From chronic illness to 45m deep: Jaguar Jonze’s extraordinary dive into Team Australia

After a devastating diagnosis, this Aussie musician has found new purpose.

Taiwanese-Australian singer songwriter Jaguar Jonze. Picture: Richard Dobson

Just 18 months ago, Brisbane musician Jaguar Jonze was struggling to walk amid a devastating battle with Functional Neurological Disorder but now she is preparing to represent Australia in an open water sport.

The ARIA Award-winner, whose real name is Deena Lynch, has been selected to represent Australia at the 35th AIDA Freediving World Championships in Cyprus in September.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, the 33-year-old said she had lost function of her arms and legs after being diagnosed with FND and systemic lupus in early 2024.

“I fell into seizures and chronic pain, chronic fatigue, fevers,” Lynch said.

The diagnosis came after a terrifying moment two weeks before the launch of her Victim Impact Statement EP, when Lynch nearly drowned while swimming in a pool.

“My mind was all there … I was conscious and I was like, ‘Move your arm, move your legs … what are you doing?’ You’re not even tired, why are you not responding?” she said.

Jaguar Jonze free diving.

But she said the water that once nearly claimed her life soon became her sanctuary.

During her rehabilitation, Lynch’s neurophysiotherapist suggested water-based therapy to ease her chronic pain and retrain her nervous system.

She said she found relief and rediscovered hope in the gentle weightlessness of the ocean.

“In the water the chronic pain felt so much lighter,” she said.

“I lost so much of my identity and my independence, and being in the water, being able to move and feel my body again and do things for myself gave me hope in a very hopeless time.”

Her new-found passion took shape after a stranger mistook her snorkelling for freediving, prompting Lynch to explore the sport.

“I remember someone … asking, like, ‘Oh, are you a freediver?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I feel free’ — like, strange question. And they’re like, ‘No, strange answer,’” she said.

Jaguar Jonze has found a new lease on life.

“Then they explained what freediving was. I had never heard of it ever until last year.”

She said the sport involves diving without oxygen tanks, powered only by breath control and mental resilience.

“It’s not about amping yourself up and fuelling on adrenaline and being aggressive … it’s power in a very different way,” she said. “It’s mental resilience in a different way … and all of that tied so well to all of the messaging that the neurophysio was trying to teach me.”

Lynch is now training as an elite athlete in Bali ahead of a warm-up competition in Manado, Indonesia.

With a breath hold of four minutes and 28 seconds, she regularly dives to depths of 45 metres using fins and arm-pulls.

“I have to kind of learn the like protocols around it,” she said. “I’m really throwing myself in the — I don’t want to say it — but deep end here.”

But to reach the world stage in Cyprus, Lynch faces one final hurdle: funding.

With no official financial backing, she’s turned to her community for support, launching a GoFundMe to raise $29,589 to cover the costs of travel, specialist gear, training, and medical expenses. More than $10,000 has already been raised since July 1.

“I’ve only asked for necessities,” she said.

Brisbane pop singer-songwriter Jaguar Jonze. Picture: She Is Aphrodite

“It is really difficult for me to ask for help … but I think it was something I had to learn when I fell sick last year. I hate asking for help, and I hate having people do things for me.”

Yet the outpouring of support has deeply touched her.

“It already was a vulnerable decision for me … I think the beauty of this journey is we get to do it together … It’s really heartwarming that like people don’t just believe in me as an artist, but as a person.”

Lynch’s passion for music remains undiminished, with her long-awaited second album now being finalised between rigorous training sessions.

“I’m nearly finished with my second album. I’m currently mixing the tracks and working on the art side of things. That’s the beauty of freediving — I’ve been able to fall in love with music again and come back to it on my own terms,” she said.

“We’re trying to see if I can film a music video in the one week rest period I have with freediving as well, and I’m hoping to release my first single off the second album this year.”

Despite still facing daily health challenges, Lynch has continued to perform live, albeit in new ways.

Brisbane musician Deena Lynch, known as Jaguar Jonze. Picture: Supplied

“Some of the shows I did last year I had the microphone in my teeth when my arms left me, and I crawled on the floor when my legs gave way, and I brought out my walking stick, and just performed with the walking stick, and used that as part of prop,” she said.

“People who stood in the crowd with their conditions, doing the same thing I was doing on stage … it just broke me in a great way, emotionally, realising that my battles are not my own, it’s shared by so many strong warriors out there.”

Lynch said illness had reshaped her in ways she never expected.

“Sometimes, when your entire forest burns down, it’s also an opportunity to build a more sustainable forest,” she said.

Jaguar Jonze isn’t letting anything get in her way. Picture: Richard Dobson

Ultimately, she admitted that she isn’t entering the championships with the goal to chase records, she’s doing it to challenge herself.

“I want to be in a rocking chair when I’m 70 and be able to say, like, ‘Yeah, I was a national athlete for Australia … I don’t know how that happened … but I did it,’” she said.

“I’m going in it to have a win for me and for people who also battle invisible disabilities and chronic pain … it’s not over until you say it’s over, really.”

Success, Lynch added, has taken on new meaning for her.

“Success to me is figuring out the sustainability between living life, living healthily, living passionately and living safely and securely,” she said.

Originally published as From chronic illness to 45m deep: Jaguar Jonze’s extraordinary dive into Team Australia