Herbert Nitsch (born 20 April 1970) is an Austrianfreediver who has held world records in all of the eight freediving disciplines recognised by AIDA International. He is the current freediving world record champion and "the deepest man on earth". This title was given to him when he set a world record in the "No Limit" discipline at the depth of 214 meters (702 feet). To date, he has achieved 33 official World Records across all freediving disciplines, and one world record in the traditional Greek discipline of Skandalopetra107m (351ft). He surpassed his own No Limit depth with a dive in June 2012 to 253.2 meters (831 feet), suffering injury in the process.
Nitsch holds the No-Limits record, the title of "Deepest man on Earth" in which the diver can make use of a weighted sled to descend as far as possible and uses an air-filled balloon or other buoyancy device to return to the surface. Nitsch set the world record[1] in Spetses, Greece in June 2007 when he descended to 214m (702ft), beating his own record of 183m (600ft) set the previous year. He also held the world record in the Constant Weight event, which is considered by many to be the classic free-diving discipline: the diver descends next to a line, not using the line and unaided by a sled, and must maintain a constant weight, meaning that no weight can be dropped for the return to the surface. Nitsch exceeded the then world record in 2006 when he dived to a depth of 110m (361ft), but failure to complete the strict surfacing protocols within the allotted time meant that the dive was disqualified. [citation needed] In Hurghada, Egypt, in December 2006 he did a Constant Weight World Record dive of 111m (364ft), adding 2m on top of Guillaume Néry's previous record.
Later in 2007, he also set the Constant weight (No Fins) record during The Triple Depth in Dahab, Egypt, and went on to push the Constant record to 112m (367ft) during the World Championships in Sharm. Herbert also won the AIDA Individual World Championships.
Of the other five AIDA recognised events, Nitsch has been the world record holder in four: Static Apnea, Dynamic Apnea, Free Immersion and Dynamic apnea without fins. He set a time of 9 mins 4 secs for the world Static Apnea record in December 2006 when he held his breath underwater in a swimming pool in Hurgada, a time that was beaten by 4 secs in 2007 by Tom Sietas of Germany. His record of 66m (217ft) for Constant Weight without fins, set in 2004, was beaten by 14m in 2005 by Czech free-diver, Martin Štěpánek, who was also the holder of the Free Immersion record of 106m (348ft); Nitsch recorded 100m (328ft) in September 2003, but his record was bettered by a dive of 101m by Carlos Coste of Venezuela in October the same year and then twice improved upon by Štěpánek. Nitsch's Dynamic Apnea record, 183m set in 2002, has been beaten by 40m by Tom Sietas and women's champion, Natalia Molchanova of Russia, has also swum further than 200m. Sietas also holds the Dynamic apnea without fins record at 183m, beating Nitsch's 2001 distance of 134m by almost 50m.
During the 2009 Vertical Blue competition at the Dean's Blue Hole in Bahamas in April, Nitsch set the Free Immersion world record at 109m (358ft). He also established two subsequent world record dives in Constant Weight at 114m (374ft), and 120m (394ft) on the last day of the competition, beating by 6m the previous record that he had set a few days earlier. He used his arms only in the last 40m (131ft) of this ascent, with a total dive time of 3:58.
Later that same year in December at the Dean's Blue Hole in Bahamas, Nitsch broke three world records: Variable Weight at 142m (466ft); Free Immersion at 112m (367ft); and Constant Weight at 123m (404ft).
During his last competition before retiring from competitive freediving in April 2010 at Vertical Blue, again at the Dean's Blue Hole in Bahamas, Nitsch set another three world records. He landed two subsequent ones in Free Immersion at 114m (374ft) and 120m (394ft), and a world record in Constant Weight at 124m (407ft).
Nitsch focused solely on the "No Limit" events after this, in which the record attempts fall outside of regulated competition.
In 2012, Nitsch returned to the "No Limit" category in the waters off Santorini, Greece, with a project labeled "Extreme 800", aiming for a depth of 244m (801ft).
Following extensive training using an innovative torpedo-type sled design of very high descend and ascend speed, on 6 June Nitsch managed to reach a depth of 253.2 meters (831ft), a Guinness World Record,[2] but ten minutes after the dive he began experiencing serious symptoms of decompression sickness. Nitsch temporarily fell asleep due to nitrogen narcosis during the last part of the ascent (as opposed to through oxygen starvation), and woke up prior to reaching the surface. Following a planned post-dive decompression, breathing medical oxygen at a shallow depth, he signaled to his support team that he felt much weaker than normal and his condition was assessed as critical enough to require an air transfer to a pre-alerted decompression chamber in Athens, where he received treatment. He incurred multiple brain strokes due to severe decompression sickness. He subsequently received extensive decompression treatment in Germany.
The initial prognosis was that he would need home care and be unable to walk without assistance. However, through extensive rehabilitation, he made a strong recovery. He still has balance and coordination problems on land, but does not experience them underwater. He continues to deep free-dive.
Nitsch remains to date the only person that achieved world records across all of AIDA's eight freediving disciplines, in addition to the one he had set in the Greek discipline of Skandalopetra.
