On one of the rare occasions of watching TV, I came
across a repeat of The Oprah Winfrey Show where Illusionist and Endurance Artist David Blaine
appeared live, announcing to try and set a new world-record in the longest
breath-holding category. The record before that – 16 minutes and 32 seconds set
by Peter Colat of Switzerland
on February 10, 2008. 

Before his attempt inside the
1,800-water-gallons-sphere, Blaine
spent 23 minutes inhaling pure oxygen, packing his lungs with extra oxygen just
before the breathing tubes were removed. After Blaine filled his lungs with pure oxygen, his
heart rate remained at 130 during the second minute of the breath-hold and then
stayed above 100 for much of the time. The higher the heart rate, the more
quickly oxygen is consumed, and the more painful the carbon dioxide buildup. Fortunately,
his CO2 tolerance training (repeated breath holds every morning) was just
enough to compensate. In the last minute, his heart rate became erratic and he
got concerned enough to start rising from the bottom of the water-filled sphere^,but he kept his head underwater more than a half minute
longer than the old record.

Ultimately, Blaine
held his breath for 17 minutes and 4.4 seconds to set the world record,
according to Guiness World Records, surpassing Colat‘s
previous mark of 16 minutes and 32 seconds, also marking David Blaine‘s first
Guinness record. Amazing, yet I reckon you gotta be totally insane to even think of
doing something like that. *laugh* David Blaine, you have my greatest respect.