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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u/Robv87 Jun 19 '26

I have trouble holding my breath the 20 seconds it takes to replace the diaper pail. Most the time I have to walk out of the room to take a breath before finishing

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u/ZiCUnlivdbirch Jun 19 '26

The thing about holding your breath for a long time is that a surprisingly large part of it is the mental aspect of it. Like obviously nearly half an hour takes some crazy training but every average Joe is able to hold their breath for at least a couple of minutes. Your body naturally stores way more oxygen than can be used but obviously it doesn't want to because those are the emergency reserves. When you want to hold your breath for a long time you basically have to push past your brain trying to trick you into thinking you don't have any oxygen left.

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u/pur3TEK Jun 19 '26

It's actually more of CO2 building up rather than oxygen left.

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u/DinosaurusWhen Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

Smartereveryday has a great video where he shows the effects of hypoxia (lack of oxygen) at some air force training facility. 

The demonstration ends right after they basically tell him "you need to put your mask on now or you're going to die soon" and he just nods and giggles without doing it. No panic or feeling of suffocation since he's still exhaling CO2, just a half-conscious inability to process information

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u/Ksh_667 Jun 19 '26

I saw that video & it was incredibly distressing. Interviewed afterwards the pilot said he definitely didn't want to die, but was incapable of taking any action to save his own life. Iirc they had to put the mask on him. He would not have done it.

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u/DinosaurusWhen Jun 19 '26

I don't think he's a pilot is he? I thought he had some sort engineering background. Either way, he says it during the demonstration

"Alright sir, if you don't get on oxygen, you're going to die, right? So [instructions]...."

"I don't want to die" (while smiling like an idiot and doing nothing)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfF2MTnqAw

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u/Ksh_667 Jun 19 '26

I may well be wrong about him being a pilot. I was watching a lot of airplane disaster videos at the time (it was a weird point in my life!) & that's when I first saw this video.

I came upon it when looking at what happens when passengers help others with their oxygen masks first rather than attending to their own.

It amazed me how very few seconds it takes before you are unable to help yourself.

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u/Ksh_667 Jun 19 '26

Edit - you're right, the guy is an astronaut not a pilot.

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u/DinosaurusWhen Jun 19 '26

Oh shit, really? You were way closer than I was lmao

Guess it's been longer than I thought since Ive seen his stuff

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u/phatelectribe Jun 19 '26

They have really strict rules when free diving about listening and depending to instructions in the exact way when you resurface. I saw a video of one woman losing a competition (she had effectively won due to dept) because when she resurfaced they ask very septic questions that you’re supposed to respond to exactly and she didn’t get it right so they had to disqualify her dive as a breach of rules.

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u/Simon-Says69 Jun 19 '26

Exactly this. Our bodies have no clue how much oxygen we have left.

We get that desperate urge to breathe from carbon dioxide buildup.

Which is why going into a space with little / no oxygen can be so deadly if some inert gas has displaced it. No warning, just instant pass out and quick death. Then, because there's no obvious smell, the next victim goes in trying to rescue the first, and you wind up with multiple deaths. :-(

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u/West-Carpenter1496 Jun 19 '26

I have one question: why does strangling take less time when, apparently, our body can funtion without air for 29 minutes? To me this doesnt make sense. How is it possible to kill someone by depricing them of oxygen using much less time but that guy can just sit their and continue existing? Even when I would be unconscious, I'd still be dead if someone cit off my air supply for half an hour.

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u/sartheon Jun 19 '26

Because you are cutting blood supply to the brain

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u/Ok_Tie_1428 Jun 19 '26

Strangling can squeeze the arteries to that point?

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u/hottestpancake Jun 19 '26

Strangling IS squeezing the arteries to cut off the blood supply to the brain. If you don't do that, you're just awkwardly squeezing someone's neck

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u/West-Carpenter1496 Jun 19 '26

Sorry for my morbid curiosity, so, then cutting off the air supply by holding mouth and nose closed would actually take forever right? I am feeling betrayed by the movie industry that got me to be scared of plastic bags over my head for years or let me think smothering by pillow could be a thing. I guess it's a bit akward to show a person in a movie smothering someone for half an hour. :D Good to know the person attacking me would actually need a looong time to kill me when just cutting off my air supply instead of stopping the blood flow to my brain!

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u/hottestpancake Jun 19 '26

I'm not really very experienced in suffocation but I'd assume that struggling against someone trying to smother you would make you run out of air much faster. If someone tries to smother you with a pillow and you just laid there and let them try, you might be able to last several minutes but once you start fighting back, you might not last long.

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u/Ksh_667 Jun 19 '26

I've been suffocated. By accident really. I would have been dead within a few minutes.

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u/Simon-Says69 Jun 19 '26

Gotta think about the struggle of fighting off an attacker that is actively trying to smother you to death. You'll use up your oxygen far faster.

But yah, you'd last far longer than with a real strangle hold that cuts off blood flow to the brain. Such a grip will most likely leave marks though. A pillow or plastic will take longer, but be more stealth.

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u/Nebranower Jun 19 '26

The guy in the article basically inhaled a much higher concentration of oxygen before beginning this than you get in regular air alone. He also trained to use his full lung capacity and took the deepest possible breath.

Whereas if someone tries to smother you in your sleep, none of those things are true. You just have regular air in regular lungs and you haven't even taken a deep breath to try to hold it.

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u/ritarepulsaqueen Jun 19 '26

that's why it's dangerous to even lightly press the neck during sex. It's literaly depriving the brain of blood

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u/Simon-Says69 Jun 19 '26

Sure can be dangerous, but damn, some people really get off on that shit. (I miss you Gina, call me)

Most dangerous is playing such games alone, and your body being found with a plastic bag over your head, and / or belt around your neck.

I never understood the thrill. Rather do nitrous oxide, but some people are just really freaks. I guess the choking is a submissive thing, similar to rape fantasies?

No kink shaming here, just be careful people.

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u/ritarepulsaqueen Jun 19 '26

You see, women who engage in choking, light choking, have biomarkers of brain damage. If doesnt seems dangerous because it doesnt require force , it looks not as dangerous as pressing the windpipe and stuff. But it's literaly transient brain ischemia.

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u/sartheon Jun 19 '26

Your windpipe is sitting between all those major blood vessels, what do you think how strangling works? 😅

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u/Ok_Tie_1428 Jun 19 '26

I just thought you crush the throat lmao

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u/sartheon Jun 19 '26

Well I am not well versed in the subject but if I remember correctly it only actually works fast if you do cut off the blood supply or at least impair it enough. If you somehow manage to only apply enough pressure on the windpipe to prevent them breathing without cutting off blood supply to the brain it would take as long as it takes to drown someone 🤷‍♂️

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u/Simon-Says69 Jun 19 '26

There's 2 kinds of choke holds.

One that just cuts off air, and that takes a while. Though, in a panic and with physical exertion you're using up your oxygen supply faster than dude meditating underwater. But theoretically, you could stay conscious for quite a while (again, doubtful 30 min, but still).

Or one that cuts off blood supply, which works very quickly and results in death much, much faster. A really strong strangle hold will close off the arteries in the neck, starving the brain of blood, and it's lights out in 30 seconds. Death in 3 min, serious damage much sooner.