Note this is oxygen assisted - the diver breathed pure oxygen and (from the article) can increase available oxygen from 450mL to 3L in doing so.
Still impressive nonetheless and I didn't know that this trick is sometimes used in Hollywood to extend underwater filming time. Avatar 2 comes to mind when I was impressed to find out Sigourney Weaver trained to hold her breath for 6 and half minutes in her 70s!
Coming back to the article, I'm disappointed that the details were sparse - how do they check whether the contestant is conscious? How does the contestant know what his limits are before passing out?
To answer your questions:
- A coach / safety will give a signal to the athlete, e.g. pinching of the arm and the athlete will react to it by e.g. lifting a finger.
- Training. You get to know your body and limits very well when training freediving for a longer time. That does not mean that you always avoid blackouts, particularly in competitions they happen but that's what safeties are for. In the end, a free diving competition is one of the safest places to explore your limits.
I've seen people react so instinctively to tap-out signals both in martial arts and sometimes outside of it that I've often wondered if you could fight dirty in a real fight by tapping out and then clocking them or at least breaking a hold during that instant where they start to back off.
I think I have used it successfully both in chiropractic and physical therapy contexts. The thing with really top-shelf pain is that if you're not screaming you can't even talk at all. But your hands still work.
These sorts of little reflexive physical communications are super effective.
yes, i've seen that done in videos of streetfights.
For sure - what I find interesting is that passing out is a disqualification (I assume) so there is a fine line between achieving your utmost limit and being disqualified. Which is like most sports but my understanding is that it is quite easy to accidentally slip under so the guy must have incredible body awareness
Correct. Usually you need to perform a so called surface protocol after surfacing to show you are still conscious enough. This can be e.g. the removal of your mask, an OK sign and saying "I'm OK". Only if you do that within 15 seconds after surfacing your performance will be valid.
And regarding easy to blackout. Yes and no, I personally avoided it for over 12 years, but then again, I'm no world class athlete and only an enthusiastic hobbyist.
In a documentary about freediving they explained that during competitions there are strict rules and steps for the diver to follow after they emerge from the water surface. Only when followed the dive is considered ok.
> Sigourney Weaver trained to hold her breath for 6 and half minutes in her 70s!
That is crazy. It seems Kate Winslet broke Tom Cruise's old record while filming Avatar 2; over 7 minutes(!) in her case:
https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/kate-winslet-beat...
This is nuts. I remember reading that Hollywood gave up on underwater filming after near death accidents on sets of The Abyss and especially Waterworld making such productions too risky and expensive so they resorted to VFX faking long underwater scenes after that. Obliviously Cameron didn't get the memo.
James Cameron, maker of The Abyss, probably got the memo. But the memo read “You’re going to need to make much more successful movies before they let you do that again.”
James Cameron is considered a subject matter expert on deep sea submersibles.
Which a bunch of people found out as soon as they started bitching about why some random Hollywood asshole was commenting on the Oceangate disaster.
If anyone can manage underwater filming safely it's probably him.
He has also confessed that his ulterior motive for making Titanic was to get a studio to pay for an expedition to the Titanic. Which they did.
James Cameron has done a huge number of truly amazing things, but he and Ed Harris both nearly drowned during filming of The Abyss. Hopefully he learned from his mistakes.
[1] https://collider.com/james-cameron-the-abyss-movie-productio...
Yeah not to say some of his knowledge isn’t hard won. Niels Bohr approved.
Looks like in Cameron’s case it was a double fault situation. No alarm on the primary, and the safety person didn’t check his emergency gear. That guy shouldn’t have been punched he should have been fired. And had his license suspended.
Your username is great.
Thankyou! The advantage of having been around a long time: short great usernames were still available!
Jody Foster would like a word..
These actors and actresses don't have to do it, are well compensated for the risk, and likely sign the most air tight waiver that can ever be forged.
> the most air tight waiver
I see what you did there.
> ..near death accidents on sets of The Abyss
What a great movie that is! Who can forget that rat breathing liquid oxygen (or whatever they called it), and the water creature making her face to say hello. It seems sort of forgotten now (perhaps it's just me?) compared to other good films from the same era.
> Who can forget that rat breathing liquid oxygen (or whatever they called it)
I remember seeing the movie as a child with my parents and I was quite appaled by that scene (I hate seeing animal abuse). My father ensured me that was just some kind of effect trickery (I think he believed so himself). Later I found out that it was indeed real.
The liquid is called fluorocarbon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing#Films_and_tel...
> Later I found out that it was indeed real.
Wow, we do learn something new everyday :-)
The effects were so good for their time as well, a semi-forgotten gem that film.
Whoever wrote the production portion of the wikipedia page for the Abyss did a really good job capturing the sort of bleak "the best way out of this situation is forward" circumstances that arise from taking on a project at the limit of your capability like that.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has a great line: "'The Abyss' was a lot of things. Fun to make was not one of them."
Obliviously [...]
I love that, thanks! :D
I'm making it my new email sign-off.
> how do they check whether the contestant is conscious?
already answered but they'll apply pressure on your hand (or similar) and you need to apply pressure back
> How does the contestant know what his limits are before passing out?
When you hold breath for a long time your body will have muscle contractions. The time that needs to pass for each contraction to happen varies from person to person but it is quite consistent for each person. So free divers can know that they are good up to X contractions which will take after X minutes in certain conditions. The fun part is you can train to experience your first contraction by holding your breath while laying down in bed.
I think this is a self selection bias.
In a group sport like club cycling, it can be everyone's responsibility to make sure that your fellow riders haven't gone either hypoglycemic or into heat stroke. We all watch each other so we can go a bit harder and the people who can still talk keep tabs on everyone else.
I understand that with submersibles and astronauts there's a bit of this going on as well. Everyone is watching everyone else for nitrogen narcosis or hypoxia. Maybe another reason the Navy doesn't like assholes on submarines. How can I tell if you're being a jerk today or we need to check the CO2 sensors? Better to notice Lieutenant Ivers only gets short with people when his blood ox goes a little south.
If you go to solo walking or running, now you are the only one tracking your mental state. Now you have to use your own judgement to try to detect when your judgement is going away. It's... tough. Personally I think it's easier if you've already had practice on team settings. But it's still tough.
Same thing with alcohol. There's a reason bartenders don't serve drunks. No judgement anymore. You should have put the glass down half a drink ago and had some water instead. And I think you can only learn that safely by slowly sidling up to it from the safe side, and have someone to look after you if you go a little fuzzy.
It’s a classic at this point but David Blaine held the record for a while and gave a fantastic TED talk on his process: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_blaine_how_i_held_my_breath_...
Another factor is that it's easier to do it underwater than on land. The mammalian diving reflex is what helps.