Free Divers Hold Their Breath And Battle It Out Under Water

In the crystal waters of the Caribbean Sea these two free divers battle it out on one breath and only one "survives". Take a look at this extreme showdown!

If this were on dry land, it would probably qualify as something of a medley between The Matrix, superhero movies and wire fu! The added suspension from the thickness of sea water makes all those precisely choreographed moves look like piece of cake!

They kick and toss each other in the water and, even though there is some royalty-free music playing in the background, we can almost imagine the verbal fight going on between them!

“You can’t stop me, fool!”

“It is time to meet your end!”

Who knows how long they shot these scenes, however, when you take into consideration how long these freedivers can hold their breath, we think it is safe to say that it was no hassle for them!

In ancient times freediving without the aid of mechanical devices was the only possibility, with the exception of the occasional use of reeds and leather breathing bladders. The divers faced the same problems as divers today, such as decompression sickness and blacking out during a breath hold. Freediving was practiced in ancient cultures to gather food, harvest resources such as sponge and pearl, reclaim sunken valuables, and to help aid military campaigns.

Nowadays, freediving spans over several subcategories, such as spearfishing and collection of shellfish, but also in competitive sports, like competitive spearfishing, synchronised swimming, underwater hockey, underwater football, even underwater rugby!