JUST ONE BREATH
WRITTEN BY: Tracee Baker, Designer/Editor, Cocoa Beach Explorer
With just one breath Cocoa Beach native, Alli Penovich, calmly sinks into the tranquil blue abyss of the Bali Sea. Returning to the surface not as just a freediver, but a champion freediver.
Alli started spearfishing at a young age alongside her father, Joe Penovich. As a teenager, she and her father along with a family friend, Bobby Kim, traveled to Mexico for a spearfishing vacation. It was on this trip Alli discovered her passion for freediving. Little did they know that just a few years later her passion for freediving would earn her the women’s championship title at the 2019 Singapore Depth Championships.
In April 2019, Alli reconnected with Bobby at the Blue Wild Ocean Adventure Expo in south Florida. While there, he convinced here to take his freediving instructor course. So, in June Alli became a Level 1 Freediving Instructor for FII (Freediving Instructors International). During her instructor training, Bobby mentioned he was planning to spend five months freediving in Bali, and Alli decided to tag along with Bobby as her freediving coach.
Booking a one-way ticket to Bali, she only planned to stay two months to work on increasing her depths, but fate had other plans in mind.
Originally not planning to compete, Alli ended up registering for September’s 2019 Singapore Depth Championships but was waitlisted due to the fact she had never competed before. If she got into the competition, she only had one more month to train.
“It was the coolest experience. I’ve competed my whole life, so I’m used to being under pressure and having that adrenaline, but I’ve always been raised running or doing triathlons and you use that adrenaline to fuel you. However, in freediving you must remain as calm and relaxed as possible, so I was interested to see how that would go, but I loved it.”
The Competition Dives
Let this sink in for a moment, 71 meters (approximately 233 feet). That is Alli’s personal best freediving depth which she hit during her second competition in November.
“The pressure (water pressure) is definitely intense, but over the course of three months you are able to adapt to it. You do small jumps. It took me three months to get to 71 meters. I’ve been super blessed that I haven’t had too many equalization issues. Equalization issues stop a lot of people because they hit a block. You just have to work through it and see what works for you.”
There are three different disciplines of competition: constant weight, the diver kicks down and kicks back up; free immersion, the diver pulls themselves down and back up a rope; no fins, the diver performs the breast stroke down and back up.
Alli’s deepest dive is a free immersion dive. She stated, “I find it really relaxing. I love that one.”
What’s Next?
Next year Alli is going back to Bali for six months and is planning to work on increasing her depths. Hoping to reach depths of 80+ meters (240+ feet).
Alli’s competitive drive overwritten by her sweet smile and punctuated with a slightly shy, contagious laugh makes one wonder just what heights, or in her case depths, she will reach. But one thing’s for sure… it will be somewhere deep, blue and utterly amazing.