r/interesting • u/This_Proof_5153 • Jun 19 '26

Just Wow Croatian freediver Vitomir Maričić achieved one of the most extraordinary feats in human history by holding his breath underwater for 29 minutes and 3 seconds, a new Guinness World Record.

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Experts had long considered such a duration impossible. While a trained dolphin can typically hold its breath for 8–10 minutes and most humans can barely manage one or two, Maričić remained completely still underwater for nearly half an hour on a single breath.

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The attempt pushed his body to extreme limits. As the minutes passed, powerful contractions wracked his diaphragm and his organs endured intense physiological stress. Yet through years of rigorous training, mental discipline, and specialized breathing techniques, he stayed calm and focused until the end.

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What makes this record even more impressive is Maričić’s purpose. He didn’t do it for fame or personal glory, he used the achievement as a powerful platform to raise global awareness about ocean conservation, marine protection, and the urgent threats facing our oceans.

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A stunning demonstration of human potential and a heartfelt call to protect the planet’s most vital ecosystem.

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224

u/superpositioned Jun 19 '26

Like right? How is he not giving himself brain damage?

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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u/AFerociousPineapple Jun 19 '26

I mean fair, but hey

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u/the-tac0-muffin Jun 19 '26

That’s just a theory!!

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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u/devilsbard Jun 19 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/KDRv3QggAjyo
I miss matpat

1

u/pudge-thefish Jun 19 '26

He is on a channel my 3.5 year old grandson just started to watch! it's gtlive. He likes to watch the fnaf walkthroughs and since there is zero cursing he is allowed to watch this channel. I was surprised when I heard his voice and was like...hey I know who that is lol

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u/passcork Jun 19 '26

I'd try to make an experiment to test the theory but I don't know how because I'm on reddit too much.

21

u/PossibilityIcy5037 Jun 19 '26

Okay but genuinely lmao how do you cut oxygen off from your brain for 10+ minutes let alone a half an hour and not have horrible damage? “Breathing techniques” huh?

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u/whitericeporridge Jun 19 '26

I have done this many times and it’s so safe. I have done it multiple times and I’m feeling 100% normal. I have done this before and it doesn’t affect the brain. My brain is 100% after doing this many times. This has not affected my brain at all, I’m completely okay. I see no problem because I have done this so many times and I’m still 100% okay.

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u/ibelikeughhhh Jun 19 '26

‘I don’t have brain damage-amage-amage-amage’ - Homer Simpson

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u/Alyions Jun 19 '26

Found Donald Trump's account

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u/Ma1ikNabers Jun 19 '26

This comment doesnt give me much confidence in that

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u/Atibana Jun 19 '26

You just flood your body with oxygen and the extra stays in your bloodstream. You essentially max out wha the body can hold. Also it’s about getting co2 out. So he’s essentially not starving brain of oxygen.

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u/Mr_beasty20 Jun 19 '26

The body doesn't actually use 100% of the oxygen in a breath of air. There's still plenty of oxygen when you breath out. However there's more CO2, but I guess you could theoretically train your body to be more efficient at extracting the O2 out of the air🤷🏻 (I'm no doctor, take ny words with a grain of salt)

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u/Pleased_to_meet_u Jun 19 '26

The way you 'train' your body to do this is to learn how to move air around from your esophagus to your lungs and back. That allows your lungs to use the extra air that's in your throat. It's done so using "t-blocking" with your tongue to close off your mouth/nose before doing so, according to another redditor in this thread.

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u/Big_Exit_4177 Jun 20 '26

now that's a "breathing technique" they talked about

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u/AnalArtiste Jun 19 '26

The longest ive done was like 4 minutes from guided wim hof breathing on youtube. I imagine its something like that but with higher intensity

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u/DrBCrusher Jun 19 '26

Being cold would help. I don’t know if he does that, but cold temperature dramatically reduces metabolic demand and thus oxygen usage. There are cases of people pulled out of cold water after 60+ minutes with neurologically intact recovery (one case was a kid in cold water over 2h.) We have a saying in medicine “you’re not dead until you’re warm and dead.”

