MY STORY
simonA auteri
Sailing on a 420 in Genoa
I didn’t find freediving. Freediving found me.
I was born in Genova, a harbour town on the Italian coast, and I grew up in the water. Summers were spent swimming and sailing. Then life took me elsewhere - architecture school in Switzerland, followed by work in London, then a design studio of my own.
The ocean became a memory.
In January 2018, a hurricane redirected my plans on a trip to the Philippines and landed me, unexpectedly, at a freediving centre on a small island called Camiguin. I told the instructor it wasn’t for me - I had lost a friend to it some years earlier and I had always suffered ear pain when diving - but somehow I ended up diving anyway.
Sunset at Kurma
I went to six metres on my first breath-hold. When I surfaced, something had shifted. And those emotions I felt at six metres on my first dive are the same ones I feel now at ninety-five. Those are the emotions that fuel my passion for growth, depth and self improvement.
Diving in Chapstow Quarries, UK
I came home to London after that trip and found a freediving club. I trained in cold quarries and even colder pools.
Volunteering at MWSP. Photo Vincent Bourdin
In 2019 I spent a month in Nosy Be volunteering with the Madagascar Whale Shark Project - an initiative still close to my heart.
In 2020, during the pandemic, I moved to Nice for the summer to train more seriously. I went from 35 metres to 52 metres in two weeks.
Winning gold at Kas Baska World Cup -91m CWT
Photo Federico Buzzoni
By 2022 I had broken four CMAS world records and won five Italian championship titles. In 2023 I competed at the Freediving World Championships in Honduras. My personal best is now 95 metres and I am training to go to 100. But the numbers are not the story. Freediving taught me what architecture couldn’t: that the most important structures we build are the ones inside us. That fear, when you move towards it rather than away, transforms into something extraordinary. And that breath is the most powerful tool we have.
WORLD RECORD FREEDIVER - AUTHOR - SPEAKER
FOUNDER OF APNEE AU FEMININ - OCEAN ADVOCATE - ARCHITECT
“Depth is a constant reminder of the concept of trust; trusting the adaptation, the body and the mind, and how the body-mind can adapt and change when the will to do so is present.”
Achievements
Freediving Outdoor National Team Italy
4x CMAS Freshwater World Records
4x Italian Champion 2022
7x Italian National Records
4th and 5th Place World Championship 2023
1st Place French Championships 2023, 2025
2x Bronze Medals for Athletic Merit (CONI)
personal records
CWT- 95m
CWTB -87m
FIM -80m
CNF -44m
world and national records
WHERE
Riva del Garda, IT
Riva del Garda, IT
Riva del Garda, IT
Riva del Garda, IT
Sharm El Sheikh, EG
Sharm El Sheikh, EG
Sharm El Sheikh, EG
WHAT
CMAS WR
CMAS WR
CMAS WR
CMAS WR
AIDA NR
AIDA NR
AIDA NR
DEPTH
-79m CWTB
-76m CWTB
-75m CWT
-71m CWTB
-74CWTB
-68m CWTB
-65m CWTB
when
19 July 2025
07 Sept 2024
03 Sept 2022
04 Sept 2022
11 Nov 2021
15 May 2021
12 May 2021