Hawaii freediver Enchante Gallardo sets sights on another world record

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – For the first time in more than 20 years, an American woman holds the world record in free immersion diving. Now, the Maryknoll graduate and Makaha native is ready to go even deeper.

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Enchante Gallardo, 38, tied the world record for free immersion diving at the Asia Freediving Cup in Panglao, Philippines, in July. She dove 106 meters and held her breath for three minutes and 35 seconds.

“So I would say 106 meters is a little over 300 feet. So, take the length of a football field and add a little more than 10 more yards. So, you’re going down there and coming back up. So, that’s like two football fields,” explained Gallardo.

Gallardo has been freediving for nearly 10 years. She is ranked No. 1 in the United States and North America and No. 1 in the world.

“I still feel nervous no matter how many competitions I do but the breath is a really important tool to help with that. Once I’m ready to make the dive, I’ll take my full breath in and fill my lungs as much as possible. It helps to control our heart rate, it helps to control things that are going on with our minds,” said Gallardo.

The deeper she goes, the greater the risks.

“I’ve had last year a series of blackouts. I t’s not actually a scary thing when you’re feeling it, it kinda feels like you’re waking up from a dream and it’s a bit euphoric.”

Born and raised in Makaha, Gallardo was always in the water.

“Surfing and being here in Hawaii, the waters always been like therapy for me,” said Gallardo.

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She became a mom of two boys and then discovered freediving in 2017 and got hooked.

“I kept setting these tiny milestone goals for me like, oh I want to get to 60 meters, and once I got to 60 meters, okay, now I want to go deeper!”

“It was beautiful to watch that transition,” said Gallardo’s mother, Theresa Schenk. “I had no doubt when she started competing that she would hit a world record. We are very, very proud of her.”

Now, the Maryknoll graduate is training hard for her next challenge: the World Apnea Depth Championships in Cyprus in October. Gallardo is determined to break her world record.

“I’ve overcome a lot of challenges in the past and I’m ready to take it on. I want to see what my potential is,” said Gallardo.

Head to the AIDA YouTube Freediving channel to watch Enchante go for another world record dive on Oct. 5.

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