Longest swim under ice - breath held (no fins, no diving suit, male)

The longest swim under ice - breath held (no fins, no diving suit) is 80.99 m (265 ft 8.58 in) and was achieved by David Vencl (Czech Republic), in Lahošť, Czech Republic, on 23 February 2021.

David was inspired to make this attempt by fellow freediver Johanna Nordblad.

He has always had an affinity with water since he was a child. David was always found diving and cannonballing into the swimming pool!

It wasn't until 2012 that he decided to take a course on freediving, and in 2015 he started racing.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, David did not have the opportunity to visit swimming pools in the Czech Republic in order to train for the attempt, so he trained through dry apnea (holding the breath out of the water - at rest in bed or in motion while walking or exercising).

"It was much harder to train cold resistance. So I practiced winter swimming for up to 20 minutes three times a week in the lake. On the balcony I had a barrel of salt water, which sometimes had minus 4 degrees. I dived naked in that water, including my head, and held my breath for up to 5 minutes."

Thanks to all the rigorous training, there were no challenges on the day of the attempt and David said that the actual attempt was easier than the training.