A New Zealand-born photographer based in Liverpool, Ant Clausen, 47, died while on holiday in New Zealand on January 21, leaving behind his wife, Natalia, and two daughters Scarlett and Liberty. Photo / Supplied
A New Zealand-born photographer based in Liverpool, Ant Clausen, 47, died while on holiday in New Zealand on January 21, leaving behind his wife, Natalia, and two daughters Scarlett and Liberty. Photo / Supplied
The risk seemed so trivial to Ant Clausen that he joked to his wife he may need someone to watch over him as he went down to the pool.
The day before, the 47-year-old had held his breath submerged in the fully fenced, locked pool at the Prestige on Pupukeapartment block in Takapuna for three minutes.
He was trying to break his personal record.
It was shortly before 10am on January 21 and the Clausen family were due to travel back to Liverpool the next day.
The New Zealand professional photographer had lived with his wife and two daughters in England for the past 13 years.
A month earlier, his last social media post of his work was a black and white aerial shot of his adopted home’s twin Catholic and Anglican Cathedrals set against the city’s industrial smoke with the River Mersey in the background.
“We’ve got two,” he posted, simply.
Since then, the Clausens had been holidaying at Ant’s parents’ apartment on Auckland’s North Shore. They had flown out of the UK on Christmas day.
The Prestige on Pupuke is a large elegant apartment complex with a cream facade that spans a wide section of Takapuna’s Anzac St, set behind neatly trimmed hedges and tree-filled gardens.
The pool is shielded from any roadside view by the two front-facing apartment blocks.
Natalia Clausen had obviously taken her husband’s joke for what it was, and went to have a shower around 9.45am on January 21.
Alone, Ant went down to the 10m-by-5m pool, which was 2m deep at its deepest point, to practise. It was open only to Prestige on Pupuke residents.
There is a technique experienced free divers use to hyperventilate prior to submerging which “blows off” excess carbon dioxide from the lungs.
The practice of freediving takes various forms, and is engaged in competitively. At a basic level, it is simply diving without the use of a breathing apparatus.
The Freediving New Zealand website describes the activity as an “exhilarating but potentially dangerous sport”.
“Pressures on the body in deep water freediving can reach more than 10 times that at the surface and competitive divers push their bodies to their limits and sometimes beyond. Because of this, safety is critical in both training and competition.”
The science behind the “blow off” technique is that carbon dioxide is a gas which drives a person’s respiration. By exhaling as much as possible before entering the water the desire to inhale while under the water is diminished.
Clausen was swimming in the pool at the Prestige on Pupuke. Photo / Google Maps
Such observations came from a pathologist in a coronial report into Ant Clausen’s death, released publicly today.
But on January 21, sometime around 10am, all the Clausen family saw - just 10 minutes after he had spoken to Natalia - was Ant motionless at the bottom of the pool.
Ant’s mother saw him and brought him to the poolside.
“Natalia tried to turn him over and commence CPR until the ambulance came,” the coroner’s report said.
But he was declared dead at the scene.
Almost six months since Clausen was found unconscious at the bottom of that pool, Coroner A J Mills’ report today judged the “evidence indicates” Clausen drowned from what is called a “shallow water blackout”.
A shallow water blackout is an underwater faint due to a lack of oxygen to the brain, and is most common among physically fit swimmers, spear fishermen and free divers.
“It is brought on by holding your breath for a long period of time. Shallow water blackout often occurs without any warning and, without an immediate rescue, the swimmer very quickly drowns,” Coroner Mills said.
“Unlike a ‘regular drowning’ where there can be six to eight minutes before brain damage and death, there is only about two and a half minutes before brain damage occurs, then death, as the brain has already been oxygen-deprived.
“Repetitive breath-holding, however, increases risk of shallow water drowning, as does hyperventilating prior to entering the water.”
Perhaps trying to provide context for the reasons behind Clausen’s breath-holding tests of endurance, Coroner Mills heard that: “Natalia stated that Anthony was always trying to better himself and to do better at everything in life.”
“Anthony was described as fit and healthy. He looked after his health, was on no prescription medication and had no known health conditions. Natalia stated Anthony was a confident, strong swimmer. He had been a scuba diving instructor when younger.”
Toxicology analysis of blood taken at autopsy did not detect any drugs or alcohol of concern in Clausen’s system.
However, the pathologist did note that Clausen had a mildly enlarged heart - the medical term for which is cardiomegaly. The most common cause for this is hypertension or high blood pressure, but the report found there was no evidence Clausen has been diagnosed as such.
“The pathologist stated that an enlarged heart may cause an abnormal heart rhythm disturbance which could lead to unconsciousness, and if the person was in a pool at the time they could potentially drown,” Coroner Mills said.
The pathologist also provided detail into the serious risks involved with the “blow off”, or hyperventilating, technique used by free divers.
“By reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the lungs the drive to breathe is diminished so even though oxygen levels are reducing, there is no impulse to take a breath. If the oxygen levels become too low, then the person will become unconscious and drown.”
In concluding his findings, Coroner Mills clarified that “I do not know if Anthony attempted to hyperventilate in the manner described”.
“However, while hyperventilating increases the risk of shallow water drowning, it can also occur without hyperventilating in advance and by simply holding your breath for too long under the water. I, therefore, accept that the evidence supports a finding that it is most likely that Anthony drowned as result of a shallow water blackout.”
Just over a month ago, the Clausen family officially launched the Ant Clausen Fire It Up Fund at a cafe in Liverpool.
In describing the fund on Clausen’s own Instagram page amid shots of his work, wife Natalia outlined that it will “provide grants to people under 25 with no formal training who are passionate about pursuing a career in photography or film but either don’t know where to start; how to do it alone; need the tools of the trade; the experience and contacts or all the above”.
“Ant felt passionately about helping young people at the start of their creative career and it seems only right that he should continue to help others chase their dreams.”
That initial description of the fund, ahead of its official launch, was made on what would have been Clausen’s 48th birthday, May 22.
Accompanying the details of the launch was also a brief insight into what had been lost - from Clausen’s wife and two daughters. It sits beside a photo of Clausen behind his camera pointed directly at the viewer.
“48 years young today yet 15 weeks and three days without your beautiful beating heart breathing endless energy, joy and love into our lives and countless more beyond,” the post said.
“Our shattered hearts remain in tiny pieces, impossible to repair because love and loss, in equal measure, will forever endure. It is incomprehensible that we can only move forward despite wanting nothing more than to go back. Missing you, loving you and thinking of you is our daily constant. Today is no different, but as the sun sets in your beloved NZ and dawn breaks here, we celebrate all that was, is and will continue to be the one and only you – talented, funny, brilliant and unique in every way. Happy birthday darl. Happy birthday Daddy.”
