For nearly half-hour, Vitomir Maricic didn’t take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming ache to redefine what medical doctors thought was doable.
When he lastly surfaced, he had smashed the earlier Guinness World Document for the longest breath-hold underwater by almost 5 minutes.
However even with the assistance of pure oxygen earlier than the try, it had pushed him to the restrict.
“Every little thing was troublesome, simply overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, instructed AFP, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14, 2025.
“After I dive, I fully disconnect from every part, as if I’m not even there.
“This time, I struggled mentally and midway via I considered quitting.”
Earlier than the file dive, Maricic inhaled pure oxygen deeply for 10 minutes to organize his physique to go so lengthy with out recent air, saturating his blood with oxygen.
His physician watched on with trepidation and uncertainty as Maricic struggled in the direction of the file in a small pool inside a lodge in Croatia’s northern coastal city of Opatija.
“It’s one thing fully unknown to trendy drugs,” pulmonologist Igor Barkovic mentioned.
However Maricic’s file of 29 minutes and three seconds with out oxygen might open up new prospects, added the skilled in hyperbaric and maritime drugs.
“It opens up new views and maybe even prospects we might in the future apply to assist sufferers.”
– ‘Most restrict’ –
Regardless of his physique convulsing in a whole lot of contractions in the course of the nearly insufferable ache, Maricic mentioned he recovered with no long-term results.
Transient intestinal bleeding and an enormous headache quickly handed and he’s already eyeing up one other file.
Russia’s Alexey Molchanov holds the file for the deepest free dive with a variable weight, descending 156 metres (almost 512 toes) with the burden earlier than returning to the floor with out it.
Maricic is aiming to beat that inside two years, pushing to achieve 160 metres.
However even for the seasoned diving teacher, it is going to take distinctive health and preparation to resist the extraordinary stress of such a dive with out oxygen.
“Every time I believe that I’ve bought all of the solutions and pushed my physique to the utmost restrict, a brand new window of alternative opens and new questions rise,” he mentioned from a pool within the Croatian port metropolis of Rijeka.
Maricic heads the Croatian department of AIDA — one of many two worldwide our bodies that govern freediving.
Reflecting the game’s fierce rivalry, the opposite governing physique as soon as accused him of misconduct.
The Croatian, who has by no means failed a doping check, has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
– Within the zone –
Rising up on Croatia’s coast, Maricic grew to become passionate in regards to the sport early in his life, diving within the Adriatic Sea from as younger as three.
A devotee to high-performance sports activities, he started aggressive freediving simply 9 years in the past.
“The very act of going underwater triggers a collection of physiological processes that pull you straight right into a ‘zone’,” he mentioned.
“Even on the primary day of a newbie’s course, the thoughts has no selection however to slim its consideration to at least one factor — the place you’re and what are you doing.”
He has racked up quite a few prime worldwide rankings and nationwide information for his diving prowess.
However his time deep within the sea has additionally made him a witness to the “horrific” adjustments within the Adriatic of his childhood and a vocal advocate for ocean safety.
“If we don’t shield the residing organisms and if we don’t increase consciousness about that… we’re not taking a look at a brilliant future,” mentioned Maricic, who can be an envoy for marine conservation group Sea Shepherd.
“We’re not speaking about 50 years, 100 years. We’re speaking about adjustments that may occur within the subsequent 10 years.”
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