What would qualify as a terrifying nightmare for most folks — being trapped and alone in the cold darkness, close to suffocation — is where Manoa teen Kyle Gion finds his zen.

The Punahou senior was selected as an alternate on the U.S. men’s freediving team that will compete this week in the world championships in Nice, France. At just 17, he is the national team’s youngest member ever.

"There’s something about being down there, under your own power, and you feel very vulnerable and kind of exposed. It’s kind of nice," Gion said.

He began scuba diving when he was just 12 and picked up spearfishing at age 14.

"I was spearfishing for about a year and wanted to progress in terms of depth; I was stuck at 40 feet," he said.

Legendary speargun maker Daryl Wong suggested Gion take freediving classes to increase his "breath hold," and that’s how he hooked up with former U.S. freediving champion and instructor Craig Gentry, who had just relocated to Hawaii.

"It was purely for spearfishing," Gion said. "By that time my goal was to do 100 feet. I thought, ‘Ho, man, that’s a big goal.’"

Gentry introduced the teen to the sport of competitive freediving, and Gion began entering contests. He also plays varsity water polo and paddles for Punahou and Outrigger Canoe Club, but finds a different kind of fulfillment in testing the limits of his physical and mental control under extreme conditions.

"You just have this feeling down at depth, of feeling very one with the ocean," he said. "There’s a singularity — you feel very connected and I don’t get that from other sports."

Gion’s best dive so far is 50 meters (164 feet), and his top "static" breath hold (timed breath holding in a pool), is 6 minutes, 9 seconds. (The men’s world record is an astounding 11 minutes, 35 seconds.)

In the "dynamic apnea" challenge, his best effort in swimming underwater in a pool for a distance is 125 meters. ("I’m relatively new to that," he said.)

Gion, who has a 3.9 grade-point average and plays piano and tenor saxophone, said he’s never blacked out while diving. And although his parents, David and Malai Gion, were initially skeptical and a little concerned about his new passion, they came around once they learned more about the sport.

"Anyone can do it with proper training and safety," he said.

In your dreams.

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See a video of freediver Kyle Gion