is a special type of scuba diving. After all, in order to be under water, a person only needs to hold his breath.
This one early form diving is still popular in both sport and commerce. And it is constantly evolving.
The record for holding one's breath has already reached 12 minutes, and the record for diving in depth has long exceeded 100 meters. There are probably no limits to human capabilities.
Record depth of diving without scuba gear
The first diving record without scuba gear was set by divers Enzo Mallorca and Jacques Mayol. They dived to a depth of 100 meters. But their result was not officially included in sports records.
But thanks to Luc Besson’s film “Abyss Blue,” their names will always be remembered (they became the prototypes of the main characters of the film).
In 2002, French freediver Loic Leferme set a truly amazing record. Without scuba gear, he dived to a depth of 162 meters. Before that, his record was 137 meters. In 2004, Loïc Leferme decided to set another record. He sank to a depth of 171 meters, but was unable to swim out.
World record dive
It is considered the most popular type of underwater diving without scuba gear. But there are many other disciplines in this area within the International Association for the Advancement of Apnea (AIDA).
For example, static and dynamic apnea, “constant weight in fins” and so on. And in every discipline the records are amazing.
In the category " free dive» A new world record was set in 2013 at the World Freediving Championships in Greece. The record holder among women was Russian Natalya Molchanova. She sank to a depth of 91 meters. Among men, the record was set in 2011 and has not been broken since then.
Then the record holder was William Trubridge from New Zealand. He sank to a depth of 121 meters.
became Natalya Molchanova. First, she set the record in 2009, and then in 2013 she broke it herself.
Diving to great depths is very dangerous. Therefore, one must prepare for such dives not just for months, but for years. Achieving the results described is possible only through constant training. Read about diving on our website and get results. If you want to set a world record in free diving, then start preparing now.
Scientists have long established that the human body can do without food from fifty to seventy days, and without water you can live up to ten days. But the most important thing for maintaining life is the need for breathing. Without oxygen, the body can only survive for a few minutes.
IN lately It has become a popular trend to set various records and achievements in many fields of activity. Testing the capabilities of the human body is no exception. Divers and athletes compete with each other, trying to break the world record for holding breath. Everyone understands that unprepared person unable to go long without air. Therefore, despite the breath-holding record that was set, the champion had to train for a very long time before this.
Body capabilities
At normal conditions a simple adult is able to hold his breath for forty to sixty seconds. It's no secret that this ability is individual, and through training you can achieve more effective and lasting results.
World achievement
The Guinness World Record for holding your breath is held by a German freediver named Tom Sytas. This man survived underwater without air for twenty-two minutes and twenty-two seconds.
The previous world record for holding one's breath was set by Ricardo Baja, who did not breathe for twenty minutes and twenty-one seconds. New champion Tom Sitas stopped eating five hours before the competition to slow down metabolic processes in the body, and immediately before the dive he breathed pure oxygen. It should also be taken into account that the world record for holding one’s breath helped him set a large lung capacity, which is twenty percent more than that of an ordinary person. 
Inexplicable, but true
Few people know that in 1991, a seventy-year-old Indian named Ravindra Mishra, in the presence of observers, specialists, and a group of scientists, was able to stay under water for six days. All this time, under the supervision of a special device, the man meditated. Dr. Raksh Kafadi carefully watched to ensure that the guru did not come to the surface to catch his breath or use other tricks to deceive the many observers. At the end of the allotted time, Mishra surfaced in sound spirit and mind. Researchers confirmed that the man spent one hundred forty-four hours, sixteen minutes and twenty-two seconds underwater. All this time he sat in the lotus position at a depth of nineteen meters. Experts believe that Mishra immersed his body in special condition meditation, when the vital activity of all organs was reduced to the maximum. Using this method, the man avoided the phenomenon of oxygen deficiency. Mishra himself stated that an ancient goddess allegedly helped him to sit under water for such a long time, in whose honor he set this record.
Phenomenal immersion
That same year, a resident of the Philippines named Jorge Paquino, a simple fisherman, stayed under water for one hour and five minutes. The depth of the dive was sixty meters. There were no special devices or scuba gear that would allow breathing underwater. This was witnessed by cameramen filming the dive. Physiologists are unable to explain the process that made an ordinary fisherman from the city of Ampari a famous person.
