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Comment by lacrimacida | Hacker News Reader

It’s absolutely amazing and terrifying at the same time to be underwater for that much time on only one breath. My personal record is a bit above 70 seconds.

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> amazing and terrifying at the same time to be underwater for that much time on only one breath

The terror subsides. We have deep instincts related to diving. Releasing the terror reduces oxygen burn, which lets you access the 2+ minute range, even with swimming.

Is it related to immersing face in cold water that is supposed to dramatically lower heart rate?

Fyi: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_reflex

Sama-Bajau are specifically mentioned as having an enhanced reflex.

By releasing, do you mean letting go of it?

if that's terrifying to you, don't watch: "The deepest breath" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzH6BI6P4Uo

That seems low to me. As a bored teenager in the pre-smartphone era, I would occasionally time myself holding my breath to pass the time. I started around 3 minutes, and with a little practice and tricks like hyperventilating beforehand and keeping my back straight, I got up to 4 minutes.

Having also found the hyperventilating approach effective, I just want to note for other readers that hyperventilating before breath-holding is extremely dangerous when swimming or diving. This is heavily emphasized in safety trainings for swim coaches. It greatly increases your chances of hypoxic blackout: https://www.socom.mil/POTFF/Pages/Hypoxic%20blackout.aspx

Oh wow, that's fascinating. Good thing I've never been interested in diving, especially free-diving!

As someone who did something similar and also practiced underwater a little, holding your breath while sitting in a chair or even walking around the house a little is substantially less exertion than swimming / diving.

Once you get used to it, the terror definitely subsides, and it becomes a quite peaceful way to die. Thus, you should be incredibly careful and get professional training from a certified free-diver regarding safety.

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