What happened to Alessia Zecchini and where is she now?

The Italian diver, who is one of the best in her field, suffered a horrifying tragedy during one of her excursions, which changed her life forever.

"I read about Alessia in The Irish Times, and the first thing that really came across to me was the images of the freedivers holding their breath underwater," director Laura McGann told A Frame.

"They were behaving more like seals and dolphins than people. I thought, 'I've never seen this before. I don't know if anybody else has either, and I certainly think it could be amazing to see on the big screen.'"

In an interview with The Moveable Fest, McGann said that as well as being "struck visually" by the images of the free-divers, she was also "interested in getting to know more about" Alessia and the other subject of the documentary, Stephen Keenan.

"When I met with Peter, Stephen's dad, he gave me these 13 hours of interviews with Stephen, and I always use the example of Princess Bride, where the granddad is telling the grandson the story of this great adventure... [Those recordings] were like that.

"I was like a kid listening to someone exploring the world and what they saw with their own eyes. [Stephen] was an incredible storyteller and I was just immediately hooked."

Read on for everything you need to know about Zecchini, Keenan and The Deepest Breath.

Who is The Deepest Breath diver Alessia Zecchini?

Alessia Zecchini is an Italian free-diver who has set many world records in the sport.

Inspired by Natalia Molchanova, a legendary Russian champion free-diver, Zecchini’s passion and talent for the sport began at a young age, but she was barred from competing until she reached 18.

By her early 20s, Zecchini was a formidable international contender.

What happened to Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan?

Stephen Keenan was Zecchini's safety driver. He tragically passed away in July 2017 at the age of 39 whilst overseeing a dive by Zecchini into The Blue Hole of Egypt - one of the most risky dive sites in the world.

Despite meticulously planning the descent, which included a swim through an underwater tunnel without a guiding rope, Zecchini and Keenan's timings didn't quite go to plan.

Keenan was supposed to meet her at the other end of the tunnel but, when Zecchini made it through, she was unable to locate the rope that would guide her to the surface and ended up swimming in the wrong direction.

Keenan reached her around the 50m depth and helped guide her to the surface, but he is thought to have blacked out at some point and ultimately died saving Zecchini.

At the very end of the Netflix documentary, Zecchini reflects on the dive that led to Keenan’s death, saying: "Maybe I could have done more. If I'd been more conscious, I don't know."

She continues: "The worst thing is we couldn't do anything, we couldn't save him. He rescued me, but I couldn't rescue him."

In Zecchini’s most recent Instagram post, which was posted ahead of the documentary's release on 18th July, she wrote: “The only reason I agreed to be a part of [the documentary] is to let the world know what a wonderful and special person [Keenan] was, so that even those who don’t know what free-diving is can appreciate his immense humanity.”

Where is Zecchini now?

Zecchini, now 31, continues to work as a professional free-diver.

According to her official website, she is the holder of 35 world records and has been awarded 17 world gold medals.

She has achieved a descent of -177m at Vertical Blue with a Monofin.

The Deepest Breath is available to watch on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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