To clarify somewhat. Lets make no mistake, Merlin is a professional escapologist with many years training and experience in his vocation. A lot of his performances involve Houdini type escapes with shackles and locks etc. Being suspended upside down under a burning rope whilst freeing himself from a shackled straightjacket. Ocasionally he does performance type publicity stunts like being shackled to a bench for three days below highwater and therefore being submerged as the tide covers him, dressed like King Canute. You can hire him to do stilt walking and a whole host of arts that his profession provides. He even wanted to water ski the English Channel.......on an ironing board. Remember Extreme Ironing? They wouldnt let him.
He is a previous Guiness world record holder for underwater juggling. Semi finalist in Britains got Talent. So this is his job, not a hobby.
The current situation relates to the demands of the organisers in not making available to him, the agreed 6 foot deep platform and the request to him to perform at 20 feet.
A phone call to me to enquire of any additional risks this might entail and to talk over the pros and cons of whether to go ahead. The decision not to attempt the record unless the platform was at 6 feet.
I am not sure whether the attempt was made.
Is this a silly record? Be assured, this is a far cry from sitting in a bath of baked beans for a week. The mental demands of juggling and not being able to drift your mind. A 90 second effort may seem short but how long can you do a dynamaic apnea for, 90 seconds seems about right to me. 90 seconds of juggling steel balls consumes a lot of O2.
The thing is, it is cheating to be a depth breathing from a tank. This point was missed entirely by the organisers and me. Thanks Trux for that advise. Commencing breathing from a regulator (without practice) after doing a max effort seems a risking protocol (unrehearsed) goodness , its tricky enough to flick an ok sign sometimes for trained apneaists. Merlin can only be thought of as a relative newcomer as far as breathold is concerned at 5 minutes, and he understands the principles about the same as any average freediver. He is not simply a Joe Public fancying a stunt.
The whole point relates to the inherrant additional stresses that organisers and especially the TV, brings to any event when they ask you to do something just a little different from the norm and you have little time to consider. Merlin had 24 hours to consider and seek some feedback from the experts on this forum. Sensible guy.
The skydiving thought is very interesting. I bet there are some people that read this that are also serious skydivers and with a good static. Whats the world record height for an apnea skydive? Imagine jumping from 30,000, 40,000, 60,000 feet on apnea and having to freefall until you are low enough to take a breath. Tell you what, that would really test your ability to turn off the adrenalin during a breath hold.
I still fancy the idea of No Limits Dynamic (being towed by speedboat). Is it possible to get one mile, or two. Think about it. The faster you go, say 30 knots and you only have to hold on for two minutes. Think of the drag at that speed. So 10 knots then and a 6 minute hold? How far can a No Limits Dynamic get you.
These are not utterly pointless record attempts but catch the imagination of a professional entertainer, its his job. Cant wait to see the result.