Dangers
Meanwhile, long-term breath holding and apnea training techniques are quite likely to cause detrimental consequences for the health of the body. Hyperventilation can directly contribute to loss of consciousness. And the method of buccal pumping, during which breathing involves air previously drawn into the mouth, can even lead to rupture of the lungs. In this regard, any freediver must follow safety precautions. All training should be carried out only in a group and under supervision, even if the depth of the dive seems shallow.
Magician and illusionist Harry Houdini became famous for his ability to hold his breath for three minutes. But today, experienced divers can hold their breath for ten, fifteen or even twenty minutes. How do divers do this, and how to train to hold their breath for a long time?
My best result In terms of holding your breath in a static position, it’s not impressive at all, I think it’s about 5.5 minutes. Mark Hely, surfer
It seems that such a result is simply unrealistic, and Heli is simply being modest. Some will say that holding your breath for such a period is simply impossible, but this is not true for people who practice “static apnea.”
This is a sport in which the diver holds his breath and “hangs” underwater without moving for as long as possible. So, for such divers, five and a half minutes is really a small achievement.
In 2001, famous freediver Martin Stepanek held his breath for eight minutes and six seconds. His record stood for three years, until June 2004, when freediver Tom Sietas raised the bar by 41 seconds from best time underwater 8:47.
This record has been broken eight times (five of them by Tom Sietas himself), but the most impressive time to date belongs to French freediver Stéphane Mifsud. In 2009, Mifsud spent 11 minutes and 35 seconds underwater.
What is static apnea
Static apnea is the only timed discipline in freediving, but it is the pure expression of the sport, its foundation. Holding your breath for a long time is important for all other freediving disciplines, both in the pool and in open water.
Freediver performing in the discipline “Dynamics with fins”, at a competition in London, 2009
Freedivers have different disciplines, such as "dynamics with fins" or without fins, where the diver has to swim as far underwater as possible, or "no limits" - the most difficult discipline, in which the diver dives with the help of a cart as deep as he can, and then with the help of the ball it floats back up.
But both disciplines are based on apnea - the ability to last as long as possible without air.
Changes in the body
The oxygen you inhale enters the bloodstream and is carried to different tissues of the body, where it is transformed into energy. At the end of this process, CO2 is formed, which goes back into the lungs and is expelled from the body through exhalation.
When you hold your breath, oxygen also turns into CO2, but there is nowhere for it to go. It circulates through your veins, acidifying your blood and signaling to your body that it's time to breathe. First it's burning lungs, and then - strong and painful spasms of the diaphragm.
Freedivers spend years of training to master breath-holding, and their physiology gradually changes in the process. Freedivers' blood oxidizes more slowly than blood ordinary people who inhale and exhale reflexively throughout their lives.
Sympathetic activation nervous system causes their peripheral blood vessels to constrict shortly after they stop breathing. Oxygen-rich blood is stored in the body and redirected from the extremities to the most important organs, mainly the heart and brain.
Some freedivers also practice meditation to calm their hearts. They slow down natural rhythms, and oxygen turns into carbon dioxide more slowly.
Meditation has a calming effect on the mind too, because the main difficulty in holding your breath lies in consciousness. You should know that your body can exist on the oxygen it already has and successfully ignore the body's need to breathe.
This requires years of training, but there are others that are more quick ways to hold your breath.
"Buccal pumping" and hyperventilation
There is a technique that divers call personal “gas storage” or “cheek pumping.”. It was invented a long time ago by diver fishermen. The method involves breathing as deeply as possible, using the muscles of the mouth and pharynx to increase air reserves.
The person completely fills the lungs with air, and then uses the muscles of the pharynx to block the access so that the air does not escape. After this, he draws air into his mouth, and when closing his mouth, he uses the muscles of his cheeks to push additional air into the lungs. By repeating this breathing 50 times, a diver can increase his lung capacity by three liters.
In 2003, a study was conducted to measure the lung capacity of divers, and the following results were obtained: “cheek pumping” increases lung capacity from 9.28 liters to 11.02.
