This Freediver Held His Breath For Over 29 Minutes Underwater, Shattering World Record

This Freediver Held His Breath For Over 29 Minutes Underwater, Shattering World Record View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vitomir Maričić (@maverick2go) On June 14, 2025, Vitomir Maričić dove into a three-meter-deep pool in Opatija, Croatia. He quickly situated himself at the pool’s bottom, remaining there for an astounding 29 minutes and three seconds. By the time he reemerged, he had officially beaten […] READ: This Freediver Held His Breath For Over 29 Minutes Underwater, Shattering World Record

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This Freediver Held His Breath For Over 29 Minutes Underwater, Shattering World Record

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A post shared by Vitomir Maričić (@maverick2go)

On June 14, 2025, Vitomir Maričić dove into a three-meter-deep pool in Opatija, Croatia. He quickly situated himself at the pool’s bottom, remaining there for an astounding 29 minutes and three seconds. By the time he reemerged, he had officially beaten the world record for the longest held voluntary breath by nearly five minutes.

On average, a human can hold their breath for about 30 to 90 seconds. At a little over 29 minutes, Maričić’s record is over 20 times longer than the upper limit of that range. He even managed to hold his breath for twice as long as a bottlenose dolphin. But how, exactly, did the Croatian freediver accomplish this feat?

For one, Maričić inhaled pure, 100% oxygen for a full ten minutes before diving into the pool. The air we typically breathe is only about 21% oxygen, and Maričić effectively circumvented this thanks to oxygen assistance, a strategy sanctioned by Guinness World Records. This ultimately “supercharged” his blood, dissolving the oxygen not just in his red cells, but in his plasma as well. In a recent Instagram post, Maričić further explained that he began his dive with about five times more oxygen in his body than usual.

This isn’t to say that Maričić didn’t also physically prepare for his record-breaking attempt. Without oxygen assistance, Maričić’s breath-holding record is an impressive 10 minutes and eight seconds, helped by cardiovascular training that increases heart rate, breathing, and overall blood flow. Diaphragmatic breathing exercises also increase how much oxygen can be stored in the lungs. In fact, many freedivers learn to control their diaphragm and throat muscles in order to move stored oxygen from their lungs to their airways, maximizing oxygen uptake into the blood.

Consider, too, the intense urge to take a deep, refreshing breath. That reflex isn’t related to low oxygen, but rather to high carbon dioxide, which can only be removed from our bodies by breathing out. Freedivers often practice holding their breath to prepare for these high levels of carbon dioxide, delaying that involuntary reaction. It’s a physical—and even psychological—impulse that can be incredibly challenging to resist.

“After the 20-minute mark, everything became easier, at least mentally,” Maričić told Divernet. “[The experience] got worse and worse physically, especially for my diaphragm, because of the contractions. But mentally I knew I wasn’t going to give up.”

Another Croatian freediver, Budimir Šobat, held the previous world record for voluntary breath-holding at 24 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved on March 27, 2021.