Alejandro Lemus, the main Mexican freediver, will have an N+ Media mini-documentary called ‘Respira: la historia de Alejandro Lemus’.
The apnea it’s a sport little known that requires an optimal physical and mental level to be able to perform it. Alexander Lemusthe main exponent of this sport in Mexico, tells us details of this discipline, his achievements and everything about his latest feat, which was visually recorded in a mini-documentary by N+ Mean called Breathe: the story of Alejandro Lemus. He documentary by Alejandro Lemus tells the life story of the Mexican freediver and his most recent adventure in the underwater world cross from one cenote to anotherwith a single breath, in the Mexican southeast in the Yucatan Peninsula. For this feat, the high-performance athlete broke a Guinness record.
How and why did you decide to dedicate yourself to Apnea 20 years ago?
It was actually a gradual process, although the underwater world caught my attention from a very young age. Precisely thanks to National Geographic, I grew up watching its videos and reading its magazine, and this is what inspired me to learn to dive, first with a tank and then years later I learned about apnea, I didn’t know this sport existed, but as soon as I found out about it I was captivated, and well now it’s been 20 years, but let’s say it was a coincidence that I came into this world.
Approximately how many people practice locally and worldwide in this sport?
Now it has become very popular, it is increasingly common for people to practice it, I would tell you that there are thousands of people practicing worldwide and several hundred in Mexico.
What kind of competitions are there in this sport?
There are two types of modalities, the deep one that is done in lakes, cenotes or in the sea, and the pool disciplines.
In which of these have you participated and what have been your achievements?
Well, throughout these years I have participated in both disciplines: both in the pool and in the deep and in all modalities at some point I have won a medal, a record and a first place.
You who are related to cenotes and a natural element like water, what context is currently lived in these issues?
The truth is that human development implies something not so positive with the natural environment, in this case the cenotes there in the Yucatan peninsula, but if things are done in the best way, the negative impact is less, we are lucky because in There are these places in Mexico, these lakes inside the earth that are natural pools perfect for doing this sport or diving.
How is this sport related to the mysticism and history of the cenotes?
The mysticism that exists in these places is unquestionable, the Mayans considered them sacred, in some they made offerings, others were sources of water and being able to go inside, immerse yourself and know what it is like down there gives a different perspective, the reality is that many people have Fear of cenotes in these communities due to legends and myths that exist, but going down, entering and learning about the dynamics of these bodies of water makes people who practice this sport privileged, being able to enter this underwater world that the Mayans called Xibalbá, which is the underworld, and that the cenotes were the windows to the underworld in the Mayan world, is a privilege.
In fact, at my school we organized a deep freediving competition in a cenote and this competition is precisely called Xibalbá, it is an international competition, and we gave it this name because of the Mayan issue, the freedivers, the athletes, are the messengers that can enter to the Mayan underworld and back.
How was the process and the making of this mini documentary breathes?
This is an idea that was actually formulated over a couple of years and the idea was to merge two underwater worlds, cave diving and freediving, the idea was to go from one cave in this case a cenote to another holding your breath , there was already a previous mark that was made about 10 years ago and what we were looking for was to break it, the idea is easy to say, but both sportingly speaking and in logistics it becomes very complicated because we needed special equipment, trained people, specialized people so as not to having unforeseen events, and the fact of crossing holding my breath from one cave to another does not leave me any room to give up because it is a cave and there is no direct exit to the surface, so this makes security logistics more complex because we have to anticipate the distance to travel, the space where we were going to pass and that is why we spent months looking for the right place, this was done in two cenotes in Quintana Roo near Tulum, in the largest flooded cave system in the world called Sac Actun, We entered through a tiny cenote called Luz y Sombra and exited through the famous Xooch cenote.
This idea was multidisciplinary because it had to do with the cave diving specialist, a freediving safety specialist, myself as the participant and also a crew of 50 people, both to be able to sign the documentary and to be able to meet all the requirements that it asks of you. the association to set a world record.
What kind of equipment was used to record this underwater mini-documentary?
Professional cameras were used, Red cameras with special underwater housings, special lamps with enough power to illuminate and there were also different divers stations with equipment to illuminate and Back Up cameras, actually the divers had three functions: lighting, filming and in case In emergency they had reserve oxygen to help me, there was also a plan C in case I lost consciousness they would recover me and bring me to the surface.
What time did you occupy to enter and leave the Caves?
Four minutes.
Do you think people are born for this or can they develop these skills that freediving requires?
I am completely convinced that you can train yourself, a great example, I am myself, I am originally from Mexico City and I had no relationship with the sea, no family member related to this sport and I was learning, practicing, gradually improving, I could confess to you that I never even thought in my wildest dreams that I would be able to go down more than 100 meters deep holding my breath, but it is work, discipline and wanting to do things.
What advice would you give to people who want to dedicate themselves to this?
In principle, the first thing that I would recommend is that they train to do it, because the vision and context of all this is different when you train, secondly, I would say that everything is in the mind, that if I could do it Anyone could do it, I think we are lucky to live in a paradise and in this case, the Yucatan peninsula, the cenotes are a paradise, we are very lucky to have these bodies of water and everyone should give themselves the opportunity to get to know them not only above but also under the water, and what better way to do it with your own abilities, I’m not talking about setting records or competing, but just getting to know it, because diving is a very pleasant thing when you know how to do it, when you learned how to do it and you do it for enjoyment, being underwater is very pleasant when you learn to master your fear, when you know what you are doing, when you master the technique and when there are safety logistics.
What’s next for Alejandro Lemus after this feat?
It is a good question because I am just at the end of my career, I want to start doing it less frequently, I have some projects not exactly as a competitor, I want to continue exploring these bodies of water, and the truth is that the idea of this was the culmination of all these years of his career, this multidisciplinary idea was not only to demonstrate the capabilities of the human being, but also to show the world what it is like down there, when one talks about a cave most of the time negative ideas come to mind, that it is a a dangerous place, which is a dark place, but when illuminated they are incredible landscapes, so the idea of making this record was also to show the world what cenotes are like.
what does Breathe: the story of Alejandro Lemussomething unmissable?
I believe that one of the most beautiful things are the landscapes, and Mexico is an impressive paradise to do this activity and many other things, I believe that the scenes, the place and of course the culmination of the idea of this record make it unmissable.
N+ Media presents Breathe: the story of Alejandro Lemus, a mini-documentary that narrates the life story of the Mexican freediver and his most recent adventure in the underwater world, crossing from one cenote to another, with a single breath, in the southeast of Mexico in the Yucatan Peninsula. For this feat, the high-performance athlete broke a Guinness record.
Do not miss this great story from the Thursday June 22 on ViX and www.nmas.com.mx
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