2nd Place 'Beneath the Surface of Competitive Freediving ' by Kohei Ueno

Freediving is a sport where you dive as deep as you can, for as long as you can, on a single breath of air. Athletes push themselves far beyond what is considered normal, some diving to depths of over 100 meters, and holding their breath for over ten minutes.
It may seem like a crazy extreme sport, reserved only for suicidal adrenaline junkies, but when you look closely at a freediver beneath the surface, you may find that it is quite the opposite. Freedivers dive in a meditative state, lowering their heart rate and relaxing their body to consume the least amount of oxygen. Calmness, stillness, peace and silence, the words often used to describe this sport, are what I try to portray in the photos. They were taken at the AAS Freediving Depth Championships held in Amed, Bali, Indonesia.