Herbert Nitsch

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Herbert Nitsch
Born	20 April 1970 Austria
Occupation	Free-diver, pilot

Herbert Nitsch (born 20 April 1970) is an Austrian free-diver who has held world records in seven of the eight apnea free-diving disciplines recognised by AIDA International and as of 2007 is the current holder of three of the eight.

Nitsch, who works part time as a pilot for Tyrolean Airways, is the current holder of the world Static Apnea record: in December 2006 he held his breath underwater in a swimming pool in Hurghada, Egypt for 9 mins 4 secs. He holds the No Limits record, the prestigious title of "Deepest man on Earth" in which the diver can make use of a weighted sled to descend as far as possible and uses an air-filled balloon to return to the surface. Nitsch set the world record in Croatia in August 2006 when he descended to 183 m, beating his own record set the year before by 11 m. In training he claims to have gone below 200 m. His third world record is in the Constant Weight event, which is considered by many to be the classic free-diving discipline: the diver descends next to a line, not using the line and unaided by a sled, and must maintain a constant weight, meaning that no weight can be dropped for the return to the surface. Nitsch exceeded the then world record in 2006 when he dived to a depth of 110 m, but failure to complete the strict surfacing protocols within the alloted time meant the dive was disqualified. In Hurghada, in December 2006, at the same competition where he claimed the Static record, Nitch managed a Constant Weight dive of 111 m, knocking 2 m off the record French diver, Guillaume Néry, had set in September of that year. Nitsch is ranked number one in the world for both the Constant Weight and Constant Weight (no fins) events.

Of the other five AIDA recognised events, Nitsch has been the world record holder in four: Dynamic Apnea, Free Immersion, Constant Weight without fins and Dynamic Apnea without fins. His record of 66 m for Constant Weight without fins, set in 2004, was beaten by 14 m in 2005 by Czech free-diver, Martin Štěpánek, who is also the holder of the Free Immersion record of 106 m; Nitsch recorded 100 m in September 2003, but his record was bettered by a dive of 101 m by Carlos Coste of Venezuela in October the same year and then twice improved upon by Štěpánek. Nitsch's Dynamic Apnea record, 183 m set in 2002, has been beaten by 40 m by Tom Sietas of Germany, and women's champion, Natalia Molchanova of Russia, has also swum further at 200 m. Sietas also holds the Dynamic Apnea without fins record at 183 m, beating Nitsch's 2001 distance of 134 m by almost 40 m.

Nitsch intends to make an attempt on the one record he has never held, Variable Weight, in 2007.