Herbert Nitsch

During his career, Nitsch has held 32 world records across eight AIDA-recognised disciplines: Dynamic Apnea, Dynamic apnea without fins, Static Apnea, Constant Weight, Constant Weight without Fins, Free Immersion, Variable Weight, and No-Limits. Currently AIDA is no longer involved in No-Limits events. Dynamic Apnea and Dynamic without Fins Nitsch's first Dynamic Apnea record made in January of 2001 was also the first world record with a monofin. Prior to that, bi-fins (stereo fins) were used. His last Dynamic Apnea record of set in 2002, was bested by Tom Sietas. During Nitsch's first Dynamic without Fins record of , he introduced the neckweight (a weighted thick necklace, which he made by filling a bicycle innertube with lead pallets). The neckweight allowed him to swim more horizontally and hydrodynamically underwater compared to a weight belt around the waist. Tom Sietas beat Nitsch's last 2001 distance of . Constant Weight and Constant Weight without Fins Nitsch also held 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 depth in 2006 when he dived to a depth of , but failure to complete the strict surfacing protocols within the allotted time meant that the dive was disqualified. In Hurghada, Egypt, in December 2006, he set a Constant Weight world record dive of , exceeding Guillaume Néry's previous record by 2 m. In April 2009 he set a Constant Weight world record Vertical Blue competition at the Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas of and . In 2010 he improved this to respectively and at the same location. His record of for Constant Weight without Fins, set in 2004, was beaten by 14 m in 2005 by Czech free-diver, Martin Štěpánek. In October of 2007, he set the Constant Weight without Fins record to during The Triple Depth in Dahab, Egypt, and went on to push the Constant Weight record to during the World Championships in Sharm. Herbert also won the AIDA Individual World Championships. Static Apnea Nitsch 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. on the last day of the competition, beating by 6 m the previous record that he had set a few days earlier. He used his arms only in the last of this ascent, with a total dive time of 3:58. In December of 2009 at the Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas, Nitsch broke three world records in three subsequent days: Variable Weight at ; Free Immersion at ; and Constant Weight at . Retirement During his last competition before retiring from competitive freediving, in April 2010 at Vertical Blue again at the Dean's Blue Hole in Bahamas, Nitsch set another three world records. He landed two subsequent ones in Free Immersion at and , and a world record in Constant Weight at . Nitsch focused solely on the No Limit discipline after this, in which the record attempts fall outside of regulated competition. == No Limit freediving ==

Nitsch holds the No-Limits record and the title of "Deepest man on Earth" in Spetses, Greece in June 2007 when he descended to , beating his own subsequent records of respectively ,, and . Later attempt and serious injury In 2012, Nitsch returned to the "No Limit" category in the waters off Santorini, Greece, with a project labeled "Extreme 800", aiming for a depth of . Following extensive training using an innovative torpedo-type sled design of very high descend and ascend speed, on 6 June 2012, Nitsch managed to reach a depth of , a Guinness World Record, but ten minutes after the dive he began experiencing serious symptoms of decompression sickness. Nitsch temporarily fell asleep due to nitrogen narcosis during the last part of the ascent (as opposed to through oxygen starvation), and woke up prior to reaching the surface. Following a planned post-dive decompression, breathing medical oxygen at a shallow depth, he signaled to his support team that he felt much weaker than normal and his condition was assessed as critical enough to require an air transfer to a pre-alerted decompression chamber in Athens, where he received treatment. He incurred multiple brain strokes due to severe decompression sickness. He subsequently received extensive decompression treatment in Germany. The initial prognosis was that he would need home care and be unable to walk without assistance. However, through extensive rehabilitation, he made a strong recovery. He still has balance and coordination problems on land, but does not experience them underwater. He continues to deep free-dive. == Other career ==

Nitsch also worked as a pilot and Captain for Tyrolean Airways for fifteen years. He flew full-time from 1995 until 2008, and thereafter part-time until late 2010. == Awards and honors ==

The asteroid 295471 Herbertnitsch, discovered by Italian amateur astronomer Vincenzo Casulli in 2008, was named in his honor. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 27 August 2019 (). == Official records ==

Nitsch remains to date the only person that achieved world records across all of AIDA's eight freediving disciplines, in addition to the one he had set in the Greek discipline of Skandalopetra. 72m = AIDA Lake Record; after 2001-12-31 AIDA International no longer separated the records achieved in a lake from those in the sea. == Personal bests ==

;Documentaries and TV • 2017: Herbert Nitsch, The Deepest Man On Earth, by UPROXX – • 2016: Supertalent Mensch: Körperbeherrscher, by Terra X – • 2013: Back from the Abyss / Züruck as der Tiefe, the multiple award-winning documentary by Red Bull Media House - Trailer Back from the Abyss: and • 2012: La Dernière Frontière, by Camera Lucida - • 2011: The man who can hold his breath for nine minutes – Inside the Human Body: First to Last, by BBC One- • 2009: Apnoetauchen: Neun Minuten ohne einen Atemzug, by Focus Online – • 2009: Stefan Raab by TV Total • 2009: Aeschbacher by SRF ;Publicity • 2017: Hyundai Fuel Cell Car Unveiling, by Hyundai - and • 2011: Extreme 800, by Breitling - == References ==