This Man Just Held His Breath for a Superhuman 29 Minutes
Before June 2025, the longest anyone had held their breath with oxygen assistance was 24 minutes and 37 seconds. That record stood for four years until June 14, 2025. On this day, in an indoor pool at the Bristol Hotel in Opatija, Croatia, Vitomir Maričić submerged himself in three meters of water. He ended up staying under for 29 minutes and 3 seconds.
In the wake of his achievement, the Guinness World Record officials called it the longest voluntary breath-hold in history.
Who Is Vitomir Maričić?
Maričić is a Croatian freediver and water sports instructor with a long history in competitive diving. Over the years, he has collected dozens of national titles and medals at international freediving events. Beyond competition, he has worked as a coach, teaching safety and technique to new divers, and has been active in promoting underwater sports in Croatia.
Preparation Began Before He Entered the Pool
Setting a breath-hold record is no simple feat. In fact, it takes years of physical conditioning, mental control, and a detailed understanding of how the body responds under stress. That’s exactly the kind of preparation Vitomir Maričić brought to the attempt.
In the final minutes before he submerged, he spent 10 minutes breathing pure oxygen. This process, called denitrogenation, flushes nitrogen from the body and saturates the blood with oxygen. It delayed the point at which rising carbon dioxide would trigger the urge to breathe, but it didn’t make the challenge easy.
Physical Reactions Made the Last Minutes Brutal
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Most people feel the urge to breathe after about one minute due to increasing carbon dioxide buildup. This triggers chemoreceptors in the neck and brainstem. Then come the diaphragm contractions, which grow more severe over time. Maričić began feeling those early, and they never stopped, but he managed them.
He later said the physical discomfort escalated rapidly after the 20-minute mark. His diaphragm seized repeatedly, and his body sent strong signals to breathe. However, the diver chose to stay calm because he had trained for this.
Afterward, Maričić described the experience as mentally steady but physically punishing. But even then, at no point did he consider stopping.
His Performance Resembles That of Marine Mammals
Everyone knows that holding their breath isn’t unusual for animals that live in the sea. Bottlenose dolphins can manage about 15 minutes underwater without effort, while harbor seals often double that, sometimes crossing the 30-minute mark. However, humans don’t come close to that. We extract only a fraction of the oxygen animals like seals can draw in with each breath.
Maričić found a way to close that gap, at least temporarily. By preloading his system with pure oxygen and remaining completely still, he gave his body a fighting chance. It’s a method similar to what doctors use to safely extend breath-hold time during surgery, but in those cases, the process is medically controlled.
The Risks Behind the Record
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Shortly after the event, Maričić posted on Instagram and emphasized that this is not an activity that people should try to break casually. Breathing pure oxygen for extended periods carries serious health risks, such as oxygen toxicity, which can cause convulsions or blackouts. High carbon dioxide levels can also cause confusion, vomiting, and loss of consciousness. Even trained divers limit their exposure carefully.
For this reason, the athlete made it clear that a milestone of this kind requires deep physiological understanding and controlled conditions. Without those, attempting a similar breath hold can be fatal.