He Can Hold a Single Breath for 24 Minutes

Croatian freediver Budimir Šobat made headlines in March 2021 when he held his breath for a staggering 24 minutes and 37 seconds, breaking the world record for static apnea with pure oxygen. (Static means he stays at the water's surface; oxygen refers to the pure oxygen he inhales prior holding his breath.) During the attempt, Šobat, 56 at the time, entered such a deep state of calm that he briefly fell asleep underwater—a risky move, since a lapse in awareness could have led to a blackout or worse. As Sean Williams writes in a lengthy piece for Outside Online, Šobat's journey to this point was anything but straightforward.

A former soldier, bodybuilder, and onetime heavy drinker, he turned to freediving at 46 after years of searching for purpose. "Incredibly, he was still smoking 40 cigarettes a day" while notching seven-minute breath holds, notes Williams. He quit the cigarettes. His daughter—who was born in 2000 and diagnosed with cerebral palsy, autism, and epilepsy—plays a key role in his story. Šobat and his wife dedicated themselves fully to her care, which demanded the same relentless discipline he brought to sports. He credits the patience and resilience required as a parent to a child with disabilities for his mental toughness in freediving. As Williams explains, mind-control is a key part of the sport: The brain gobbles up 20% of the body's oxygen, which means quieting the mind is necessary.

Despite skepticism from some in the freediving community—who view the use of the pure oxygen he breathes for the 30 minutes prior to his attempts as "doping"—Šobat sees his record as a way to raise awareness for autism and his daughter's needs. His unofficial best without oxygen is 10:17—that's the 4th best time on record. Now 60, Šobat continues to train, coach, and compete against athletes decades younger. Indeed, Outside tacks on an editor's note that explains freedriver Vitomir Maricic in June bested Šobat's record with a 29-minute, 3-second breath-hold. But Šobat is already training for another attempt. (Read the fascinating full profile here.)