Quick Drop-In: Lena Kemna
Photo @Janna Nadjejda Guichet
Q: Describe yourself
A: Surfer, freediver, adventure enthusiast
Q: What are you excited about?
A: I come from surfing and always loved bigger waves, but this summer I got serious about freediving and training to go deeper. I am excited for what the next months and years will bring.
Photo @Macy Kerrigan
Photo @Murat Orkun
Q: What was the best advice ever given to you?
A: For freediving, that would be “Be protective of your diving”. Physically, of course, because it´s a dangerous sport. So I only rely on safety divers I trust 100%. If I have any doubt on that, I will often offer to do safety for them and don´t train for myself. But this advice is also a gut feeling. If something doesn´t feel right that day - a cave entrance sketchy, my diaphragm tense, my body telling me to rest or the atmosphere just being off - I honour that. Because when everything does feel right, it´s just magical.
And I think that advice may also hold up for surfing.
Q: How do you stay motivated during tough times, whether in your personal life, hobbies, or career?
A: I could say that I have many different things, so if the going gets tough in one part, I always have other things to balance it out with. For example, I got a bit tired of much of what surf culture grew to be, and then I found freediving.
But if I am really honest, the main thing is that I am disciplined, and I am consistent. If things get tough, I keep going. Not stupidly, not burning out, but I also don´t quit.
Photo @Sareena Guthrie
Q: What was the best investment you made?
A: Because this year has been a lot about taking my freediving to another level, I would say spending a few thousands on that - equipment, travel and training. Some of it could have been cheaper maybe, but for freediving I don´t compromise on safety at all.
Photo @Dawid Tranwan
Q: What has helped you hone your craft?
A: More than anything, it´s the absolute joy in what I am doing. Being out there in the ocean, whether that´s surfing or freediving.
But then I also got to learn from a few masters. In surfing, that is Tiago Oliveira, and in freediving, Jesper Stechmann and Dawid Tran Van.
Q: How did you break into your industry/sport?
A: Locally here in the surf, I just showed up all the time, early mornings, tricky, imperfect days. The more powerful days, the winter seasons. And I just kept surfing consistently over the years.
And then about being known, I started Instagram quite late but being German and surfing bigger waves is quite a rare thing, especially as a woman, so it all came naturally.
And ultimately, it was also possible through the brands who support me and who believed in me for surfing, and continued to believe in me freediving. Thank you G-SHOCK, ION and dryrobe.
Q: What can’t you live without?
Photo @Jesper Stechmann
A: Nature.
I could live without surfing, and without freediving. Maybe I could even live without the ocean, although it´s hard to imagine. But I could surely not live a life that´s not in nature.
Q: What is the best (most indispensable, longest lasting or current favorite) piece of gear you’ve ever owned?
A: My open-cell all-black 2mm freediving suit. It´s made of a different material than my wetsuits for surfing. The open-cell neoprene is shiny and sticky so it´s warmer, but very fragile. It´s my first suit of this type and it signifies the step I recently took from freediving for fun to doing it as a sport. Putting it on kind of feels like an armour, just silky.
Photo @Luigi Rapanelli
Follow Lena’s adventures:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lena.kemna/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lenakemna