How far can you swim under water with one breathe?

Pretty badly, about 15m. I’m not a great swimmer.

However long a HS swimming pool is, I used to do that often. I’m can’t even go half that now and I’m in much better shape.

This is a running message board. What is your 5k time?

On March 16, 2000, Hof set the Guinness World Record for farthest swim under ice, with a distance of 57.5 metres (188.6 ft).The swim at a lake near Pello, Finland was filmed for a Dutch television program, and a test run the previous day almost ended in disaster when his cornea started to freeze

bad idea wrote:

It is a bad idea to try unless you are closely supervised when you try it.

Can the Mods add an edit to the first post with something like this? It isnt just a bad idea, it absolutely shouldnt be done without supervision. Any sort of breath hold practice should never be done alone, especially in water.

With immediate supervision (immediate means somebody within arms reach and watching only you), it is relatively low (but not zero) risk. The person spotting you should also know what they are watching for. There are youtube videos showing how to minimize risk while doing this, courtesy of the fact that people do this competitively. I'd suggest anybody considering doing this watch them.

Also, parents of teenagers with a backyard pool, I'd suggest talking about this with your kids. Teenagers (usually boys) die every year in their own backyard because they think this sounds fun. It is fun, but the risk can be greatly diminished by following some simple rules with a buddy.

I used to hyperventilate and swim in a 60' pool.

My maximum was six laps, 360 feet on one breath..

I also routinely dived 120' when abalone diving.

50m long course dolphin kicking.

I was experimenting with kicking extended distances in the 100 fly before the 15m rule was added for Fly / Free. The longest I did in a race was 35m off the start and 20m off the turn.

57:10 (50m pool).

HG: Saxischshevnormal Harry.

HP: Kom zu forunzerer stemmenzin

HG: Der Schwarzsee das ist schonmalklar

HP: In einer stundermuss dusfinden

HG: lnfaltzklar, nay haben ofpotensehayproblematisch

HP: Potenser problematisch?

Wann hast dudasletze mal unter wasser eine stunde angeluftangehalten ?

Spirit7 wrote:

I used to hyperventilate and swim in a 60' pool.

My maximum was six laps, 360 feet on one breath..

I also routinely dived 120' when abalone diving.

Are you sure? That is a long, long time sans air. Are you a world class swimmer?

The distance a person can swim underwater on a single breath varies widely and depends on factors such as individual lung capacity, fitness level, and breath-holding ability. On average, many people can hold their breath for around 30 seconds to two minutes. Competitive freedivers, who train extensively to improve breath-holding capacity, can often achieve much longer durations.

I was a high school state-level swimmer who specialized in the breast stroke and IM. In a contest in our swimming team I placed second with three lengths of a 25 yard pool - push off start (no dive). Another guy who knew how far I had gone made three lengths and pushed quickly off the wall and surfaced a few feet into the fourth length. Most on the team could not make two lengths.

Twelve years of posting, no one has stated why a person can or cannot swim without breathing. The reason you were able to swim without breathing was stored oxygen in your spleen. Running fitness doesn't correlate strongly with stored oxygen in spleen. Stored oxygen in spleen is how all mammals swim without breathing.

This is an extremely important point. Do not try to push yourself underwater without breathing, unless you have a friend present, who can jump in and save you. I’m serious. It can be very dangerous. Even experience swimmers can blackout.

Sounds about right.

Holding breath a long time, whether stationary or exerting, does not a good swimmer make;

I did like 2.5-2.75 lengths of a 25yd pool underwater on a single breath, and my best 500yd time is only 8 minutes

Your results are bizarre if true.

You're basically telling us, from age 3 while your swim club teammates were putting work in, you were practicing holding your breath for as long as possible.

You cannot break 8 minutes for 500 yards? That's slow swimming. It would be interesting to see what you look like swimming.