Seven months pregnant and apprehensive of the effect motherhood would have on her career as a professional freediver, Kimi Werner took a trip to the island of Jeju in South Korea to meet her heroes, the haenyeo–a group of freediving and fishing women whose culture dates back centuries, and who broke cultural norms by becoming the first group of working mothers in South Korea. In Kimi’s quest for understanding, she saw that these women of the sea, most of whom are well into their 70s, never let motherhood slow them down–that in the water they move and feel like young women. The same way that Kimi, while pregnant and wobbly on land, still navigates the sea with precision and grace.
Join Kimi on her journey in Lessons from Jeju, where she learns motherhood for a professional athlete isn’t a roadblock but instead a path forward. “The world doesn’t seem to embrace how badass motherhood is,” says Kimi.