2017: Herbert Nitsch, The Deepest Man On Earth, by UPROXX – Video on YouTube
2016: Supertalent Mensch: Körperbeherrscher, by Terra X – Video on YouTube
2013: Back from the Abyss / Züruck as der Tiefe, the multiple award-winning documentary by Red Bull Media House - Trailer Back from the Abyss: Video on Vimeo and Video on YouTube
2012: La Dernière Frontière, by Camera Lucida - Video on YouTube
2011: The man who can hold his breath for nine minutes – Inside the Human Body: First to Last, by BBC One- Video on YouTube
2009: Apnoetauchen: Neun Minuten ohne einen Atemzug, by Focus Online – Video on YouTube
2011: Extreme 800, by Breitling - Video on YouTube
Related Research Articles
Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Mandy-Rae Cruickshank is a world champion free-diver and record-holder from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Carlos Coste is a Venezuelan professional free diver. He started his training in apnea and free-diving in 1996 at University Underwater Activities Club at the Central University of Venezuela (CUV). In December 2002, he broke his first official world record in free immersion (FIM) at -93m. In September 2003, he became the first human to achieve a free immersion dive of more than 100 meters, certified by AIDA World Record and Guinness World Records. He was also the first freediver to pass 100 meters in constant weight, reaching a 102-meter immersion in Cyprus in 2004. In 2005, Coste won the AIDA World Championship in Nice, setting a new world record of -105m in Constant Weight and becoming The first AIDA Depth Individual World Champion. He broke the AIDA world record for variable weight free-diving, with a 140-meter immersion in the Red Sea, in Egypt, on May 9, 2006. This record was superseded on December 7, 2009 by Herbert Nitsch at Dean's Blue Hole, in the Bahamas. In 2010, he married his manager and long-time partner Gabriela Contreras.
Natalia Vadimovna Molchanova was a Russian champion free diver, multiple world record holder, and the former president of the Russian Free Dive Federation. She has been described as "possibly the world’s greatest freediver".
Umberto Pelizzari is an Italian freediver, widely considered among the best of all time. Of his era, he is the sole person to have established world records in all the then existing disciplines of freediving.
Francisco Rodriguez, better known as Francisco 'Pipin' Ferreras is a Cuban free-diver known for his achievements in deep free diving and his relationship with his wife, Audrey Mestre.
William Trubridge is a New Zealand world champion and world record holding freediver.
Constant weight without fins (CNF) is an AIDA International freediving discipline in which the freediver descends and ascends by swimming without the use of fins or without pulling on the rope or changing his ballast; only a single hold of the rope to stop the descent and to start the ascent is allowed. Constant weight without fins is the depth discipline of freediving that is most challenging, because of the physical effort needed to swim without assistance.
Dynamic apnea is a discipline of competitive freediving, also known as competitive apnea. Dynamic apnea covers two of the eight competitive freediving categories recognised by the AIDA International : dynamic with fins (DYN) and dynamic without fins (DNF). Both disciplines require breath held dives where the diver travels in a horizontal position under water under their own power without aid/physical contact of a static surface, with the exception of the pool wall when done indoors. The records can only be recognized in pools of 25m or greater.
Marcus Greatwood is a British freediving coach. He is most noted for his creation and development of "NT Style" Freediving, based on relaxation and breathing techniques.
Deborah Andollo Lopez, also known as Deborah Andollo, is a Cuban free-diving athlete who held several world records in different disciplines. In 1996, she set a free-diving record of about 357 feet. On the "AIDA website’s world record history in both constant weight and No-Limits. In 1996 she excelled in constant 61 metres (200 ft) and no-limits 110 metres (360 ft), and did 100 metres (330 ft) in variable weight in Italy.
Karoline Mariechen "Karol" Meyer is a Brazilian free-diver. She is a Guinness Book of World Records record holder for apnea free diving, with a dive of 121 m (328 ft) and another static record with O2 for 18 minutes and 32 seconds.
Alexey Molchanov is a Russian champion freediver, 31-time world champion, world record holder, and freediving promoter. He is also president of the "Freediving Federation" association, president of AIDA Russia, head of freediving school named in honor of Natalia Molchanova, and designer and engineer of the freediving equipment brand Molchanovs. Alexey is a son of Natalia Molchanova – multiple champion and world record holder in freediving.
No-limit apnea is an AIDA International freediving discipline of competitive freediving, also known as competitive apnea, in which the freediver descends and ascends with the method of his or her choice. Often, a heavy metal bar or "sled" grasped by the diver descends fixed to a line, reaching great depths. The most common ascension assistance is via inflatable lifting bags or vests with inflatable compartments, which surface rapidly. The dives may be performed head-first or feet-first.
Olivia K. (Liv) Philip is a record breaking freediver and AIDA International instructor who represents Great Britain. In January 2011 she was awarded AIDA's Absolute Freediver Award 2010 for the highest combined score in six freediving disciplines: static apnea, dynamic apnea with fins, dynamic apnea without fins, constant weight with fins, constant weight without fins, and free immersion. In March 2011 she broke the UK women's dynamic, no fins record at the Great Northern Dive Competition, with a 111m swim.
Goran Čolak is a Croatian free-diver.
Michal Rišian, is a Czech and Slovak freediving champion and is a former continental record holder for Europe in one of the freediving depth disciplines – Constant weight without fins. Risian is among the deepest diving humans in constant weight without fins ever, with the depth of 84 meters. He was also second in the Depth World Championship in Kalamata, Greece, 2011. So far (7.11.2011) he has 15 individual gold medals from the freediving national and international freediving competitions 1 continental and 3 national records.
Flavia Dias Eberhard, known as Flavia Eberhard, is a Brazilian free-diver, presenter of TV series "APNEIA", freediving instructor trainer, international fashion and underwater model, conservationist, and TV personality. She has nine freediving records including a South American Absolute Record on the discipline of free immersion. Eberhard also works with underwater videography and underwater photography with Sea Dragons audiovisual and has presented documentaries for the TV and film festivals.
Nataliia Zharkova is a 2017 freediving champion of Europe and Ukraine. Zharkova holds multiple records in the discipline of freediving. She was also a freediving runner-up champion of the world in 2013. She is the first Ukrainian and the second woman to ever dive below the arch of the Blue Hole vertical underwater cave in Dahab, Egypt, on a single breath.
Alessia Zecchini is an Italian freediver who set world and Italian records in freediving.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
