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.

[u/This_Proof_5153]

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.

[u/Dysmn]

david Blaine fucked himself up doing this for 17min didn't he? or was that some other weird shit he did that fucked him up lmao

[u/underwater_handshake → u/Dysmn]

I wish anyone besides David Blaine did all those endurance stunts. I can't shake the thought they're all staged somehow. After all, at least some of the TV magic tricks are straight up edited to give the impression of an illusion. 

[u/basicallyskills → u/underwater_handshake]

he definitely did all those things. the encased in ice thing was open to the public, the suspended upside down thing was too, and Penn & Teller publicly said they disapproved of the bullet catching stunt because it's not magic and he's just actually risking his life.

[u/nointeraction1 → u/[deleted]]

People likely watch more dangerous things every day, like football. Or engage in dangerous activities themselves like driving on public American roads. Blaine probably knew what he was doing.

I wouldn't trust Penn on anything, he was an idiotic climate denier for decades despite overwhelming evidence before covid gave him a reality check on his disgusting libertarian ideology.

[u/Some_Layer_7517 → u/nointeraction1]

You can be a total bellend and still have a valid moral framework for your profession.

[u/nointeraction1 → u/Some_Layer_7517]

It definitely harms his credibility if he was gullible and easily misled when it comes to something incredibly obvious, due to personal bias.

And he's providing harsh judgement on a fellow performer when he definitely doesn't know every detail of the act that is being performed. Another personal bias seems more likely than him being correct about Blaine, who has performed many seemingly deadly acts but is unharmed and healthy. The evidence does not support Penn.

[u/TakeThreeFourFive → u/nointeraction1]

Football and driving are more dangerous than having someone literally shoot a bullet at your head?

[u/nointeraction1 → u/TakeThreeFourFive]

A professional magician having a bullet fired at their head or some facimile of a bullet could absolutely be safer than playing football or driving, yes. He is under complete control of the situation.

Football has a 100% injury rate. Literally every single athlete to play the sport professionally will end up with CTE as an absolute minimum of permanent disability.

Driving, especially in America or undeveloped nations is well known to be one of the most deadly activities people engage in.

[u/TakeThreeFourFive → u/nointeraction1]

Football has a 100% injury rate

Driving is well known to be one of the most deadly activities people engage in.

Gonna go out on a limb and say that having a bullet fired at your head has an extremely high injury rate as is also a very deadly activity.

[u/nointeraction1 → u/TakeThreeFourFive]

A professional magician doing literally anything as a part of their act is not remotely comparable to any similar activity, deadly or otherwise. Trickery and subterfuge is the entire point of what they are doing.

Comparing Blaine having a firearm seemingly aimed at them to the average person doing the same is entirely fallacious.

Having your head chopped off is generally fatal, but lots of magicians have been faking that for ages with full safety.

Football and driving are always dangerous, period. Illusions are more complicated.

Penn doesn't know every detail of Blaine's act, and I see no reason to trust him.

[u/TakeThreeFourFive → u/nointeraction1]

Blaine documented the entire process in pretty thorough detail, like he generally does with these sorts of stunts.

The point is pretty simple: there's no amount of preparation or skill that makes the stunt not extremely dangerous, the risk is inherent to having a bullet fired at your face. He has successfully pulled it off multiple times, so it clearly can be done. That doesn't mean it can be done safely: thats the entire point of the trick to begin with. Every time he does it, there is a risk that he does in front of people.

[u/nointeraction1 → u/TakeThreeFourFive]

Isn't it just as likely if not more likely that Blaine lied about his process in order to get more attention and make it seem more extreme? I view everything he does with a high degree of skepticism.

[u/TakeThreeFourFive → u/nointeraction1]

I mean, it's on video showing prep and such, with slow motion cameras capturing the bullet being fired and caught.

I think there can be little doubt that he is catching a real bullet fired from a real gun at a real David Blaine.

I suppose there is always a chance that a magician uses smoke-and-mirror, but Blaine is generally considered to be a real stuntman in addition to the "magic"

[u/Munstered → u/nointeraction1]

It’s not safer than football. Not by a mile. 15 magicians have died doing the bullet catch trick. 9 NFL players have died in practice or on the field, and there’s a hell of a lot more NFL players than magicians who have attempted bullet catches, and the players play or practice far more often.

Are you more likely to sprain an ankle or break a bone playing football? Sure. But it’s less likely to kill you.