Amazingly so Stephane Mifsud's 11:35 "regular air" WR apnea was set in 2009 and has stood since (at least as far as AIDA is concerned). There was a lot of speculation online back then as it is an extraordinary time and was quite high compared to the previous record. If I recall correctly the hold was performed at his home pool, and he has a lung capacity almost double the average adult male's.
This is a video of the end of Mifsud's 11:35 breath hold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHPGKb7ipgc . The protocol after the hold is that you have to take off your goggles/mask and noseclip, look at the judges and do a clear hand signal that you're ok. Your chin/face should not touch the water before you get a reply from the judges, in the form of a card. It's nothing short of amazing how clearly he follows protocol given that his brain has been oxygen deprived for more than 11 minutes.
The whole history of freediving is an excellent example. E.g Scientists were telling freedivers to not go under 100m, or their lungs would implode under the pressure.
They did it anyway and discovered that our body has a way to protect against this, called blood shift!
I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to scientists though ;)
Note this is oxygen assisted - the diver breathed pure oxygen and (from the article) can increase available oxygen from 450mL to 3L in doing so.
Still impressive nonetheless and I didn't know that this trick is sometimes used in Hollywood to extend underwater filming time. Avatar 2 comes to mind when I was impressed to find out Sigourney Weaver trained to hold her breath for 6 and half minutes in her 70s!
Coming back to the article, I'm disappointed that the details were sparse - how do they check whether the contestant is conscious? How does the contestant know what his limits are before passing out?
I briefly got into breath holding. It's impressive how long you can go with simple techniques; slow stretches with lungs full of air, packing, and iterating animal names.
But I started to question the brain damage and couldn't find good science to confirm it either way.
I'm surprised they don't make any mention of how dangerous this sport can be. Particularly if you are taking steps to avoid CO2 build-up, which is the thing that triggers the suffocation reflex.
Assuming I understand such a feat even with exposure to pure O2, how does he manage to avoid CO2 build-up? Or, how did he train to retain CO2?
Cells use up O2 and release CO2 into the blood to form carbonic acid (keeping it simple), so the blood pH levels drop, which the body does not care about at all. This is what induces the suffocation reflex.
I wish I had known this while trying to master breathing while swimming freestyle: it is not just their VO2 max, but also their ability to retain CO2. Both aspects need to be trained.
I'm curious about breath holding and freediving: When you're depriving your body of oxygen for such a long time, do you not risk cells dying, in particular in your brain?
Can you use the oxygen trick to practically extend snorkelling dives?
I used to do a little scuba, but overall didn't like the reliance on often poorly maintained kit. But I do love snorkelling - the lightness and simplicity of it.
Can I breathe pure oxygen for half an hour on the boat and be able to repeatedly snorkel longer?
At least two other Croats broke the same record in the last 11 years (Goran Čolak 23:01 in 2014 and Budimir Šobat 24:37 in 2021). There must be some genetic predisposition.
So, are "blood scrubbers" a thing? Something like dialysis that could let someone stay under water longer by removing CO2 (combined with novel ways of oxygenating the blood). Could future SCUBA just skip the lung gas exchange part entirely?
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[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 63.3 ms ] thread[1] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/bajau-sea...
The record for regular air is 11min 35sec.
Pretty impressive either way.
This is a video of the end of Mifsud's 11:35 breath hold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHPGKb7ipgc . The protocol after the hold is that you have to take off your goggles/mask and noseclip, look at the judges and do a clear hand signal that you're ok. Your chin/face should not touch the water before you get a reply from the judges, in the form of a card. It's nothing short of amazing how clearly he follows protocol given that his brain has been oxygen deprived for more than 11 minutes.
I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to scientists though ;)
Still impressive nonetheless and I didn't know that this trick is sometimes used in Hollywood to extend underwater filming time. Avatar 2 comes to mind when I was impressed to find out Sigourney Weaver trained to hold her breath for 6 and half minutes in her 70s!
Coming back to the article, I'm disappointed that the details were sparse - how do they check whether the contestant is conscious? How does the contestant know what his limits are before passing out?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250/
Adding extra red blood cells into our body?
Increasing the oxygen capacity of existing cells?
Is there anything we can eat/drink that would soak up excess carbon dioxide?
But I started to question the brain damage and couldn't find good science to confirm it either way.
Voluntarily is an important point here.
Assuming I understand such a feat even with exposure to pure O2, how does he manage to avoid CO2 build-up? Or, how did he train to retain CO2?
Cells use up O2 and release CO2 into the blood to form carbonic acid (keeping it simple), so the blood pH levels drop, which the body does not care about at all. This is what induces the suffocation reflex.
I wish I had known this while trying to master breathing while swimming freestyle: it is not just their VO2 max, but also their ability to retain CO2. Both aspects need to be trained.
If not, how do we know it's not happening?
I used to do a little scuba, but overall didn't like the reliance on often poorly maintained kit. But I do love snorkelling - the lightness and simplicity of it.
Can I breathe pure oxygen for half an hour on the boat and be able to repeatedly snorkel longer?