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Czech freediver sets world record in under-ice swim

February 23, 2021

Freediver David Vencl has broken a world record in men's under-ice swimming. The Czech swam a record distance holding his breath under a foot of ice.

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Czech freediver David Vencl
Czech freediver David Vencl reacts after setting a new world recordImage: Petr David Josek/AP Photo/picture alliance

David Vencl swam 80.9 meters (265 feet) holding his breath on Tuesday, a record distance for under-ice swimming.          

Vencl took 1 minute, 35 seconds for the record at a lake in Lahost in the northern Czech Republic. The 38-year-old dropped into the water through a hole that was cut in the one-foot-thick ice before he emerged from another.

"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."

Freediver David Vencl
Vencl swam 80.9 meters (265 feet) holding his breath on TuesdayImage: Petr David Josek/AP Photo/picture alliance

"In this discipline you have to be in the today and now: mindfulness, keeping a clear head and concentrating on the moment. You can't think about what will happen in five minutes or 5 meters or five seconds," he said. 

Organizers said the ice was at least 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) thick, a condition for the record to be recognized. In this category, freedivers cannot use any fin, diving suit, cap or weights.

The previous record was 76.2 meters (250 feet) by Stig Severinsen of Denmark in April 2013, according to Guinness World Records.

sri/aw (AP, Reuters, EFE)