Arab female freedivers go deeper to break boundaries and set records

For Dina Albitar, the next few minutes were transformational. The professional freediver’s thoughts all floated away as she drew one final inhalation and descended into the warm waters of the blue hole in Egypt.

As she followed the rope and sank further into relaxation, the athlete opened her eyes to see a spectacular underwater arch illuminated by light. Her mind was still, and the moment – a profound confrontation with the hidden beauty of the deep ocean – was hers alone.

“I was just smiling because it was such a nice dive,” the Palestinian-Jordanian freediver tells The National, recalling an experience that was at once unforgettable and familiar, a dive taken for fun and not as part of a competition. “Once you're in the water, nothing matters. It's for you … it's such a grounding experience and it is the only thing that helps me shut down.”

Egyptian athlete Ranalina Alim performs in the Constant Weight No Fins freediving discipline in Egypt's Blue Hole competition. Jack Lawes for The National

Freediving, a sport in which people hold their breath while diving underwater, has grown in popularity over the past few years. There is no set depth that defines a freedive, but recreational participants usually learn to dive to about 30 metres.

Freediving helps me disconnect from all the societal norms, all the pressure, everything about who you have to be, what you should do Dina Albitar ,

Jordan’s deepest freediver

In competitive freediving, athletes go even deeper. The divers who The National speaks to often reach depths of between 45 and more than 70 metres, with and without fins.

Spectacular images of freedivers exploring the ocean have multiplied on social media, helping to increase awareness. Meanwhile, record-breaking attempts, as well as the Netflix documentary The Deepest Breath, have helped pull this once niche sport further into the mainstream. Freediving was previously considered an extreme activity, but the narrative is changing. For many, it has become a chance to calm the mind through deep introspection and stillness, while for others it’s a way to marvel at reefs and corals.

Albitar is equally enthused about breaking records and diving to disconnect. Jack Lawes for The National

Albitar, 27, is Jordan’s deepest freediver – and she’s also among a growing cohort of Arab women who are taking on this thrilling sport. From Egypt to Bahrain, female athletes in the Middle East and North Africa are not only making a mark as athletes, but also breaking barriers and helping to introduce the sport to countless other women.

“It’s getting competitive,” Albitar notes. “I love it because it shows we’re capable. You rarely hear about Middle Eastern women in sports like this, and now we’re out here breaking records.”

For Albitar, the sport is a powerful conduit for calming her mind, testing her limits and challenging traditional gender stereotypes in the region. In the water, she is unapologetically herself. “Freediving helps me disconnect from all the societal norms, all the pressure, everything about who you have to be, what you should do,” she says.

The movement is also gathering pace. Data from the International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA), a leading regulatory body in the sport, shows that the number of women participating in freediving across the Arab world is steadily growing. So far in 2025, 1,458 women across Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have been awarded AIDA certifications, which freedivers commonly acquire when they start the sport, marking a 61 per cent increase in just two years.

But the journey hasn’t been easy. Egyptian athlete Ranalina Alim, 34, discovered freediving by chance in 2020, a time when things were still different.

Alim broke two national records at the 2025 Freediving World Cup in Sharm El Sheikh.