ENTRY DESCRIPTION
A blackout in the sport of freediving occurs when a diver loses consciousness while descending or ascending from significant depths, primarily due to hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) or hypercapnia (excess carbon dioxide buildup). This potentially life-threatening event is characterized by a complex interplay of physiological and mental factors, including the body's response to pressure, breath-holding reflexes, and the athlete's psychological management of fear and stress. In a freediving world championship competition of this level, the role of safety divers are paramount, as they are tasked with monitoring the athlete's dive, intervening when necessary, and swiftly bringing them to the surface for recovery to prevent serious injury or fatality. The safety divers are the unsung heroes of this epic aquatic sport. This was shot at the 2023 Caribbean Cup Freediving World Championships in Roatan, Honduras.

AUTHOR
Kohei Ueno is an international award winning photographer from Japan, specialising in freediving and underwater photography. His obsession for the ocean started at an early age of 12 when he got his first open water scuba certificate, but it was not until the age of 30 when he discovered the sport of freediving which completely transformed his approach of seeing, and feeling the ocean.

He picked up his very first DSLR camera in 2014 when he quit his job at Google to travel the world, capturing images along the way that won him 1st place at the 2016 Sony Alpha Awards. This helped him obtain his first ever underwater housing as well as a trip to Tonga to swim with whales, a perfect gift for someone who was already a passionate freediver with an obsession for the ocean.

Since then Kohei has won multiple photography awards with numerous work being published locally and abroad. Most notably in 2019, he was awarded IPA Sports Photographer of the Year, as well as 1st place in the professional category of extreme sports at the 17th Lucie Awards in New York, as well as 2nd place at the Sony World Photogrpahy Awards. Today he continues to spread the beauty of the ocean and the intricacy of this sport as a freedive instructor, freedive photographer and athlete, as well as running underwater workshops and expeditions, inspiring more and more people to get in and start exploring, not only deep into the ocean, but deep within themselves.

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