, not everyone is going to like you, and that is also, ok.

One of my favourite dives ever was actually one of my students' dives. She was really struggling with equalisation and kept hitting the brick wall with it. The day in question was an absolute stinker of a day. It was blowing a hoolie, the sea was wild and the rain was sideways (classic West Coast August conditions). I was diving with her in Easdale island quarries (where I teach) and she was trying to meet her depth requirements to pass her Wave 1. I was so involved, diving down with her basically saying 'you can do this Kirsty' as a mantra as we went down. That day she passed and went above and beyond what she needed to do. I was moved to tears because she had really invested time and effort into dry exercises and really really wanted it, it had taken her a full year to do the journey, but I was so monumentally proud of her. Also it was such a Scottish dreich day, which she was totally unfazed by.

My personal favourite dive was a few months ago. I have been loving doing nofins to depth recently. I had a buddy/ safety diver who I really trusted on the buoy and I felt a really deep surrender to the ocean. It was warm (I was in Bali) so I was in a thin suit, so I could really feel the water rush over me. The first 5 strokes of nofins diving can be tough because you are breaking the buoyancy of the water, but after that you can really start to enjoy the glide, into the freefall. On the way back up I felt like a superhero, super strong and powerful. It wasn't a deep or impressive dive by any means (36m I think) but it felt really enjoyable to me and reminded me of the importance of training with folk you trust but also have good banter and fun on the buoy with. 

Freediving is for anyone aged 16-80. Interestingly it is the one sport where people tend to improve with age, body awareness and wisdom. I teach Molchanov Wave 1 and Wave 2 courses. A Wave 1 course is a 3 day beginner course for anyone who can swim 200m unassisted :-) Although it is a three day course, the Molchanov Wave 1 course is a big journey, where you will learn all about your body's potential, learn how to dive in the pool safely and then in the open water. The Wave 2 is the advanced freediving course, where your knowledge and understanding and safety will all be deepened and you will be taught how to become an autonomous diver (dive with another certified freediver but not an instructor). I would say a beginner freediving course is for anyone who is curious in learning, and deepening their relationship with themselves, the ocean and their surroundings. 

Rewild and Free is a true adventure for the wild and spirited. I wanted to create an adventure trip that I wanted to go on. Something that celebrated Scotland for its rugged beauty and really was about connecting to the landscape and each other. Disconnecting from the digital world and connecting to something far more real. The trip is based from a beautiful tall ship called the Lady of Avenal, here the weather dictates where we sail to, but we will take in beautiful scenery, stunning diving, swimming and snorkelling. On the trip we offer a freediving course for those who seek to learn, but also cater to more experienced divers, visiting shipwrecks and kelp gardens. We do a day's foraging for wild sea finds with Lucy (The Wild Cooke) and eat delicious food. We also all get a chance to sail, climb the rigging and sing a sea shanty or two. It is honestly the highlight of my year, I really love leading such a powerful and fun expedition alongside my pal, the fabulous Hannah Wright (Selkie Freediving). 

Unlike scuba, I have found there to be equal men and women in the freediving area. What I would say for anyone who is curious but hesitant, regardless of gender is that this is a journey. A freediving course can be an amazing tool at getting to know yourself better. Freediving as a sport tends to shine a mirror to us at what lessons we need to learn in our life. The sport is one of the most powerful tools (in my opinion) to teach about presence and being present, releasing expectations and going softly, without ego. We learn how to surrender. The freediving community around the world is amazing and there are some incredibly inspiring female athletes at the epicentre of it, my personal favourites are Alenka Artnek, Kateryna Sadurska and Alessia Zecchini. I would also say to women that it is a sport where it doesn't matter about shape, size or physical fitness in the early stages, but more about mental strength and the ability to relax, which as a tool for life is a great one to learn.As a general rule of thumb, if you do any course with Molchanov, you have a year to pass all the requirements, which also enables a slower, less ego driven approach, and is especially useful when learning in a harder environment like Scotland.

Freediving in Scotland isn’t for the faint of heart — but for Laura, it’s where challenge and beauty collide. Through Mara Adventures, she’s created a business that welcomes people to test their limits, reconnect with nature, and find peace beneath the surface. In water that many would find too cold, too dark, too wild, Laura has carved out a place of belonging — and is showing others how to do the same.

Photos by @bethchalmers_  @seb_saintignan & @eliannedipp