Nearly half an hour without breathing. That’s what Croatian freediver Vitomir Maricic accomplished on June 14. His time of 29 minutes and 3 seconds not only shattered the previous world record but also raised a deeper question: how far can the human body push against its most basic instinct—to breathe?
For comparison, the bottlenose dolphin, a marine mammal celebrated for its diving prowess, typically lasts just 8–10 minutes underwater. Maricic stretched that nearly threefold. Yet his feat wasn’t achieved on lung capacity alone. Before the attempt, he breathed pure oxygen for 10 minutes, saturating his body with far more O₂ than an average person could carry.
The science of lungs under pressure
What happens inside the body during prolonged breath-holding is more complex than “running out of air.” Tiny sensors in the brain and neck, called chemoreceptors, monitor levels of oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). Normally, as CO₂ rises, the diaphragm begins to contract involuntarily—an urgent signal to breathe.
But oxygen saturation changes the equation. “CO₂ still rises during the breath hold,” explained Anthony Bain, professor of kinesiology at the University of Windsor. “However, elevated oxygen blunts the chemoreceptor response to CO₂. The absence of an O₂ alarm combined with a weakened CO₂ alarm allows a person to hold their breath much longer.”
Scientists caution, though, that inhaling pure oxygen is highly dangerous. It can lead to oxygen toxicity, damaging organs and, in extreme cases, proving fatal. Such methods should only ever be attempted by trained professionals under strict medical supervision.
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More than an athlete’s record
Maricic is no stranger to pushing limits. Even without oxygen assistance, he can hold his breath for around 10 minutes—an extraordinary ability reserved for elite freedivers. His résumé also includes unusual feats, such as performing a 240-kilogram squat at a depth of 10 meters.
But in this attempt, the world record was not his only goal. Maricic partnered with Sea Shepherd for its “Fit for the Ocean” campaign, using the spectacle to draw attention to the urgent need for ocean conservation. In a social media post, he explained that his body began the dive with five times more oxygen than average. What mattered most to him, however, was not the number, but the message behind it.
Ocean conservation awareness
In the end, Maricic’s 29-minute dive carries a double meaning. On one hand, it marks a new frontier in human endurance, stretching the boundaries of what the body can endure. On the other, it highlights a more urgent truth: the ocean itself cannot hold its breath indefinitely. Overfishing, pollution, and climate change are pushing ecosystems toward collapse.
By staying underwater longer than anyone in history, Maricic wasn’t simply testing his own body. He was testing whether the world will listen to the call from beneath the surface—a call to protect the ocean before it, too, runs out of breath. (Sulung Prasetyo)
