Under the ice
103 meters under the ice without fins and a wetsuit. CMAS world record 2021.
Under the ice, everything is simple: cold water, silence, and light filtering through the ice.
My hometown had a big outdoor pool, four meters deep. I dove to the bottom and turned to watch the people swimming on the surface. Everything was beautiful and calm, and it felt as if time had stopped.
I started freediving in 2000 and competed against the best freedivers in the world at the World Championships. In 2010, I broke my leg in a cycling accident, and the pain stayed with me for a long time. My doctor recommended cold therapy. That is how I ended up in an ice hole, and eventually under the ice.
Finland is a freediving mecca. It has clear lakes and deep mines. Diving in dark water is completely different, even thrilling. Under the ice it is beautiful and especially quiet. There I am alone with myself. When you dive, there is no room for fear or hurry, and that is exactly why it feels so good. I do not think about records. I watch.
103 meters under the ice
CMAS world record 2021: 103 meters under the ice without fins or a wetsuit. In 2015 I set the women's Guinness World Record: 50 meters under the ice in a swimsuit. My first world record was in 2004, in dynamic apnea with fins in a pool.
My records
In competition I have held my breath for 6 minutes 35 seconds. In the pool I have swum 192 m with fins and 137 m without fins. My best depth result is 56 m with a monofin.
Netflix documentary
Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive follows my journey with my sister Elina to the 2021 record. Watch the trailer.
Other documentaries
Four Elements portrays my relationship with water and shows my record dive of 2015. Ian Derry's artistic short film Johanna went around the world when Nowness and National Geographic shared it. In the surf documentary Big vs. Small, I help big wave surfer Joana Andrade face her fears with the help of cold water.
