The Deepest Breath

[Bemyclementine]

Has anyone seen this???? It's unbelievable what these free divers can achieve, but oh my goodness, they hit the surface barely conscious at times, pass out. And WHY DON'T THE SAFETY DIVERS HAVE OXYGEN????

My understanding is that free divers can’t take oxygen on the way up. They dive down with full lungs which are then compressed at the bottom of the dive. They can only breath out on the way up as their lungs have no spare capacity. If they took on more air at depth then there would be a risk of lung trauma as the air in their lungs expanded on the way up.

Think it’s that the safety divers would be at risk of the bends if they used oxygen because they are accompanying the free divers to such great depths (think it’s the bends but issues with decompression anyway).

YY to the bends because free divers surface much more quickly

I understood they couldn't give the freedivers oxygen, I just don't understand why there aren't people with oxygen acting as safety divers at certain intervals.

If the safety divers need to accompany the free diver to the surface they can’t do it if they have been breathing bottled oxygen because they can’t surface at the same speed without the bends I think.

One of the best things I've seen in ages. Absolutely terrifying edge of seat stuff. I kept thinking why not attach them to a rope so they can at least be pulled back up if something went wrong? And why isn't there a safety diver for the safety diver? What happens if the safety diver passes out! Crazy.

It's absolute madness..and Why did he wait 20 seconds later than the plan??

Why had a scuba diver nor taken a rope through the arch/hole/whatever it was? Sury uts not beyond the wit of man diver to have one continuous rope?

Is this Netflix?

I don't get it. I just don't.

It's dangerous and, to me, absolutely pointless. It's not even a spectator sport. I understand they're competitive, thrill seeking individuals though and I'm not so I think I just can't relate.

It's cool how long they can hold their breath and I admire their dedication. But yes, the look on the guy's face when he falls unconscious; if I was his parent, I'd feel so gutted (and scared).

I guess it’s about pushing your body to its absolute limits, and the mental strength required.

But really, I don’t get it either!

Yes why did he wait the 20 seconds? He must've known it would be dangerous for both of them?

@GoingToBeLessRubbishAtLife yes it's a Netflix documentary

I suppose if Steve wasn't "ready" he couldn't go down, but still. Massive flaw. Again, dot bloody scuba divers around the place, at least the divers know where to go then.

Where they together? Looked like they were but they wouldn't say?

I thought so but it didnt specify did it.

I just watched this. Totally bonkers. Breathtaking and terrifying. The darkness, the cold, the sheer depths. I've just been reading about the fateful dive on Wikipedia. It seems there wasn't ample preparation. I have to say when she said she didn't want to wear the fin I thought that was a tad selfish, really because it made it so much harder, presumably, and others would then be at risk. It was 'just' a leisure dive. Ironically had it been a competition dive the safety measures would have been taken. Tragic. He was clearly very well loved:

Stephen Keenan died in July of 2017 during a recreational dive across The Arch of the Blue Hole with Alessia.[13][14] It was not regarded as a dive that would push Zecchini to her limits, but an accumulation of mistakes and difficulties during the attempt would lead to disaster. Safety diver Lily Crespy, who was on duty that day, later gave a detailed summary of events.[13] The official AIDA report stated that reasonable precautions had been taken; however, it noted that there was no on-site specialist doctor, insufficient medical equipment, no safety boat, and no ambulance[15] on stand-by at the dive site.[13] Zecchini was inexperienced in open water, was unfamiliar with the Blue Hole, and wanted to tackle it without fins rather than with the usual, more powerful mono-fin. As her safety, Keenan agreed to meet her at −50 m (−160 ft), though the standard limit for safety divers is −30 m (−98 ft).[16]

What an absolutely mad sport. I kept thinking about if for ages!

another must see documentary about saturation diving is Last Breath….. sadly not on Netflix anymore for some reason but think it’s on You Tube. Equally shocking but different.

It's stupid. I switched off after 30 mins.

I did like Free Solo though. But at least that was just one obsessive person doing an insane, but well planned, thing once. and I had to sit on the floor to watch as the sofa was too high.

I kept wondering if there was a eurphoric element to pushing your body to the limit of suffocation, like the way some people have a kink for self asphyxiation maybe the high afterwards is incredible? I’d say the adrenaline from experiencing something like that beat death but mastering it must be utterly overwhelming.

I tried watching it till I got to the bit where a man got almost to the top but they had to push him up as he'd gone unconscious but his face when they had him at the top was really really scary.

I don't want to see that if I can help it.

Also, I'm sorry but I think find myself thinking 'idiots'

I thought the whole thing was so silly, why didn't they have a continuous rope to guide her out, or even a fucking light on the rope!? Why didn't he go down at the correct time after timing exactly how long it would take? Why wasn't there sufficient safety diver coverage, one of the most deadly places to free dive and they basically didn't put enough in place to ensure their safety.
It was also terribly sad, he was obviously a very well liked bloke who put himself in danger to ensure the safety of the free divers but maybe the actual free divers should be more conscious of the risk they are putting others in, I know I couldn't participate in a sport that may kill my safety team!

I expected to be really upset as I normally get like that with anything even remotely sad. But I ended up just not feeling sad at all. It was all so avoidable and stupid. Why was there not scuba diver near the rope waving or something. To show her the way. Or a light. Or anything. And the whole thing of him being 20 seconds late was just weird

Just still thinking of that man's face when he came out the water. Awful. Wish I hadn't started it

I found it interesting but felt very anxious watching it

i wonder if in time they suffer due to the lack of oxygen it’s extremely dangerous

Have people seen the Big Blue?
Beautiful scenery - and "based" on the free diving of Jaques Mayoll and Enzo Maiorca.

Using a weighted sledge to go down to 105 metres. His hearbeat slowed to 27 beats per minute which is part of the mammalian diving reflex.

Love that film - and the music. As long as you watch the French version

I thought it was believed that he was late going down because perhaps he couldn't get his heart rate low enough to do the dive.

I think he was far too close to her to be the main safety diver and they got a bit too romanticised about it. It would have made sense for him to be there at the last 10metres maybe, but have someone more detached as the deep safety.