Notes from the line

The Journal

Dispatches from Dominica — training, competition, and the slow work of learning to be still. Written between dives.

Earlier entries
A no-fins freediver descending the line into deep blue Allie Reilly

Training · April 2026

What 80 metres feels like

Past 30, the ocean stops pushing you up and starts pulling you down. The freefall is the closest thing I know to the night sky — you stop swimming and the deep does the rest.

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Over-under split shot of Soufrière Bay — green hills above, blue water below Allie Reilly

Coaching · March 2026

Teaching the first breath-hold

Every student arrives certain that freediving is about a big pair of lungs. Watching someone discover, in one session, that it was calm all along — that never gets old.

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A freediver gliding through a shimmering school of sardines Allie Reilly

Island life · February 2026

Why Dominica

In 2022 I left the UK for a volcanic island where the seafloor falls away a hundred metres from shore. On deep, warm, still water — and choosing a life by what it lets you practise.

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One breath a month.

A short letter when there's something worth saying — a competition, a record attempt, a thing learned at depth. No noise.

Coming soon — entries are being written between training blocks.