Alpine resident Sara Lynn Burnett will be competing in the AIDA Freediving World Championships in Corsica, France, in September. Burnett, the daughter of Donald and Sharon Haney of Alpine, is one of four women representing the U.S.A. on the global stage at the highest level of elite freediving.
Freediving is a competitive sport where divers only use the air in their lungs to plunge to great depths. Sharon Haney said Burnett fell in love with freediving after trying her brother’s spearfishing fins at the Balmorhea State Park in West Texas. From there she went to Dahab, Egypt, to train and became an advanced freediving instructor. She currently trains on the Caribbean Island of Dominica with Blue Element Freediving and is looking forward to representing the United States in this extreme sport. The deepest she has gone on one breath is 68 meters (223ft) with a monofin, though she excels most in the no-fins discipline where she has mastered depths of 50m (164ft).
This is her first World Championship, and though Burnett is the oldest woman at 40, and newest to the sport on Team U.S.A., she hopes her story inspires other women to pursue their passions no matter their age. You can follow her World Championship journey on Instagram via @saralynnburnett.