Posted on 04/03/2009 5:31:22 PM PDT by driftdiver
A British woman pushed the boundaries of human endurance to new levels yesterday as she dived 96 metres (314ft) below the surface of the Atlantic and back again on a single, very deep, breath.
Sara Campbell — “part woman, part fish” — broke the world record in the extreme sport of freediving, whose participants dice with death by submerging themselves to lung-crushing depths without breathing apparatus.
Holding her breath for three minutes 36 seconds, she went deeper than any female freediver has gone before without weights or equipment to hasten her descent, or an airbag to speed her back to the surface.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Later in the story they say "The world record for a person holding their breath under water while static is 10 minutes 12 seconds. "
Do you smell ‘fish’?
Not guilty.
I can’t tune a woman, but I can tuna fish.
Mehgan Heaney-Grier is even less guilty as free divers go.
yes she is..
I was told once that the deeper a person goes, the less buoyant your body is. Just wondering if anyone knows if this is true.
She is no Tanya Streeter,
I respect this woman’s accomplishments, but I’d be leery of promoting this “sport.” It’s pretty suicidal. If you are a competitive swimmer or a shot putter, you are easily rescued if you have an issue. In this activity, obviously, you’re a goner.
It just feels that way when you have tons of water above you
“I was told once that the deeper a person goes, the less buoyant your body is. Just wondering if anyone knows if this is true.”
It depends but for the most part no the buoyancy of your body doesn’t change. Liquid doesn’t compress and most of your body is water and other liquids.
Your lungs compress at this level.
What does change is the equipment you take with you. The little air bubbles in the wet suit compress and the air in the buoyancy vest does as well. When it compresses it provides less buoyancy.
Miscalculate at extreme depths and you can find it impossible to ascend.
I thought maybe the pressure compresses your body tissues thereby making you more dense...in other words, less buoyant.
Whats Obamas excuse he looks like he is wearing a wetsuit all the time
Its a very dangerous sport but it is a sport.
Aha. So this is only with scuba divers, not free divers...that the buoyancy thing becomes an issue?
Cuz he’s SLICK and SLIPPERY.
It compresses your lungs but not the rest of your body. And no you can’t feel it. Of course I haven’t been that deep, I stopped at just over 100 feet.
Going 300+ feet deep with or without air tanks is dicey and the margin for error is razor thin.
“Aha. So this is only with scuba divers, not free divers...that the buoyancy thing becomes an issue?”
Not really, your lungs are a major component of your buoyancy. At normal depths you can you your breathing to help manage your depth.
At 300 feet your lungs are providing much less buoyancy than at 15 feet. If she blacked out she would not float up. If she can’t kick she also won’t be able to ascend.
I think they exhale on the way to the surface. Something to do with the re expansion of the air in their lungs.
Sounds like it would cause some brain damage. Probably enough to make a person think it makes sense to continue doing this over and over again, for ever-longer periods and at ever-greater depths.
So a naked human body stops floating when below a certain depth, right? When diving, you will reach a depth where you will start to sink like a rock. Is that how it works?
“I think they exhale on the way to the surface. Something to do with the re expansion of the air in their lungs.”
Scuba divers exhale when ascending or their lungs will expand and cause severe injury/death. The air compresses at depth and will expand when the pressure decreases.
The air in free divers lungs is the same as the air at the surface. When it expands it will not exceed the volume of their lungs. The story indicates she forces it back into her system to keep oxygen in her brain.
“So a naked human body stops floating when below a certain depth, right? When diving, you will reach a depth where you will start to sink like a rock. Is that how it works?’
Depends on the persons body, but yeah pretty much. I think fat people tend to float better.
Yikes! I used to go to 20 meters which was work without wieght, enjoy some bottom time and then kick like hell back to the surface. The more I read about blackouts, the less I was tempted to push it. Getting cautious as in my middle age.
Good Lord. 314 feet...I’ve been to about 130 in full gear. This woman is nuts, but more power to her.
Did I skip the spell check?...
20 meters without air tanks, thats pretty good. Of course a lot of people black out doing that. Thats why I take my air with me. :)
I really need to get back in the water.
You=wise, me formerly=foolhardy.
I’ve always admired the folks down that far without bulky tanks.
Note what is critical here: low body fat..among other things.
Fit women are beautiful
Sad. Even buddy up it can still end ugly. Tanked and shallow is my motto now that I have kids. No need for a test beyond that.
“Tanked and shallow is my motto now that I have kids. No need for a test beyond that.’
Me too, besides thats where the pretty fishes and girls in bikinis are.
Look at the fins on that one!
Amen.
My husband and son freedive (spearfish), but only to depths of about 40 feet. They have a friend who dives with them, and he's a serious freediver, 120 foot depths and he holds his breath for 4 plus minutes. But he's very aware of shallow water blackout and has taken classes (under controlled conditions) where they have you hold your breath underwater till you pass out, so you can know how it feels when it's about to happen.
Wasn’t there a woman who died doing this a few months ago?
Probably, people die from this fairly regularly.
Wow, that is impressive. It’s amazing that they don’t take a small emergency tank of O2. I can’t sit here in my house and hold my breath that long.
“It’s amazing that they don’t take a small emergency tank of O2. “
I think they have safety divers but still drown. They have small tanks but they wouldn’t provide much air at 300 feet. Maybe one breath.
There have been a number of extreme free divers who have died doing this. One of the more famous was a French free diver by the name of Loic Leferme. At one time he held the world record at over 560 feet. IIRC, the world record is now over 600 feet with an ascent bag. In a pure freedive, I believe it’s in the vicinity of 400 feet. The physiological changes that the body undergoes at that depth are, to say the least, amazing...think pulse of 15-20 bpm, for starters, along with vascoconstriction pulling blood away from the arms, legs, and brain.
I read that one of the training techniques they do on land is to breathe in, then hold for a minute, and then start walking until they have to breathe again. Some divers can walk nearly 1/4 of a mile before having to take another breath.
“Depends on the persons body, but yeah pretty much. I think fat people tend to float better.”
We are also prone to being hit with harpoons and tagged by overzealous liberal oceanographeres.
Can you document this, please?
Not calling BS, just surprised. What is the pressure differential over 1 atmosphere at a mere 1 meter's depth?
Cheers!
Me too, besides thats where the pretty fishes and girls in bikinis are.
If you want tanked, shallow, and in bikinis, you don't even have to go in the water. Just go to the bars on the beach :-P
Cheers!
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