Lung capacity can also vary from person to person. The approximate lung capacity of a woman is four liters, a man - six, but it can be more. For example, the famous freediver Herbert Nitsch had a lung capacity of 14 liters.
There is another way - hyperventilation of the lungs, which is often used by divers. This method allows you to rid the body of carbon dioxide and fill the body with oxygen. The most extreme version of this technique involves breathing only oxygen for 30 minutes before diving.
Air contains only 21% oxygen, so if you breathe atmospheric air before diving, there will be less oxygen in the body than if you inhale pure oxygen.
It was this technique that allowed magician David Blaine to break the world record for holding his breath in 2008, holding out without air for 17 minutes and 4 seconds. With her help, Stig Severinesen broke this record in 2012 with a time of 22 minutes.
Unlike “static apnea,” in which you are not allowed to breathe pure oxygen before diving, Guinness World Records is not as strict, which is why the 22-minute record is now considered a world first.
Dangers of Apnea
But all these techniques and training are dangerous in their own way. Holding your breath for a long time and depriving the body of oxygen can have a bad effect on your health, and hyperventilation can lead to loss of consciousness and other risks. As for the buccal pumping method, it can cause lung rupture.
And for this reason, freedivers do not train alone, only under supervision. Even when they are in shallow water, because it makes no difference what depth you are at if you are unconscious.
So, if you decide to practice holding your breath, it’s better not to do it alone, you never know what could happen.
A person can survive without water for about two months. There is a chance of dying from thirst within 10 days. But how long can you live without breathing? Alas, a few minutes at most. However, the world record for holding breath refutes this fact and definitely deserves your attention.
Static apnea: at the limit of possibilities
Holding your breath is scientifically called apnea, and its duration for a normal person is no more than 1 minute. However, practice, confirmed by numerous trainings, proves that the duration of apnea is individual for each person. In addition, it can be gradually increased, bringing it to amazing numbers.
Today there is an official discipline of freediving called "static apnea". It involves holding your breath for a while under water. Professional athletes and trained divers have incredible physiological limits for how long they can hold their breath. Record holders from France, Germany, the USA, Switzerland, Italy and many other countries confirm: breath-holding training can really work wonders!
Officially registered records
The first person to set a world record for holding breath underwater was Martin Stepanek. He dived in 2001, holding his breath for 8 minutes and 6 seconds. This record was soon broken by Frenchman Stephane Mifsud. With the help of hard training, he managed to achieve a result of 11 minutes. and 35 sec.
An even more impressive result belongs to the American Robert Foster. Moreover, he was by no means a professional diver, but a simple electrical engineer. Without oxygen underwater, Foster was able to survive for 13 minutes. and 42 sec.
Tricks or reality?
Arvydas Gaičiūnas did not dive either. But he was interested in all sorts of tricks and tricks. After careful preparation, the resident of Latvia finally decided and in 2007 set an impressive record - 16 minutes less than 2 seconds under water! Even experienced divers were impressed by this result. Despite the enormous stress that the body experiences without access to oxygen, Arvydas’ body coped with the test without consequences. Together with him, his sister also demonstrated a 13-minute breath hold.
David Blaine, an American showman, trained for many months in order to set a record of 17 minutes a year later, in 2008. and 4 sec. This achievement, like many of Blaine's other tricks, was repeatedly described in the press and documented.
20 minutes without oxygen: reality or fiction?
An even more impressive result was demonstrated by Italian Nicolo Putignano. He spent two years training, and then spent 19 minutes underwater without oxygen. and 2 sec. This record, although not immediately, still ended up in the Guinness Book of Records. But already in 2010, the Swiss Peter Kolat managed to beat him by a few seconds, recording a result of 19 minutes. and 21 sec.
Soon, an athlete from Brazil, Ricardo Bahie, surpassed this achievement, increasing the world record for holding breath to 22 minutes. and 21 sec. Thomas Sietas from Germany managed to beat him by just one second in 2012. This event created a real sensation in the athlete’s homeland. Crowds of journalists besieged him, asking how Thomas managed to achieve such results, how he eats and what programs he uses.
