Free Diver, Outdoor Lover, Brooke Kendzior


Growing up in Washington State and Kauai forged a lifelong love of being out in nature. Today Brooke balances her life as a critical care nurse with instructing others in the intricacies of free diving. Whether in the cenotes of Mexico or in the deeps of the Pacific Brooke finds her happy meditative state holding her breath 45 meters down. Meet Outdoor Lover Brooke Kendzior.


Aloha, My Name is Brooke! I was born in Washington State and spent my formative years between Washington State and Kauai. Currently I live in San Diego, but often find myself traveling internationally and going back home to Hawaii to free dive. While Washington State and Kauai have very different climates, they both share a rugged beauty and sense of adventure, immersing myself in these natural environments has an incredibly positive impact on my life.


Before starting to free dive you were mainly a rock climber, were you also an avid swimmer? How did you get into free diving?
Long story short is that I found myself working as a travel nurse in a place that didn’t really have rocks to climb. With no option to rock climb I decided it was time I learnt to swim well and enrolled in a US Masters swimming class (until that point, I was a very poor swimmer). Swimming changed my life. I swam 3 times a week, refined my technique, and built enough endurance to swim two miles in one session! After moving to Hawaii, I took a Freediving course as thought it would be a good way to make more local friends. I thought line diving (where you practice for depth) was silly and had no interest despite it being a requirement of the course. After my first line dive… I was hooked. 


The images and films of you underwater are mesmerizing, they are simultaneously peaceful yet there is also a sense of isolation. Can you share the feelings and sensations that make free diving such an addictive past-time and sport?
My brain becomes so relaxed and immersed in the task of diving down, that I don’t even realize I’ve reached 45m (150ft) deep or that I’ve been holding my breath while doing so. It is as if reality and everything else stops, all you hear is the sound of water passing around your ears and the feeling of the rope between your fingers. It is truly an escape from life and for me the highest form of a meditative state where I invite every sensation that my brain is processing. After every session, I typically feel restored, happy, and able to tackle anything else life throws at me!  


Obviously free-diving and rock climbing are very different. One is all about getting to new heights, the other is all about descending to new lows, lol Are there any feelings that connect the two activities?
Oddly enough they are connected! You’ll find that a good amount of free divers like to rock climb as well. In climbing when focusing on a route or problem, you can enter this “flow state” where your body and mind is focused on the task at hand where nothing else, but those moments and movements are what exist. This flow state is also shared with freediving.


Where are your favorite spots to free dive in the world?
There are so many other amazing places in the world that I have yet to check out. I must answer this question in three parts. Part one, the top place for diving due to the amazing dive community so far has been in the Philippines. The Best coral I have seen so far has been in Okinawa, Japan. The best dive conditions I have ever experienced has been in the Cenotes of Mexico. The Cenotes are pretty amazing because there is no current, no waves, and you freefall so early! Freefalling is the stage of a dive where you are negatively buoyant, therefore are sinking without any effort and is the best part!  


Are you currently competing? Is depth the only measurement of winning, or are there other ways you are judged - time, style?
I will be competing in a pool competition at the end of this year and plan for depth competitions next year. People can be judged on time for holding their breath without moving in a pool, dynamic swimming in a pool for distance with and without fins on a single breath, and then in the ocean for depth with and without fins.


What is your personal best and how did that make you feel?
One of my favorite personal best dives that sticks with me the most is a Constant Weight No Fins Dive (CNF) that I did down to 35 meters (approx 115 feet deep). CNF dives for me feel so free and as if it is the truest form of freediving. In CNF you don’t use fins and truly just propel yourself down…then the more challenging part, back up! That dive made me feel amazing because I have always loved CNF diving, but I have also felt afraid to do it for depth. After surfacing the first time I did 35, I felt so elated. I not only overcame my mental barrier, but also the dive felt physically easy!


You are now a certified free dive instructor, where can our community learn to free dive with you?
Right now, I am primarily based out of San Diego, but with my frequent trips back to Oahu - I teach in both places.


As someone who is spending so much time in salt water and under the sun what is your skincare regimen and particular your approach to sun care.
SUNSCREEN SUNSCREEN SUNSCREEN. I apply Utu’s SPF30 Moisturizing Sunscreen lotion daily and then faithfully use the Utu 50 SPF Sunscreen Stick when it is time to adventure. For days where I am going to be out in the sun for prolonged periods of time, a surf hat is also a must! Whenever I am done with the water, moisturize after as a reward to my skin since salt water or chlorine from a pool is very very drying. 


As you know Hawaii has banned most chemical SPF filers. Have you seen the reef degradation that has in-part been a result of these chemical toxins.
There are so many factors that have contributed to reef destruction In Hawaii and most of them are from humans. Sadly, most of the reef we see in Hawaii is dead. The coral has degraded so much that it just appears to be normal rock. My friends and I can recall even several years ago being in the water and seeing the coral vastly different and thriving. Toxic chemicals in sunscreen is one of the very easy things that everyone can change to help decrease factors that play into reef degradation. 


How to you advocate for reef and ocean health?
Second to using environmentally friendly sunscreen, the biggest way I try to help is by minimizing single use plastic in my life and helping pick up trash to clean our ocean. The ocean has a sickening amount of trash that not only impacts the reef, but also the wildlife. I cannot emphasize how many times I have seen plastic or trash stuck on a dolphin or lodged in a turtle. It’s just sad. Beach clean ups are a good start, but additionally accountability to go and pick up trash during a portion of every dive is how I try to do my part. 

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