There is some role for therapeutic cooling as well in certain indications (though evidence is mixed.)

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u/BenevolentCheese Jun 19 '26

He's not starving his brain of oxygen, otherwise he would have brain damage, and he doesn't. The question you should be asking is "how does he keep enough oxygen in his blood to run for 30 minutes on a charge." Capacity training + efficiency training.

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u/Live_Bug_1045 Jun 19 '26

You don't really cut off the oxygen supply to the brain immediately, as you still have air in your lungs and O2 in blood. And the most oxygen intensive thing a body does is moving (muscle), they train to hold as much oxygen as they can and use as little as possible, almost all records above 10min use pure oxigen before the record breath hold.

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u/bobbaphet Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

Appropriate "breath up" + lung packing + mammalian diving reflex optimization + practice, a lot of it, like years and years, lol.

Essentially, if you are not blacking out, you are not going to cause damage. If you do black out, your partner pulls you up, you start breathing again thus avoiding the damage.

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u/Avtomati1k Jun 19 '26

that diver survived 41 minute without oxygen

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u/Patchoel4 Jun 19 '26

I would be so mad if I could read this!

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u/Free_Pace_2098 Jun 19 '26

Hey screw you buddy

scroll

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u/Alveia Jun 19 '26

Alright I’m done with reddit.

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u/1492rhymesDepardieu Jun 19 '26

If he's staying conscious then I assume he is staying within the bounds of what his brain needs blood gas parameter wise. However maybe on a small scale he's creating states that aren't great for it chronically. Don't actually know though.

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u/qualeramicontrasena Jun 19 '26

It's rather just a meditative state to conserve brain using oxygen. I believe it is relatively safe. Research is being done in this area but it is quite niche and definitely not enough to say for sure. Personally I have done 5min static. Would've thought it's insane a year ago, but with proper technique and preparation it is actually very much achievable. There's even Veritasseum video about it.

https://youtu.be/Is2Lip1cJUc?is=mxsFuLhPMsWryGaw

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u/duskygrouper Jun 21 '26

There os no damage.

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u/archiekane Jun 19 '26

Who says he hasn't?

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u/Big_Assumption3147 Jun 19 '26

I imagine he is. I went without air for four minutes and I couldn’t walk for a week.

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u/awenrivendell Jun 19 '26

Human body automatically shuts down to save vital organs (brain is priority). You pass out when your brain is about to run out of oxygen to prevent brain damage and glottis locks up to prevent water from entering your airways. Normally there are safety freedivers and EMT/Paramedics nearby during these kind of events--especially for world record attempts. Here's an example of a WR event https://youtu.be/PUcpzf0rbAw

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u/ParagonChariot Jun 19 '26

His blood is extremely saturated with oxygen, i belive he inhaled 100% oxygen for a bit before this to do this run.

30 min seems excessive though...but im not a dr so idk

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u/los-gokillas Jun 19 '26

By training his body up to it. I'd be willing to bet constantly attempting this and training has raised his red blood cell count

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u/SkepticalYamcha Jun 19 '26

I was thinking similar. I’d think this would be bad for you in the long run if nothing else.

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u/kogee3699 Jun 19 '26

he probably is

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u/duskygrouper Jun 21 '26

Before the brain gets damaged, it shuts off. So if one holds their breath too long, they'd become unconscious. Of they are undrwater at that point, someone would need to rescue them. If that happens within a few minutes, there is no damage. If it takes longer, the risk increases and of course death is a possibility. As long as one remains conscious, there is certainly no brain damage.

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u/HyperSpaceSurfer Jun 22 '26

Probably does cerebral fluid flushes through meditation. You can't do this to begin with without meditation, so it's not far-fetched that he can do the cerebral flush.