Arthur Guérin-Boëri on the search for the unknown

In 2022, Arthur Guérin-Boëri travelled to Quebec, Canada, after three years of training, aiming to set a world record in dynamic freediving under ice without a wetsuit. He achieved his goal, holding his breath for 2 minutes and 27 seconds in water at 0.7°C as he swam horizontally for 105 metres. This marked the culmination of a successful freediving career that began in 2011 at the age of 26. Despite his extensive experience in the sport, this challenge was unprecedented.  

‘I had to deal with fear for three years before the attempt. I wasn’t sure about how my body would handle the extreme physiological reactions to breath-holding together with the physiological reactions to extreme cold-water immersion. I studied how my body reacts in the cold and how to lower the risk, to lower the fear. And yet, whatever I was doing, the fear was still there.’ Arthur says.  

‘Before the dive, I prepared for two hours, also to reduce the fear. But 30 seconds before the go, I made the choice to accept that the risk is part of the game. Normally, I'm more rational, but this time, I really connected to something that transcends me. I was highly concentrated in this flow, and I really accepted that the risk was part of the game – that it maybe could end very badly for me. I was okay with this. And then the fear disappeared.’ 

Arthur grew up with a deep passion for music, going on to become a music producer in Paris. He spent his early twenties balancing his love for it with the hustle typical of someone trying to break into the professional world. In such stressful times, he turned to water – a calling that wasn’t new, but a refuge he’d sought since childhood. The rapid rise of his freediving career was never planned. Neither was the idea that this would become his professional path. 

Luc Besson's ’The Big Blue’ had left a lasting impression on him, shaping a connection to the sea that would stay intact throughout his life. What he saw in the movie matched his first experiences underwater, which he remembers clearly.  ‘I think Luc Besson was really a genius in the way he filmed and showed the feeling that we have when we are freediving. Under the surface, in the sea, I felt very good. I was cutting myself off from the outer world, focused on my feelings and sensations in this weightlessness that we feel when we're underwater. This feeling stayed with me for all my teenage years. And then, the water called me. I had to go back into the water.’ 

Freediving has existed for as long as humans have looked for things under the seas and oceans. Fish, pearls, gold. Holding our breaths to explore and search has always been intertwined with survival. Perhaps very different, perhaps not so much, for Arthur, it’s a way to shift focus and turn his attention inwards, transcending, and exploring his own limits. Limits are key in his definition of freediving as a practice. 

’When you hold your breath, CO2 levels rise because you're not exhaling, which triggers the urge to breathe, while oxygen levels drop because you're not inhaling. The discomfort of rising CO2 isn't dangerous, but if oxygen levels fall too low, it can lead to a blackout – which is potentially dangerous if we're underwater, which is why it's crucial never to dive alone. Nature has been well made: the discomfort of rising CO2 gives you the urge to breathe a long time before oxygen levels have dropped down critically. The job of the freediver is to explore the zone between the urge to breathe coming and the real physiological need to breathe, the blackout, without overpassing it.’ 

For decades, Nice, in the south of France, has been a hub in the freediving scene. Arthur Guérin-Boëri relocated there some years ago, driven by his passion, his profession, and his search for a quieter life as opposed to the frenetic pace of Paris. ’I really needed to see the horizon. It gives me a lot of mindfulness. I grew up in Paris, and you never see the horizon there. You're always in streets and boulevards and avenues that are surrounded by buildings. And also, the colour – the blue. The sky and the sea here are very blue. It's very important for me.’ 

Throughout his professional life as a freediver, much of his concern has been centred around time marks, world records and personal bests, the result of consistent training, effort and, ultimately, a commitment to push himself outside his comfort zone. But he admits that what started it all – a call to join a local swim club – had as much weight as any of the steps that followed. That moment marked his first choice to confront the fear of doing something unfamiliar.  

’You can make the choice to stay in your comfort zone, and it's absolutely okay. It's very hard to make this step into the unknown, but once you've done it, after a certain time doing this, it becomes necessary and vital.’ 

After years spent under the surface of waters around the world, Arthur is on a new mission to become a knowledgeable voice for marine conservation. ’I don't like to be a knower. I don't appreciate having this arrogance. I prefer to learn. I am really in a dynamic of discovering, learning more, and then sharing with people what I've learned. My vision of something is just a vision. It's not the truth. This is what I like about learning, being in a position of understanding the world around you.’ 

To this end, he’s working on a documentary series in which he’s set to discover the impact that global pollution and climate change have on our waters and the communities that rely on them. Clearly, what drives him is a constant search for the unknown. Whether it’s a mystery from within or a curiosity for what lies beyond depends on the perspective, the context, and the moment. Indeed, he is a world champion freediver, a music producer – also an entrepreneur, a TV host, a motivational speaker, a documentary filmmaker. But, when given the chance, he’d rather think of himself as a dreamer, a learner, and, above all, an author of his own life.