272 ft. on a breath without fins
 

http://www.shark-freediving.com/blog...n/Martin83.jpg
From: http://www.shark-freediving.com/


On August 8, 2007 Martin Stepanek performed a remarkable breath-hold dive to 83 m or about 272 ft.. It was constant ballast meaning he completed the dive with the same weight he descended with. To add to the difficulty no fins were used. The dive took 3 minutes and 28 seconds. It took place in the Blue Hole just to the north of Dahab City in Egypt. The dive was a World Record and upheld through reviews until mysteriously several weeks later, it was not.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album322/Blue_Hole_Dahab.jpg
The location south of the Med, along eastern Egypt above the Red Sea.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album322/..._Hole_2005.jpg
The Blue Hole
From: http://en.wikipedia.org



A video clip of the 83 m free dive appears above.
From: http://www.divefit.com/martin_stepan...d=205&lang=ENG
An even better version of the clip can be found at the link above.
Martin has a school where he teaches a lot of the techniques that
he uses to perform such astounding dives. Applied to shallower
recreational diving the results can be impressive. Classes are held
in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and more exotic locations as well.
More at: http://www.divefit.com/


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album322/archmap.jpg
A plan view of the Blue Hole showing the location of the Arch or lateral cave extending into the sink from the ocean.
From: http://www.blueholeproject.com/ (lots of good information on this site)


A series of excellent still photographs of the event (with text in Cz) appears at: http://www.aida-czech.cz/index.php?i...icek_matin-112


A more leisurely view of the Blue Hole using rebreathers appears at the following link:
http://www.blueholeproject.com/video.html

Just came across a video that explains why the record attempt was shifted to the shelf of the Blue Hole from the open ocean. It includes some great training footage including Martin electing to stay at 90 m (296 ft.) for 30 seconds as a part of his modified regimen?! I think I stayed for maybe twice that long around that depth on SCUBA a gazillion years ago, narc'd out the wazoo and falling into O2 Toxicity. Amazing performance!