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World record for holding breath please

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 90 days.
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tamilu

New Member
Mar 26, 2002
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Hello all who took the time to check into my question. I am a nursing student and am doing a report on how long one can hold ones breath without damage to the brain. I have come across conflicting reports of the actual time for the world record. One was 7 min 35 secs, the other is 8 min 6 secs. Would love to have help on this. Also am curious about the training for this, and how it is possible. Really amazes me!! Is WAY beyond my limited knowledge.
 
the world record is 8 min and 6 sec by Martin Stephanek. Many freedivers however have done better than that in training.

The common mistake everyone makes when looking at these breath hold times is that they believe the brain is without oxygen all the time. Well, the body and the lungs contains lots of stored oxygen, so the brain has plenty of oxygen. When the oxygen levels are getting to low in the body, the brain shuts down most of the systems to further save oxygen. This is called blackout, and the freediver is helpless on his own. This is where it gets dangerous. If he doesnt get out of the water with his head, he may drown.

But until the blackout, the brain has got plenty of oxygen..

The training is all about relaxing and controlling your mind.. the diving reflex also helps a lot.
 
i´ve recently read about a guy e.frechette who, after excessive hyperventilation and o2 breathing, held his breath 20 minutes 5 seconds.
but then again who breathes pure oxygen anyway.
still quite impressive, dont you think?

roland:)
 
If you're referring to Giancarlo Bellingrath's 12:47 (or previous record Gianluca Genoni 12:34), that was done on pure o2, so it's kind of pointless (and has since been beaten by for example Bill Strömberg, 13:05).

If this was done without pure o2, then I'd be really interested in details (and propably not alone).

12 minutes without pure o2 sounds like something within the realm of possibility. All it would take is a genetical crossing of Tom Sietas and Hubert Maier I imagine (yeah yeah, don't even go there...I'm not suggesting they actually try it. And if they did, then I would NOT be interested in details ;). But it would be an absolute sensation in the freediving world and I remain sceptical.
 
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All it would take is a genetical crossing of Tom Sietas and Hubert Maier I imagine (yeah yeah, don't even go there...I'm not suggesting they actually try it. And if they did, then I would NOT be interested in details ;). But it would be an absolute sensation in the freediving world and I remain sceptical.

*hehehehe* rofl
 
If you go to
http://www.apneamania.com/code/worldrec_main.asp?typeID=spr&specID=amap
You can see all the wacky records.
Tom Seitas holds the recognized record at 8'58" and 9'25" in competition
There is a guy, Robert Foster from USA, 590315 in San Rafael, California
Who stayed under 10 ft of water in a swimming pool. He hyperventilated with oxygen for 30 min before his descent and took his last breath at the bottom.
Stuff like that is not recognized as official.
When attempting records an AIDA official must be in the diver's presence for the 60 minutes before the attempt to insure there is no pure O2 or anything else done to enhance the dive.
 
Hi,
perhaps an interesting read for those who do not know the topic already: [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?t=54355"]BS or not??[/ame] .
Veronika
 
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