Five apnea divers venture into the absolute deepest part of the world’s oceans. They not only want to set a new record, but also want to make a strong statement. The background.
It is hard to believe that someone can hold their breath for seven minutes. Most people would have blacked out for half that time at the latest. But experienced breath-hold divers can do it even longer. Christian Redl knows all too well how best to deceive your own organism.
Nine world records
With just a few breaths, he set nine world records in alternative freediving disciplines in 2013 alone, three of which are still competitive. The apnea diver (48) from Lower Austria feels at home at Lake Neufeld in Burgenland. The water, which is up to 35 meters deep, is the practice area.
Mariana Trench as an adventure
On Friday, there is a sensational change in the summer bathing idyll. A world record attempt for deep diving is being made on Lake Neufeld. Redl and four other apnea stars are working together to conquer the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean with a depth of almost 11,000 meters – symbolically of course. Tomorrow, the quintet will go to a depth of 20 meters and 55 times per diver back up. Everyone hopes that the difficult calculation of five divers x 55 dives x 40 meters per trip will work out.
“If everything goes according to plan, we will get 11,000. That would mean we have conquered the Mariana Trench to its deepest point and reached the unreachable,” Redl notes. The rule is that only one free diver is allowed under water at a time. To complete all 275 dives correctly, the five athletes have five and a half hours: a difficult task.
Fight against increasing plastic waste
With the project “Trench”, the apnea quintet aims for an entry in the RID book (German Record Institute). At the same time, the freedivers want to draw attention to the fact that plastic waste is floating around even at the deepest point of our world’s oceans. “We will send out a strong signal”, Redl and his non-profit organization “7 Oceans” announce.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
