“The Deepest Breath” is a new documentary that tells the story of two free divers whose paths cross because of their shared love for the extreme sport.

The film follows Italian world record holder Alessia Zecchini, and Irish coach and safety expert Stephen Keenan, chronicling their passion for the ocean and adventure. Director Laura McGann joined host Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today” to share more about her film. 

Zecchini showed great promise as a free diver as a young teen. McGann said that when Zecchini began competing at 18, she “blew everyone out of the water.”

McGann explained what a free diving competition entails. The discipline that the documentary focuses on is called constant weight diving, where the deepest dive wins.

“It’s something that you do quite slowly,” McGann said. “That initial kick is quite hard. But then once you reach 30 meters, the pressure above your head pushes you down. And that’s where a thing called a freefall happens. It’s just like flying. And it’ll bring you down to the bottom of the ocean. So you just relax, close your eyes, relax your arms and your legs, and you move at speed.”

Together, Keenan and Zecchini broke several world records. He dove with her as a safety diver. But one day, tragedy struck during one of their dives to the Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt. 

“It’s a 100-meter sinkhole just 10 meters off the off the beach,” McGann said. “Down 53 meters, there’s something called The Arch. And it’s a tunnel that goes through the bedrock. It’s about 30 meters long, and then it comes out at the open sea. So the challenge of diving The Arch is that you free dive down and across and then come out the other side. You either go back or you or you keep going.”

When Keenan and Zecchini dove to The Arch, several things went wrong, and Keenan died. McGann talked about the impact Keenan had on the free diving community in life and in death.

“Stephen saved so many people’s lives over the course of his career,” McGann said. “So a lot of people owe their life to Stephen. He was also a great friend to a lot of people. There’s a bond that happens when you do a dive and you’ve got somebody by your side who’s there to save your life... It’s a massive loss and a massive loss for Alessia. And it’s a massive weight for her to carry for the rest of her life.”

“The Deepest Breath” is now streaming on Netflix.

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview.

Watch "LA Times Today" at 7 and 10 p.m. Monday through Friday on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News app.