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I know you're also a freediving instructor. Tell me about your retreats. I'll be doing freediving retreats, actually taking people to swim with the whales in September in Tahiti. We learn about whales, we learn about interaction, and there's also some photography involved. It's all about taking us to the wild places, back to where we came from and just really stripping away the bare bones of what makes us up and getting in touch with who we are. As I like to say, it's about "unlocking your superhero" which will be a big focus on my retreats and my motivational speaking events. Discovering what you're capable of and that's what freediving is about. You face your fears, you're constantly problem solving, and you learn to trust yourself and be more open to things. It's a beautiful, natural way to engage with the world that we're removed from. Where are the best places in the world to dive? I love diving in the Solomon Islands because there's so many shipwrecks and it's so untouched as well as Australia and Africa. I prefer exploring untouched and undiscovered marine environments— places you don't hear much about. I love Tahiti as well-it's incredible. Hawaii also for the volcanic, earthy feeling and you've got this beautiful, pristine blue as well as pilot whales, tiger sharks, dolphins, turtles— Hawaii, to me, offers this really incredible ocean connection. It's very pure. ere's so many volcanoes in such a small area, I really think that whole place is so alive with energy. You can also dive through lava tubes! It's my favorite place to freedive for sure. You're a really big advocate for ocean conservation. Was there ever an ah-ha moment that opened your eyes to the issues facing our planet? When I was competing in 2016, I ended up diving through approximately three tons of rubbish in Bali. We took my GoPro out and filmed and it just kind of changed my life. It was a real-life nightmare. It was basically like getting all of the trash, going to a dump, throwing it into your pool and swimming in it. It was also scary with the amount of marine life I saw swimming through it and there were so many plastic bags. It really opened my eyes to what's going on with the ocean—I wanted to share it with the world. Once I swam through that trash I thought, "How much trash is there going to the ocean?" And in fact, 8 million tons of the stuff is going to the oceans every year. Out of 20 of the top polluting nations, 19 of them are from developing regions. ey just don't have waste management systems to deal with trash accordingly. People don't realize what the toxic chemicals in plastic is made of. It's entering our food chain because the marine life we're eating are getting this bio accumulation of toxic materials and we're consuming those materials. At the moment, by 2050, people are estimating that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. We all have the power to change our habits and single-use plastic consumption. e video we took when we swam through the trash got about 7 million views and that was awesome. People's reactions on social media were huge. It's the public courtroom. Everybody has an opinion and everybody wants to say something. What I want to see is more visual inspiration around the world for people to want to make their lives better for the environment. I'm also an ambassador for Take3ForeSea, an organization which encourages everyone to take three pieces of rubbish everywhere they go! Every waterway leads to the sea. V U E N J . C O M 98 POINT OF VUE

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