81m in one breath: Daredevil Czech free-diver sets new world record by holding out to swim under thick ice in frozen lake (VIDEO)
Brave Czech free-diver David Vencl has set a new world under-ice swimming record after plunging beneath ice in a frozen lake to cover a distance of 81m (265ft) while holding his breath for more a minute and a half.
The astonishingly courageous 38-year-old defied 3C water temperatures to dive into a hole cut in the ice of a lake in Lahost, northern Czech Republic.
Vencl was wearing only a swimsuit when he swam the distance of 80.9 meters to comfortably beat the previous record of 76.2m, set by Stig Avall Severinsen of Denmark in October 2013.
Czech free-diver David Vencl swims nearly 81 meters, or more than 265 feet, beneath the ice, breaking the world record https://t.co/VedQXef3Djpic.twitter.com/7NEUCroQgh
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 24, 2021
The lithe athlete held his breath for 95 seconds to swim under the one-foot-thick ice before emerging from another hole in the frozen lake surface as he completed the freezing feat.
"It was faster than I expected – I felt great," Vencl said. "I knew for sure that I will swim the 80 meters but, of course, that weight of the moment was the only thing that was tiring me down a little bit."
"In this discipline, you have to be in the today and now: mindfulness, keeping a clear head and concentrating on the moment," he added.
"You can't think about what will happen in five minutes or five meters or five seconds."
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