David Blaine 17:04
May 17, 2008

One of the most riveting things I've ever watched on television was David Blaine trying to break the world record for a static apnea breath hold back in 2006. He had been submersed in a tank of water for several days, he had liver failure, his skin was disintigrating, and there he was, bound by chains no less, holding his breath for 3, 4, 5, 6 minutes and counting. At the time, I could only hold my breath for ballpark a minute and a half, and so seeing his pained expression at 6:30 and counting, it was hard to imagine what he was going through. In the end, he failed to break the world record and had to be rescued. I wasn't surprised at all. In fact, I expected that to be the outcome, but it was still hard to see him fail after training so hard and for so long, in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

I remember for the next week or so, I would even wake up in the middle of the night and I had evidently been dreaming about it. It gives you a whole new appreciation for the air we breathe.

And so, a few days ago, I was amazed to read this headline: "David Blaine breaks world record for holding one's breath". What? Could it be possible?

Indeed. The twist is that he wanted to break the record which involves breathing pure oxygen before hand, but they're much the same feat. Seventeen minutes and four seconds. Wow. Congratulations and well done.

Video 1
Video 2