Guillaume Nery - France

Propelling himself into the depths with nothing more than his "monofin", 24-year old Guillaume Nery is a three-time world record man in freediving. He reached 109 meters on 6 September 2006. It all began on the school bus, where he would practice holding his breath for as long as possible. "I was 14 and spent nearly an hour in the school bus to get back home from school. My best friend and I started challenging one another to stop breathing for as long as possible. He won, and that really upset me. As soon as I got home, I started training to hold my breath." By 2000 Guillaume was spending all his spare time freediving. He trained tirelessly, biking and swimming with his mono-fin, and he broke all kinds of records. It is, of course, deep down that the sensations are most extreme. "It's hard to describe... a sort of inner journey," explains Guillaume. "When my eyes are shut, I start feeling this incredible awareness of my own body. I become part of the aquatic element. I remain still for a moment, and then leaving that serenity becomes painful." Guillaume wishes to get personally involved with Antinea, in order to sensitize as many people as possible to the beauty of the sea, an element that fills his dreams. He will be giving the expedition a boost by doing breath-holding demo dives from "Fleur de Passion".