Herbert Nitsch

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Herbert Nitsch

Born 20 April 1970 (1970-04-20) (age 38)
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, 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 Spetses, Greece [[1]] in June 2007 when he descended to 214 m, beating his own record set the previous year at 183 m. He also holds the world record 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, Egypt, in December 2006, he teamed up with his current Coach, Marcus Greatwood (from NoTanx) and not only set Constant Weight dive of 111 m, knocking 2 m off the record Guillaume Néry, but also claimed the Static Apnea record of 9:04.

Nitsch worked hard in 2007 and on 14th June 2007 he achieved 214 m (702 feet) in Spetses, Greece on a revolutionary sled. Building on his fitness for the No Limits Herbert set the Constant weight (No Fins) record during The Triple Depth in Dahab, Egypt, and went on to push the Constant record to 112m during the World Championships in Sharm. Herbert also won the AIDA Individual World Championships.

Of the other five AIDA recognised events, Nitsch has been the world record holder in four: Static Apnea, Dynamic Apnea, Free Immersion and Dynamic Apnea without fins. He set a time of 9 mins 4 secs for the world Static Apnea record in December 2006 when he held his breath underwater in a swimming pool in Hurgada, a time that was beaten by 4 secs later in 2007 by Tom Sietas of Germany. 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 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 50 m.

[edit] World Records

apnea Record Date Location
DNF 131 m 27 January 2001 Geneva
DYN 170 m 24 February 2001 Geneva
CWT 86 m 11 October 2001 Ibiza
DYN 172 m 10 November 2001 Berlin
DNF 134 m 24 November 2001 Wiesbaden
DYN 181 m 2 February 2002 Vienna
FIM 92 m 27 February 2002 Austria
DYN 183 m 16 November 2002 Berlin
FIM 100 m 5 September 2003 Millstätter Lake
CWT 95 m 5 September 2003 Millstätter Lake
CNF 50 m 6 September 2003 Millstätter Lake
CNF 62 m 11 September 2004 Spetses (Greece)
CNF 66 m 12 September 2004 Spetses
NLT 172 m 2 October 2005 Žirje (Croatia)
NLT 183 m 28 August 2006 Žirje
CWT 111 m 9 December 2006 Hurghada (Egypt)
STA 9 min 4 sec 13 December 2006 Hurghada
NLT 185 m 13 June 2007 Spetses
NLT 214 m 14 June 2007 Spetses
CNF 83 m 21 October 2007 Dahab (Egypt)
CWT 112 m 1 November 2007 Sharm (Egypt)

[edit] References

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