30-year-old Croatian Goran Kolak is famous for his success not only in freediving, but also in other sports disciplines. Years of hard training helped him become a multiple gold medalist, and soon set a new record - 22 and a half minutes without air underwater. By the way, the athlete does not stop there and is determined to beat his own result.
In 2016, a new record was set - Spaniard Alex Segura held his breath for as much as 24 minutes. and 3 sec. He is the current champion in static apnea.
Unique cases
There are also people who have demonstrated breath-holding times beyond the limits of common sense. These cases can only be called phenomenal, and they defy any reasonable explanation.
For example, the world record for holding breath on land was set in 1990 by our compatriot, 70-year-old V.M. Zabelin. He spent 22 minutes without oxygen, and a group of researchers observed this. The experiment was carried out in Leningrad, at the Research Institute of Physiology.
And the Indian ascetic Ravindra Mishra, at the same age, managed to stay under water for six days! In 1991, he plunged himself into a state of meditation, after which he sank to the bottom of the lake under the supervision of scientists and curious spectators. Six days later, the man calmly surfaced. As observers recorded, this did not cause any harm to the health or mental system of the yogi.
The benefits and harms of holding your breath
Freediving itself has many health benefits, just like scuba diving. The ability to hold your breath optimizes metabolism and doubles the innate supply of oxygen in the human body. Therefore, it is recommended for almost everyone to practice this exercise, especially people prone to nervous disorders and problems at work. gastrointestinal tract and respiratory organs.
But to whom holding your breath can cause harm are smokers and adherents of other bad habits. If you decide to set a world record for holding your breath - underwater or on land - you will have to completely reconsider your lifestyle and take care of your own health. Who else is not recommended to perform such experiments? Elderly people, pregnant women, patients who have recently undergone major operations, as well as people suffering from diseases of the cardiovascular system.
It is clear that you cannot simply set a world record for holding your breath, and this requires hard training. What advice do the athletes themselves give on this matter?
- The result will be better if before diving you breathe not ordinary air, but pure oxygen. Participants are officially allowed to do this for half an hour and before setting a record.
- Some athletes, such as Thomas Sietas, do not eat anything on the day of the dive and also slow down their own metabolism in a special way. Special techniques have been developed for this.
- Scuba diving is one thing, but static apnea is something else entirely. After all, if you are under water without moving, in a calm state, the body will need oxygen much less.
- Another important technique that every freediver knows is the ability to take small half-breaths. So, for example, if a diver completely closes his mouth and pinches his nose, as swimmers do, it would hardly be possible to set such impressive records.
Now you know that learning to hold your breath is possible, the main thing is desire and hard training. Who knows, maybe you will set the next world record for holding your breath.
Swiss Peter Kolat has been many years goes diving. Not long ago, his hobby allowed him to get into the Guinness Book of Records. Peter managed to stay underwater for 19 minutes and 21 seconds, after holding his breath. You heard right, the diver spent almost two dozen minutes underwater, simply drawing air into his lungs.
According to information from http://today.kz, a 38-year-old resident of the town of Rafz set his record during a competition dedicated to a thematic exhibition in St. Gallen. He had been training for a long time and was confident that he would be able to demonstrate his skills. That is why official representatives of the Guinness Book of Records were invited to the event. They confirmed that the Swiss did not really use any additional equipment, relying solely on the capabilities of his body.
It is worth noting that this record is not being rewritten for the first time. Until now, its owner was the Italian Nicola Putignano, who managed to stay under water for 19 minutes and 2 seconds. This is one of those cases where even a few seconds added to the previous achievement looks something impressive.
Peter Kolat's record demonstrates that a person is capable of unique achievements with proper development of skills. Special studies were even conducted, thanks to which it became obvious that the Swiss do not have any advantages in terms of body structure. In other words, he cannot boast significantly large size lungs or lack of oxygen requirement. But Peter trained a lot and was eventually able to achieve the desired result.
After the end of the event, Kolat noted that he was very proud of himself, because before he had never been able to hold his breath for so long. This success gave him hope that the achievement could be improved in the future. The diver dreams of breaking the threshold of two dozen minutes and promises to work hard on his skills in order to surprise representatives of the Guinness Book of Records more than once.
