Podcast "The Boss – Power is Female": Germany's deepest diver: "The emotions I have on the surface become stronger in the depths"

For freediver Jennifer Wendland, the moment when her lungs contract as small as a tennis ball due to the pressure is the best moment of her dive. Because then the free fall into the depths begins.

“I’m alone down there for myself. There’s no one else there. I’m completely free to think about my own thoughts – and that’s a wonderful feeling,” says the freediver in the current episode “Die Boss”. Jennifer Wendland switched from underwater rugby to freediving when she realized she could hold her breath for a very long time. The diver can manage up to seven minutes at rest. It’s “boring” to just stay in the pool.

Since 2017, Jennifer Wendland has broken all kinds of records. In 2021, she set the world record for deep diving with two fins at a depth of 93 meters. Her deepest official dive is 117 meters, and her unrated dive is 120 meters.

“That might sound crazy, but I’m really convinced that if the dive is well planned, it’s much safer than my bike ride to work,” she says in an interview with host Simone Menne. Anyone who freedives is above all competing against themselves and their fears. And when you understand something, you no longer have to be afraid of it, says the diver.

In the podcast, Jennifer Wendland explains how to learn to control your fears and why the mental training she uses to prepare for competitions can also be applied to everyday work. She talks about the destruction of the world’s oceans and honestly says what she thinks of popular apnea films from recent years. They rarely show how a freedive should actually go: “The dive in which the title is at stake has to be the most relaxed moment of my life.”

“The Boss” host Simone Menne and stern editor Laura Csapó alternately write to you on the topic of female leadership. Analysis, tips and tricks. 14 days, always between podcast episodes. Subscribe to the newsletter here.

At “The Boss – Power is Female” top women talk among themselves: host and multi-supervisory board member Simone Menne (including BMW, Deutsche Post DHL, Henkel) meets female bosses from all areas of society to talk to them about their lives and careers. “Die Boss” appears every fortnight on Wednesdays on stern.de and the stern’s YouTube channel as well as on RTL and all common podcast platforms.

Editor’s note: Stern belongs to RTL Deutschland.