Hanli Prinsloo

Hanli is an ocean conservationist, free diver, and founder of I AM WATER, a non-profit that connects people to the ocean through education and experience. Her work inspires ocean stewardship and environmental awareness, bridging the gap between humanity and the natural world
Hanli Prinsloo is a South African freediver, speaker, writer, and ocean conservationist born outside Pretoria. She discovered freediving while studying acting in Gothenburg, Sweden, and went on to break eleven South African freediving records — becoming the first South African to hold all six competitive freediving records simultaneously. A former World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2014), she co-founded the I Am Water Foundation in 2010, an ocean conservation trust using immersive human experiences to protect the world’s oceans and connect underserved youth to the sea. She is also co-founder of I Am Water Ocean Travel and the sustainable freediving brand AGULHAS.
A globally recognised keynote speaker, she has worked with author James Nestor and appeared on PBS. Her talks explore fear, freedom, ocean connection, resilience, and purposeful living — drawing on experiences swimming alongside tiger sharks, sperm whales, and manta rays.