Introducing ... Deep Water

Speaker 1 It's kind of like the cartel. You want the Pablo Escobar caught, don't you?

Speaker 2 This is a story I never expected to be telling. Three years ago, I was a travel writer.
I was working on a novel in my spare time.

Speaker 2 I'd write about yoga retreats and surf destinations, that sort of thing. I'd never even heard of freediving.

Speaker 2 But on one of my trips, almost by accident, it became a calling.

Speaker 2 It's a sport with a simple objective, to dive as deep as you can on one single breath.

Speaker 2 I only had to try it once and I was hooked. That feeling of being present in the moment I cannot experience anywhere else.

Speaker 1 As long as I could have those beautiful dives, just swimming in a beautiful bay, that's what I live for.

Speaker 2 I was drawn into a small but fanatical community of competition athletes all united in their drive for depth. Pushing our own limits, the limits of our bodies and it has

Speaker 1 difficulties. The addiction for me is to find another level of relaxation that allows me to go deeper.

Speaker 2 I spent all of my spare time training with other divers and as I got closer to the athletes I began to hear rumours.

Speaker 1 Some of these dives were a bit too good.

Speaker 1 There were some performances that were making people think, wow, this person either is one in 10 million or something else is happening.

Speaker 2 The divers around me were asking questions about some of the most lauded athletes. Could they be doping to break world records?

Speaker 2 It seemed absurd to me, in an extreme sport, one with very little margin for error, that divers could be using drugs to cheat. I mean, what would you even take to go deeper?

Speaker 2 As the rumors spread, the community started to unravel.

Speaker 1 It became a business. And from that point on, things kind of went south.
Morals became really questionable.

Speaker 2 Until it reached a tipping point.

Speaker 1 I got told that there was like a group that was forming and they were getting together to try to find a way to do something about it.

Speaker 2 But despite a plan to bring the alleged dopers out of the dark and into the light, the problem hasn't gone away. If anything, it's illuminated the scale of the corruption.

Speaker 1 Our problem is human nature, and human nature will never change.

Speaker 2 It's a never-ending story, I think.

Speaker 2 I set out to investigate a sport I love, to find the truth.

Speaker 2 And now, a lot of people who've been too scared to speak up are ready to talk.

Speaker 1 It's a sensitive topic. It's sensitive because it involves whether things are true or not.
Are they that naive to think that this sport is clean? And I would say the answer has to be no.

Speaker 1 And so, if it's no, who is cheating? Clearly, a prime candidate would be someone who's carrying a suitcase full of drugs.

Speaker 2 I'm Lydia Garde and from Tortoise Investigates, this is Deep Water, a story about the corruption of a community and what's at risk when ego overtakes integrity.

Speaker 1 Hello, it's Gary here. I'm the producer of Deep Water.
It's our latest Tortoise Investigate series and it launches next week. That's Tuesday the 18th of November.

Speaker 1 Before I tell you a bit more about the series, we have a house notice.

Speaker 1 You might have seen some changes to our feeds, and that's because we're now bringing our podcast to you from our new home, The Observer.

Speaker 1 It's the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, where you can listen to and read incredible journalism every day of the week.

Speaker 1 If you'd like to get early access to all six episodes of Deepwater when it launches, you can subscribe to The Observer Plus on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify.

Speaker 1 And don't forget to follow the feed to make sure you don't miss the first episode.