Mehgan Heaney-Grier  – Record Freediver, Actress, Conservationist

In this League of Extraordinary Divers episode I chat with Mehgan Heaney-Grier. Growing up in the Florida Keys, Mehgan was constantly in and around the ocean.  She soon realized that her freediving abilities were off the charts.  At the age of 19 Mehgan set the first US women’s national freediving record to 155 feet.  One year later, she broke that record by going to 165 feet.  Her freediving records began a movement in the long-standing male-dominated sport, opening it up to females and young people.  Her underwater talents led her to Hollywood films where she became a stunt woman for Pirates of the Caribbean, Into the Blue, and Baywatch.

In 2015 Mehgan was hired onto an elite team of explorers for the Discovery Channel series, Treasure Quest, working as Divemaster and Anthropologist in search of lost Incan gold in the waters of South America.  Through mentoring and her work with a variety of nonprofit organizations, Mehgan is dedicated to doing what she can to be “part of the solution” when it comes to raising awareness about issues important to her, like the critical health and future of the world’s oceans.

Mehgan was an original inductee into the Women Divers Hall of Fame.

An interesting note about this episode.  It was recorded on the 20^th anniversary of Mehgan’s record attempt.  In fact I was her deep judge and here we are 20 years later to the day talking about not only that dive, but all the amazing things she has done since that day.

Items in this Podcast

• Growing up in the Florida Keys
• Freediving with Manny Puig
• Freediving record dives to 155′ and 165′
• Old home-grown freediving training
• Rise in popularity of freediving
• Freediving with Anderson Cooper
• Her appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman
• Launch of US Freediving Team
• Underwater modeling for Turkish pantyhose commercial
• Underwater stunt woman for Pirates of the Caribbean
• Her role on Discovery Channel’s Treasure Quest
• Passion for marine conservation

Resources

 

• Hurricane Irma Relief
• Florida Keys Tourism
• The Big Blue
• Ocean First Institute
• Water Women Inc
• Mehgan’s Website
• Mehgan’s Facebook Page
• Mehgan’s YouTube Channel

Sponsor

Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Fleet

Thanks for Listening!

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