Hawaii Mom Ties World Record With 348-Foot Freedive

For the first time in more than two decades, an American woman stands at the top of the freediving world. Enchante Gallardo, a 38-year-old mother of two from Makaha, Hawaii, tied the world record for free immersion diving in July at the Asia Freediving Cup in the Philippines.

Her record-setting dive reached 106 meters, about 348 feet deep. That's the length of a football field plus 10 yards, and she had to go down and come back up on a single breath lasting three minutes and 35 seconds.

"Take the length of a football field and add a little more than 10 more yards," Gallardo explained. "You're going down there and coming back up. That's like two football fields."

Gallardo discovered freediving in 2017, less than a decade ago. She's now ranked number one in the United States, North America, and the world.

Growing up in Makaha, she was always in the ocean. "Surfing and being here in Hawaii, the water's always been like therapy for me," she said.

After becoming a mom, she found freediving and quickly 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!"

Her secret to staying calm hundreds of feet underwater? Breathing. "I still feel nervous no matter how many competitions I do but the breath is a really important tool to help with that," Gallardo said. "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."

Why This Inspires

Gallardo's mother, Theresa Schenk, watched her daughter transform from surfer to world record holder. "It was beautiful to watch that transition," she said. "I had no doubt when she started competing that she would hit a world record. We are very, very proud of her."

What makes this story even more remarkable is that Gallardo started competing less than 10 years ago. She proves that finding your passion later in life, even after becoming a parent, can lead to world-changing achievements.

Now Gallardo is training for the World Apnea Depth Championships in Cyprus this October. She's determined to break her own record and go even deeper. "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."

The world will be watching on October 5th when she attempts to push human limits once again.