Netflix documentary The Deepest Death details a tragic true story.
New Netflix documentary The Deepest Breath is taking our fears of deep water to a brand new level, detailing the exhilaration and fatal risks connected to free-diving.
The docufilm explores the extreme sport largely through the eyes of world-record-setting Italian diver Alessia Zecchini, using real footage, as well as some archive and reconstruction.
In the opening scenes of the documentary, which has been directed by Laura McGann, Zecchini talks about the correlation between free-diving and death.
“I think if someone has to die, they will,” she says.
It’s a bold statement on risk-taking that comes to define the Netflix documentary, which soon takes an even darker turn as we discover what happened to Zecchini’s partner Stephen Keenan, an Irish record-setting free-diver and safety instructor, on one fateful day during a free dive off the coast of Egypt.
So who is Zecchini, and what happened to the athlete and her diving partner? Read on to find out.
Who is The Deepest Breath diver Alessia Zecchini?
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Alessia Zecchini is an Italian free-diver who has set many world records in the sport.
Inspired by Natalia Molchanova, a legendary Russian champion free-diver, Zecchini’s passion and talent for the sport began at a young age, but she was barred from competing until she reached 18.
By her early 20s, Zecchini was a formidable international contender.
What happened to Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan?
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Stephen Keenan was Zecchini’s safety driver. He tragically passed away in July 2017 at the age of 39 whilst overseeing a dive by Zecchini into The Blue Hole of Egypt – one of the most risky dive sites in the world.
Despite meticulously planning the descent, which included a swim through an underwater tunnel without a guiding rope, Zecchini and Keenan’s timings didn’t quite go to plan.
Keenan was supposed to meet her at the other end of the tunnel but, when Zecchini made it through, she was unable to locate the rope that would guide her to the surface and ended up swimming in the wrong direction.
Keenan reached her around the 50m depth and helped guide her to the surface, but he is thought to have blacked out at some point and ultimately died saving Zecchini.
At the very end of the Netflix documentary, Zecchini reflects on the dive that led to Keenan’s death, saying: “Maybe I could have done more. If I’d been more conscious, I don’t know.”
She continues: “The worst thing is we couldn’t do anything, we couldn’t save him. He rescued me, but I couldn’t rescue him.”
In Zecchini’s most recent Instagram post, which was posted ahead of the documentary’s release on 18th July, she wrote: “The only reason I agreed to be a part of [the documentary] is to let the world know what a wonderful and special person [Keenan] was, so that even those who don’t know what free-diving is can appreciate his immense humanity.”
Where is Zecchini now?
Zecchini, now 31, continues to work as a professional free-diver.
According to her official website, she is the holder of 35 world records and has been awarded 17 world gold medals.
She has achieved a descent of -177m at Vertical Blue with a Monofin.
The Deepest Breath is available to watch on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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