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Comment by dhosek | Hacker News Reader

When I was a kid in the 70s, I think the record was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3–5 minutes (maybe seven?) and we used to think that was such a short time that we could do it and then trying in the backyard bucket pools that were endemic in my neighborhood we found that cracking a minute was enough of a challenge.

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At first.

I was also a kid doing this, my cousins and I held ourselves underwater with the ladder rungs in a swimming pool.

At first, yeah a minute was tough. But then it rapidly increased. Unfortunately I don't remember where we topped out, but I think ~3 minutes.

We would also swim pool lengths underwater(but it was a relatively small pool at a condo building). I think I swam 9 once.

They'd let us stay out all night at that pool, it was great. Florida summers don't really get chilly.

Such contests are more dangerous than they first appear: Many kids will grasp the obvious trick of hyperventilating to improve their time, but that can lead to abrupt unconsciousness and drowning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow-water_blackout

I know that now, and I would prevent any kids from breath-holding contests.

But I didn't at 14 years old, nor did my mom or uncle, apparently.

I imagine a safe version could be made... that would suck all the direct-competition spontaneity out of it. Like "do it on land", or "only in standing-height water and take turns with someone timing and acting as a spotter."

Yes, although as another commenter pointed out, being underwater triggers a response in our body that lowers our oxygen consumption.

We did spot for each other, even then, but I don't ever remember anyone thinking they almost passed out or anything.

Funny, I did exactly the same things in my childhood, in my cousin's pool.

But it was on the other side of the pond!

As a teenager I did about 4.5 minutes, as I recall, in a bucket of water. I played the trumpet quite a bit at the time, so I think my capacity was above average. It was a competition and I got first, and the second place fellow was also a trumpet player.

All three of us trumpet players in my middle school band would sit in the back and have breath holding contests while the director was working with other sections or whatever.

In middle school, I was a swimmer on two teams and played trombone. We had a fun little “who can play the longest note” contest…everyone thought I cheated because I lasted about 30 seconds longer than anyone else. Really wasn’t that hard once you find the right position to use minimal air output, since the game wasn’t who could hold the same note, but any note. We regularly trained on the swim team to go as far as possible underwater in an Olympic pool — record on our team was 4 or 5 round-trips if I recall correctly (can’t remember 100%…long ago…but that kid was crazy in both speed and time underwater).

Pretty demoralizing to be labeled a cheater after such hard work expanding lung capacity and efficiency. After that, I wouldn’t even try anymore just so I wouldn’t be called a cheater again. Quit band the next year.

I wonder if circular breathing would work, or works, for trombone. If so you could have held that note "forever" with some training.

It should given that it works with trumpet (and even voice). I remember listening to some jazz piece on the radio where the DJ, before the song, alerted listeners to the long note that was being held and suggested trying holding your breath for the length of the note (but not—he warned—if you were driving).

It would, which was exactly what I was accused of but wasn’t something I knew how to do…even to this day. I have an idea of the mechanics, I just lack the ability because it has never been something I’ve practiced or developed.

I could do 3 minutes pretty easily as a kid, again, sitting in class like another poster. Maybe we had the same boring classes.

I once held my breath for 5 minutes when I was 14, sitting in class. I suppose it’s possible I was accidentally breathing through my nose a little as I wasn’t underwater.

Glad I'm not the only one who was bored enough in class to do this.

It was Latin...

My brother did this in his geometry class and passed out. The nurse called my mom and asked if they should send him home to which she responded, “hell, no!”

From my experience, holding your breath in air and in water are totally different things. I guess, because it is difficult to stop any intake of air when you are in air.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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