How Croatian freediver held breath for 29 minutes
The world record for longest underwater breath-hold using oxygen is often viewed as much as a conjuring trick as an athletic feat – and at one time the title was indeed held by US magician David Blaine. But now a remarkable new mark has been set by a Croatian already recognised for his more conventional competitive freediving achievements.
Vitomir Maričić has set a new Guinness World Record (GWR) of 29min 3sec for “the longest breath held voluntarily under water using oxygen” – surpassing the previous record by more than four minutes.
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His near-half-hour feat took place on 14 June in a 3m-deep pool at the Bristol Hotel in Opatija, Croatia in front of five official judges and some 100 spectators.
Freediver Vitomir Maričić
Maričić prepared by pre-breathing pure oxygen for an unspecified length of time before his immersion, in line with GWR guidelines. In past attempts, up to 30 minutes has been allowed for this preparatory phase. He then lay on his back at the bottom of the pool, hands behind his head.
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“After the 20-minute mark, everything became easier, at least mentally,” he said after surfacing, but explained that the experience had “got worse and worse physically, especially for my diaphragm, because of the contractions. But mentally I knew I wasn’t going to give up.” He credited his achievement to the support of his team, family and friends.
Record history
The record had previously been held by fellow-Croatian Budimir Šobat who, in 2021 at the age of 56, held his breath for 24min, 37sec, breaking the existing record by 34sec.
Back in 2008, magician and endurance artist David Blaine had set the GWR record at 17min 4sec during a live broadcast on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
For comparison, the official AIDA world record for static apnea (underwater breath-hold on air) is 11min 35sec, set by Frenchman Stéphane Mifsud in 2013. The GWR static apnea record, which has its own verification protocols, was set by Serbian Branko Petrović at 11min 54sec the following year.
Maričić’s AIDA static apnea best is 10min 8sec. He also set the Guinness World Record for longest underwater walk on one breath at 107m in 2021.
Oxygen pre-breathing is understood to be a technique used by actors on some underwater film-shoots to allow them to stay immersed for longer. Denitrogenation, the process of replacing the nitrogen in the lungs with oxygen, can increase the amount of usable oxygen from some 450ml to almost 3 litres.
Reducing carbon dioxide build-up delays the urge to breathe and extends the “safe apnea time” before oxygen levels drop to dangerous levels.
Highly controlled diaphragmatic breathing is required in the breathe-up, and the body has to be deeply relaxed to keep the heart-rate low, requiring exceptional body awareness, breathing technique and mental control.
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