Another German interview...
Krone
I hope not to offend real English-Deutsch speaker...
Nitsch, the extreme diver, fights back to life
The news went around the world: on June 6th 2012 the Vienna extreme athlete, Herbert Nitsch involved in a record attempt, which will accompany him throughout his entire life. The world's most successful freediver would descend with a single breath to 244 meters. The incredible happened. During the ascent misfortune took its course. In the intoxication of the deep, he lost consciousness and couldn't take the usual safety stop: nitrogen in the blood expanded. This resulted in symptoms such as after a stroke, that for the austrian athlete performed like in an accumulated form.
Nitsch was able to came to the appointment for this interview for Krone walking by his own and this, by a medical point of view, is to be considered already a miracle. Parts of his brain are affected since the accident! The forecasts of the doctors were more than bleak. Survive? Possible. An independent life? With many question marks. Full recovery? Almost impossible.
And yet, against this forecast, Herbert Nitsch walks long steps along the Danube, on the Vienna's Kaisermühlendamm. Although this he is not completly recovered - his right half of the body is still drawn from the multiple strokes. At first he shake your hand with strength but after several minutes you'll perceive that the speech center is concerned. The recovery will take years.
"The memories are vague"
"I'm fine," he said at the beginning, but immediately the second question arises: What is left of the dramatic moments in the deep? "The memories are vague. Reality mixes with the images from the camera and the numerous reconstructions." But the fact is: He was there exactly 249.5 meters below the surface of the Hellenic Mediterranean. "Of the ten depth gauges that he had all played but a few, the rest of them show consistently this same depth." Nitsch for this was the 33rd World record in the field of freediving - even though he was not officially recognized.
"Hindsight is always wiser"
Time Warp: Nearly nine months ago in the idyllic shores of Santorini (Greece), the former AUA pilot was pushed to the depth on a sled specially constructed for him. With just one breath down to the planned 244 meters (800 feet). The Krone was then on board and reported the dramatic moments of the bailout and the anxious hours in an Athens Military Hospital.
"Hindsight is always wiser. I never thought that the accident would have such an impact on my life." Was it too risky? The limit was exceeded? "I was just overwhelmed, I had ahead almost everything myself. The boat, the sled, burocracy discussion with authorities, all the planning, organizing the rescue chain in case anything would happen"
Commitment to environmental protection
Although due to poor weather conditions at the last moment even the location was moved for the dive - he allowed himself to be no longer deterred from his plan. "We were there, the media were there and I put all my money into the project."
Nitsch, days before now came back from a relaxing holiday in the South Seas. He swam with sharks. He will continue with Freediving: "The record attempt is only a tiny part of the sport." Soon also a film about the 43-year-old is broadcast and a book is planned. And he wants to return something to the item that has given him so much, the water, therefore Nitsch is committed to protect the oceans.
