“He always wanted to hold his breath and dive,” said Ren Chapman, Mr. Mevoli’s training partner. “That was his life.”
William Trubridge, a world-record-holder and organizer of Vertical Blue, recalled a day when he and Mr. Mevoli were snorkeling in Honduras. Mr. Trubridge saw a turtle and began to take pictures. Mr. Mevoli took the camera away and told Mr. Trubridge to enjoy the moment, to swim with the turtle.
At the ceremony’s end, mourners swam together to the center of the blue hole and formed a circle over the shadowy depths below their feet. They took a collective breath and dived under the water.
NY Times