Nick Pelios Freediver, Creator
Share this on
A short while ago, Sofia Gomez Uribe was featured in Deeper Blue's podcast series. Sofia spoke about her amazing freediving journey as well as about her future plans. Here are the 4 things you should know about one of the world's greatest freedivers.



She Learned To Swim At An Early Age Because Of Her Mom


"I actually grew up in the middle of the country, like right in the middle of the Colombian mountains. But my mom is from the coast, so i always had a connection with the water since i was little, because my mom felt like, if we went on vacations to my grandma's house and we went to the beach, she was afraid that my sister and i will drown. So i learned to swim really young and then i started swimming competitively when i was like 10 years old. So i've always had a connection with the water whether it's the ocean or a pool".



She Learned To Freedive While Finswimming



"During finswimming I actually learned how to do freediving. We learned some breathing techniques and at the end of the training our trainer asked us to do a maximum breath hold, a dynamic with the bifins. That day i did 100 meters with a pair of plastic fins and i loved it. So i started competing as a hobby, i was still a fin swimmer. And two weeks before a competition my trainer would tell me "there's a freediving competition do you want to go" and i would be like "okay"!


I went to my first competition in December 2010 and i actually did two Colombian national records in that competition. And if you look back, i was such a horrible freediver because i didn't know how to breathe or how to pack, i didn't use a neck weight, i didn't use anything and i still did a really good distance for being a newbie. So i started falling in love with freediving and in 2014 i decided to quit finswimming and focus 100% on freediving. I think that's the best decision i've taken".



She Has Had A Lung Squeeze



"I think during 2019 i was a little bit overwhelmed with competitions and then i had an injury, a lung squeeze. Many freedivers don't think that lung squeezes are important or serious but that made me rethink what i wanted to do as a freediver. I wasn't enjoying competing, i wasn't looking forward to do records or dive deeper. Every time i was trying to do a dive i would get so stressed and i was like "this is not what i love about freediving".



Reconnecting With What She Loves



"So this whole year has let me reconnect with what i love. I 've been out of the water for four months because of the corona virus and i miss it so much. That's what i wanted; i wanted to have that urge to go in the water and go deep. For now, i think it's time to go back to the water and start enjoying it. I don't want to put pressure on myself, that i have to do a record or that i have to be the best. I want to enjoy it and to fall in love again with going deep and with competing. And of course my dream is to go deeper than 100 meters and i know that the world record is going deeper and deeper and i'm like not even in 100 meters, but i'd love to do it and keep going deeper. But because i want to, not because i have to".



Meet Sofia's Carbon Freediving Fins Of Choice




Share this on
Previous: Child Of The Cenote
Next: Spearfishing Yellowfin Tuna And Cubera In Panama