SINGAPORE – Freediving may be a niche sport in Singapore, but the sport is growing in numbers with an estimated 200 active divers in the community.

The competitions hosted in the Republic, such as last Saturday’s Ultimate Freediving Challenge (UFC) 5 competition at the Bukit Merah Swimming Complex, also drew overseas competitors.

Fu Xingqiang, a 38-year-old Singaporean who organised the competition, broke the national record in the pool dynamic using bifins discipline with a distance of 226m.

He said: “This community is developing quite well. We have four or five (freediving) schools here and all of them do well.

“We have also attracted a lot of good divers from around the world to join our competitions. I think it’s a very good freediving environment in Singapore.”

Freediving is a form of underwater diving that is done without breathing gear. There are mainly two types of disciplines – one is depth, where the diver descends into the water, while the other is pool, where the diver travels horizontally.

In pool, there are two sub-categories. The first is dynamic, where divers swim the furthest distance in a single breath. The second is static, in which divers stay still and hold their breath in the water for as long as possible.

The UFC 5 competition was a dynamic competition. It was held under official International Association for the Development of Apnea rules, and was set up to help divers like Fu get more experience.

“The more competitions you do, the more confident and experienced you are, to prepare for the bigger events like the world championships,” he explained.

“There are many competitive freedivers out there who like to compete, so I know they will come and join.”

On eclipsing the record at the event, Fu said: “This has always been what I wanted to do.

“I normally don’t compete in this discipline, so I feel very satisfied.”

Fu, who is a chemical engineer, started training for the event at the start of 2023. However, he still felt the competition jitters.

“The conditions were different because it was held in the daytime, (whereas) in training it is at night.”

Fu also holds the national best timings for the dynamic with fins, dynamic without fins and constant weight without fins.

When asked about this, he said: “It is fulfilling as I have been doing this for years.

“But I would like to encourage other divers to take over my records and do better than me.”

In training, he works on two main aspects – the mental side of diving and the techniques.

He also teaches as a freediving instructor during the weekends.

Since the start of 2022, Singaporean divers who have broken national records include Michelle Ooi (72m) in constant weight and Elys Lai, who holds national marks in four categories including the dynamic with bifins.

Meanwhile, at the June World Championships in Jeju, South Korea, the Republic will be represented by four divers comprising captain Daniel Kwok, 42, Patricia Ong, 33, Chai Hui Mian, 30, and Fu. This will be the first time Singapore are sending a team to the World Championships, after Lai became the first Singaporean to participate in 2022.

Fu will be competing in the four disciplines in which he holds the national marks. “I just hope to break my personal best timings,” he said.

Freediving is gaining traction in the region, and Fu hopes that more Singaporeans will give the sport a try. “My hope is to see more competitive divers, and that we can see more good results in the coming years. I also hope there will be more competitions like this so that new freedivers can join,” he said.

“It really is an amazing sport. Just come and try, you will not regret it.”