ProfileCall of the ocean: Hong Kong freediver relishes testing human limits with one breath
‘It is a sport that requires both mental and physical strength: a well‑toned body with a tranquil mindset,’ Michael Sung says
The call of the ocean has always reached out to Hong Kong freediver Michael Sung Wai-yin, who is now one of the city’s best underwater divers, a sport he also views as a career.
Raised in Wan Chai, Sung discovered the ocean at a young age when his mother, Grace Kwok, would take him to Deep Water Bay as a 10-month-old where she would swim while he floated alongside her.
These early experiences, and playing water polo in high school, helped to spark his love of the aquatic realm.
But it wasn’t until he started travelling for five years after finishing his degree in translation in Australia that he really got into freediving. Working as a scuba instructor in the Similan Islands National Park in Thailand for 10 months on a boat, he then moved to another part of the country seven years ago.
“Once back on land I joined a coral propagation programme on Koh Tao, studied marine habits through Ocean Quest and learned to see the ocean as both teacher and companion,” said the Hong Kong-born freediver, who went to St Joseph’s Primary School and St Joseph’s College. “The programme inspired me to hold my breath and understand the sea more intimately.
“Freediving then arrived as a natural extension; it began as love of the ocean – the silence, the rhythm of breath, the connection with marine life. It’s not about conquering depth, but about listening – to breath, to silence and to the ocean itself.”