After years of training and dedication, Richlands native Ashley Futral Chapman is preparing to make a deep splash in the sport of freediving.

On May 7, Chapman earned her second women’s world record with a dive to 63 meters and another dive to 65 meters or 213 feet in the discipline of Constant Weight No Fins, or CNF, during the Performance Freediving International’s Deja Blue Tres Competition in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Her husband, underwater videographer and freediving instructor Ren Chapman, was by her side for support and to document her safe and successful journey down to the depths of the ocean. Chapman said she consistently trained for a year to break the record.

“My husband kept me motivated to train and he is my primary safety diver,” she said. “As soon I hit 100 feet it’s just me and him down there.”

Chapman will travel to the Bahamas in November to compete in the Vertical Blue International Freediving Competition to break the world record again after a 67 metre record was recently accomplished by 50-year-old Russian diver Natalia Molchanova.

“I hope to break it and hope to even get down to 70 meters and I will be attempting more records too,” she said.

Chapman had developed great success in the discipline in the past several years, relying on increasing her upper body strength and breath hold capacity. In 2011 alone, Chapman earned the US Women’s Record-CNF at 50 meters, the Pan-American Record at CNF 55 meters and the Pan-American Record CNF at 58 meters. Chapman said that holding her breath for long periods of time initially seemed like a daunting experience.

“You take the tank off and suddenly you’re freediving,” Chapman said. “I took the fins off and that was the purest form of free diving I could find. I loved that sensation and I just loved that discipline.”

Her feats in just a few years are a long way from her knowledge of the sport and experiences in the ocean growing up. Chapman said that she never had a connection with the ocean during her childhood. After graduating from Richlands High School in 2001, Chapman went to UNCW to study environmental science and chemistry. Ren, then her boyfriend, introduced her freediving to her 2007.

“I grew up in Richlands and we went to beach sometimes but it’s not something I grew up in love with,” she said. “The first time I had been off shore was with Ren that’s when I started loving the ocean and I’m still loving the ocean.”

The couple traveled with friends to the Cayman Islands to take an intermediate level freediving course through Performance Freediving International.  It was there that Chapman found that she had an exceptional ability to hold her breath underwater.

“I was doing over 150 feet, learning to hold my breath over five minutes in just four days,” Chapman said. “I was approached by one of the instructors, and he asked ‘why don’t you apply to be an alternate diver on the U.S. women’s team?’”

Chapman went on to compete and the team earned a silver medal that year. Chapman has also traveled around the world individually to compete on the international level.  She and Ren earned diving instructor certifications and founded Evolve Freediving of Wilmington in 2009.

The U.S. team is currently preparing to compete in Nice, France in September and Chapman said that the team is expected to do very well at the competition. In the meantime, the Chapmans are currently teaching summer courses to help others learn how to hold breaths longer and go deeper in the water safely.  On July 19, Chapman and Ren will also participate in a free lecture to share about her freediving experiences for “Journey to a World Record,” at 7 p.m. at the Lumina Theater on the campus of UNCW.

“The most spectacular part of the sport to me and the accomplishment that you never know what your bodies are capable of,” she said. “I love talking to people who say that can only hold breaths for 30 seconds and I say ‘You have no clue.’ I still don’t know what my body can do after tons of training.”

With so much success under already under her belt, Chapman continues to seek improvement in freediving through more training and competitions.  With continued support and a growing interest in the discipline, Chapman looks forward to teaching others that freediving is more than a sport, but also a lifestyle.

“It’s growing for sure,” Chapman said. “It’s cool to go and participate in this sport, but it’s not just winning but having broken down personal barriers every time you go out there. You get better every time you got out and that is a really cool feeling.”

For more information about Ashley Futral Chapman, visit evolvefreediving.com or updates regarding subsequent record attempts at the competition at freediveblog.com.  For sponsorship opportunities, visit supportteamusa.org.

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