The Observer.

All right, well have a lovely evening and thank you again for your time.

By now I've spoken to more than 50 free divers, from judges and medics to coaches and athletes.

When this began, I was calling people I know personally, and closing each conversation with the same question.

Who should I speak to next?

And as I followed up on those leads across every time zone on the map, one thing has become

clear. Everyone has a strong opinion on the subject of doping, and everyone has an opinion

on the scandal, on the Croatians. But much of what I'm hearing is still passed on rumour,

gossip, and to a certain degree it's a misinformation cascade. Until one afternoon, I'm sitting at

home wrapping up an interview, and a message appears on my phone from a source. Word has spread

that I'm investigating the scandal. I've received several unsolicited messages across email, Instagram and WhatsApp, I've probably

heard from a dozen people through the grapevine. Some have interesting new thoughts to add.

Others just want to vent. And that's indicative of a community at war with itself. So I'm assuming

this will be more of the same. But this particular message is different.

It's a forwarded voice note.

It's not really doping, but, and I'm not sure, I mean, it would take away the pain, but it could also take away your sharpness.

I've listened to enough of his interviews and YouTube videos to recognize instantly who's speaking.

It's Vitamir Marichich, and he's talking about benzos.

In a voice note, he's sent to a less experienced diver.

This feels like a breakthrough, an insight into how he speaks about this sort of thing in private.

The way it starts, it feels like it's going to unravel into something, a confession perhaps.

He talks about his experience of taking diazepam, a type of benzodiazepine, in a competition dive.

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