Mandy Sumner: Deep Water Diva

The Weekly Sentinel March 22, 2024

By Susan Gallagher, Staff Writer

The depths of the ocean call to Mandy Sumner. She answers by diving deeper and ever deeper, immersing herself in the water she so loves. This world champion freediver burst onto the scene in 2014 at the age of 36 and has been making waves in the sport ever since.

A North Berwick native, Sumner garnered headlines earlier this month by setting the new Guinness World Record for the longest bi-fin swim under ice by a woman in a swimsuit - no wetsuit. The now 46-year-old achieved this triumph on Saturday, March 2 at Lake Mysutjernet in Norway. To set the record, the intrepid Sumner swam 75 meters (246 feet) under 19 inches of ice in 35-degree water. She explains how she dealt with the frigid Norwegian water. “You have to overcome it,” she says. “You need to disconnect your brain from your body a little bit.”

The intense sport of freediving is not for the faint of heart. It involves diving under water as deep as you can - or swimming under ice for distance - without the use of breathing apparatus. Also called breath-hold diving, this sport requires great mental toughness as well as physical ability. “That’s what’s so special about freediving,” Sumner says. “It’s so much about the mind, not just physical fitness.”

Sumner’s foray into freediving came about seemingly by chance, although fate may have lent a guiding hand. In 2009, looking to capitalize on her University of Southern Maine degree in Geoscience, also known as Earth Science, she moved to Hawaii for work. Here, she discovered scuba diving, and at the suggestion of friends, gave freediving a try.

She immediately fell in love with the thrilling sport and set out to learn everything she could about it. When she realized she was a natural, she decided to pursue it further. “I wanted to see how far I could go,” she says. “I still want to know how far I can go. I like challenges.”

The neophyte freediver began competing in 2014 and finished as the top woman in only her second competition. This was a harbinger of things to come. In 2015, Sumner won the first and only gold medal for the United States in freediving with a dive to 58 meters (190 feet) with no fins in the Depth World Championships in Cyprus. This prestigious event is the highest-level competition in freediving on the world stage. To this day, Sumner’s proudest achievement is winning the gold for the USA. The win was even more special because it was unexpected. “Winning the gold,” she says, “was very shocking to me, and to a lot of other people as well.”

This momentous victory propelled her on a journey around the globe to compete in countries that include Italy, Greece, Egypt, and Mexico. The impressive Sumner possesses the physical and mental adaptability to compete in warm-water deep dives as well as bone-chilling under-ice distance swims like the Norway competition that earned her the World Record.

Mandy Sumner may be a relative newcomer to freediving, but she is no stranger to water. Growing up in North Berwick, she was swimming at six months old and competing by the age of five. Her competitive spirit flourished during her years on the Sanford Titans swim team. While attending Noble High School, which lacked a swim team, the bold Sumner started one. “I’ve always been an athlete of some sort,” she says. She smiles broadly and adds, “I grew up with water.”

Water holds a special significance for Sumner. “I think water is very healing,” she says thoughtfully. “Even just being at the beach and looking at the water is healing for me.” She has great respect for the water and its significance to the world. “Water is really important to our way of life,” she says. “We are killing our oceans.” She stresses the importance of ocean conservation. “Water is our life source. It’s what sustains us.”

Diving deep beneath the ocean’s surface is a profound experience for Sumner. “When you’re under there in the depths,” she says, “it’s peaceful. You’re only with yourself. You are alone with your own truth.” This water-lover finds serenity where many others would find fear. “As soon as I’m under the water or the ice,” she says, “everything else goes away. All the worries disappear.”

Sumner’s underwater serenity only increases the deeper she goes. She says when you go deep enough, you start a freefall. “That feels so good,” she says. “You’re feeling the water and the depth. You really have to trust yourself down there.” She says the mental push to go deeper is big, but that she listens to her body. “I know my limits,” she says.

She admits all freedivers experience some degree of panic from time to time, but says mental focus is essential to overcoming fear. “I train myself mentally, not just physically,” she says. She is likewise unafraid of the increased pressure the deeper water exerts on the body. “Humans have mammalian dive reflex like dolphins and whales,” she explains. “Our body, particularly our lungs, adapts to the pressure of depth and the decrease of pressure when we rise to the surface.”

Sumner’s training is comprised of swimming, breath-holding training, and dry-land stamina building. While she does some of her swimming in pools, she says most pools in the US do not allow breath-holding training, due to safety concerns. Mental training is arguably the most crucial element. This consists of building relaxation, confidence, and focus.

Training for under-ice freediving poses its own challenges. Sumner was surprised by how quickly her body acclimated to the cold in Norway, but says she did short dips at first and worked up to longer periods submerged. She understands why the ice dip trend has become so popular as of late. “It’s so invigorating,” she says. “And it’s really good for you mentally as well as good for your body.”

While she is most at home in the water, Sumner has a deep affinity for nature in general. “I am a huge nature person,” she declares. She enjoys occasional time in the city, but says she needs to live surrounded by nature. “I am a science person,” she says. “Science and nature always called to me.”

The science person in Sumner sees each deep dive as an opportunity to explore the sea life that surrounds her. “When I’m diving, I’m not always training,” she says. “I’m in the water with large sea animals, seeing the beauty of the coral, the lay of the land under water.” She is passionate about learning the limitless secrets the ocean holds. “We’ve explored everything on the earth,” she says. “We’ve scaled the greatest heights, but we don’t even know what lies in the depths of the ocean.”

The ocean Sumner is studying most these days is right here in her native Maine. Now living in Sanford, she is putting to use her master’s degree in GIS (Geographic Information System) in her work as a senior GIS analyst. She may be back in Maine, but part of her still belongs to Hawaii, the land of her freediving roots, where she keeps a home.

This remarkable athlete is far from ready to leave the world of freediving, and dreams of a long future ahead in the sport. She is also excited to pursue what she calls the “cold water thing,” even just for fun. Getting back on a swim team is another item on her to-do list. Of course, Sumner’s most important goal is to set another record. “I would like to break the record again,” she declares, “and push it hard.” She has a gleam in her eye as she says, “Records are made to be broken.”