News

Record-holding freediver William Winram has been announced as Deepblu’s new brand ambassador at this year’s DEMA Show. The partnership with the noted ocean conservationist indicates Deepblu’s interest in using its new social networking platform, Deepblu 2.0, to mobilize the diving and underwater photography community to effect positive change.

Explaining his motivation for the collaboration, Winram says, “No matter where we are around the globe, we can share our dives, images and stories with each other and share our love for the underwater world. I am excited to be partnering with Deepblu and look forward to working together to help inspire people to protect and preserve our oceans.”

Read more about the partnership in the press release below.
 

PRESS RELEASE

Deepblu Announces William Winram as Brand Ambassador
Legendary Freediver and Conservationist to Represent Diving Tech Company

Deepblu, the first company to build a dive computer featuring social integration, announced its cooperation with William Winram, world record-holding freediver, conservationist and founder of The Watermen Project. Winram has joined the Deepblu team as Brand Ambassador. The announcement was made at the 2016 DEMA Show, the diving industry’s largest annual trade fair in Las Vegas.

“Deepblu admires William’s lifelong devotion to diving and ocean conservation, as well as his unrivaled contributions to shark preservation,” says Deepblu co-founder and CEO James Tsuei, “I’m pleased to announce this partnership and furthermore to support William’s initiatives with the power of the Deepblu platform.”
 

Born in the Canadian Pacific Northwest, the origin of Winram’s lifelong relationship with the ocean can be traced back to his childhood experiences freediving with his father. In the ensuing years as a diver, competitive swimmer, and big wave surfer, Winram had many opportunities to swim with dolphins, whales, and sharks; impactful moments which later came to form the bedrock inspiration for his conservation initiatives. 

Winram discovered competitive freediving as a sport in 2005 and quickly rose through the ranks, winning several medals at the World Championships and setting countless records in nearly all disciplines. A natural born ocean explorer, in 2007 he became the first man to swim the Arch of Dahab’s blue hole, without fins, on one breath of air.

While Winram’s ocean conservation roots were instilled in him by his father—a scuba instructor and search and rescue diver—it was in 2012 upon the founding of the non-profit organization (NPO) The Watermen Project that his most enduring legacy began to take shape. The Watermen Project was created to assist those passionate about the ocean to inspire respect, preserve, conserve and demonstrate a love for all things in the ocean.

It is Winram’s commitment to ocean conservation along with his compelling storytelling skills that saw the world record-breaking freediver named Ocean Ambassador for the Global Marine and Polar Programme of the IUCN.

“In my opinion, connecting people to the sea is one of the fundamentals in ocean conservation,” says Winram. “Deepblu is a unique social media platform for all ocean explorers, scuba- and freedivers alike. No matter where we are around the globe, we can share our dives, images and stories with each other and share our love for the underwater world. I am excited to be partnering with Deepblu and look forward to working together to help inspire people to protect and preserve our oceans.”

Deepblu aims to connect divers, and the company believes that Winram’s life work will help inspire them to induce positive, meaningful change. As Tsuei explains, “This is only the beginning, and speaking on behalf of all of us at Deepblu, we’re excited for what’s in store.”

About The Watermen Project

The Watermen Project is a non-profit organization whose primary focus is, but not limited to, shark conservation. In general, The Watermen Project supports all activity aimed at marine conservation. It contributes actively to scientific and empirical research which aims to study the marine environment for the purpose of protecting and conserving it, in order to preserve and improve its biodiversity. More specifically, all activity aiming at protecting all species of large marine animals, such as whales, sharks, etc.