Longest Breath Holding Under water by an Individual

Now that might seem like a yogic penance of  a sort.Breath has always been the difference between life and death.And to control such a vital element which proves our existence can just be out of our limits of understanding and imagination.
Yes German diver Thomas Sietas aged  35 years  has challenged human convictions with a lung capacity of  more than 20 percent   of an average individual.This extra attribute in him has never deterred him to  harness  this potential out.

Sietas was  competing in Changsha, China alongside former underwater breath-holding world record holder Ricardo Bahaia of Brazil, and defeated Bahaia's record of 20:21  by over 2 minutes.It may look as if this guy would  have had  the assistance of  oxygen  cylinders .But seriously  not  this was all his effort.

The pair of  Sietas and Bahaia were dropped into clear side-by-side tanks containing water cooled to 41 degrees Fahrenheit to help them relax and calm their bodies. The temperature was slowly raised and by the time they were done, it had hit 95 degrees.Sietas has set the record for static apnea ( a term for holding breath for long)  not once but several times.He used to swim distances holding his breath and that took the notice of his scuba instructor to note his unusual ability to hold breath.

And ever since then from 2000 he has been setting new benchmarks on his remarkable ability to hold breath underwater.He makes his preparation by avoiding food atleast five hours before the stunt to slow down the body metabolism and then goes out to fill his lungs with  pure oxygen which can add more than 10  minutes to his time.

He held his breath for a  long 22 minutes,22 seconds which might leave us all bewildered if we had directly watched the feat.Sietas made news on June 4,2012 at Germany.