Personally, I think these people are kind of nuts, but it is quite amazing. No limits for free diving record breaker October 13, 2003 Cabo San Lucas (Mexico): Francisco "Pipin' Ferreras broke his own world record for "no-limits" free diving yesterday, descending 170m into Los Cabos Bay on just one breath of air. The historic dive took about two minutes and 40 seconds and saw Ferreras plummet to record-depth using a weighted sled, then rocket back up to the surface when his air tanks inflated. Decompression wasn't needed because he didn't breathe in any air during the dive. Ferreras, who was born in Cuba but lives in Miami, founded the International Association of Free Divers. He set the previous record of 162 metres in January 2000. Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the death of his wife, French-born Audrey Mestre, 28, who died after plunging into waters near La Romana, Dominican Republic, with a target depth of 171m. Dressed in a blue and black wet suit, Ferreras took more than 20 minutes to prepare mentally and physically for the dive, floating on his sled under a hot overhead sun in the middle of a calm bay. Dozens of spectators watched from a nearby inflatable pier set up for the event. The crowd, which fell silent so as not to disturb him before his dive, roared when he disappeared underneath the water. When Ferreras emerged, fans presented him with a bouquet of white flowers, which he threw into the ocean one-by-one in a solemn ceremony commemorating the loss of his wife. Among those watching from the floating pier was director James Cameron, who called a news conference in the resort city of Cabo San Lucas on Friday to announce he was using two mini-submarines loaded with cameras to film Ferreras' dive. Cameron also said his production company was in the process of obtaining the rights to make a film about the lives of Ferreras and Mestre. "We haven't begun casting; this is something that's just beginning," the director said. Also among the spectators yesterday was Mexican-born actress Salma Hayek. Ferreras did not speak to reporters after his dive, but said before it that attempting to break the world record "made him feel more alive than ever," despite conjuring up sad memories of his wife's death. "More than a record it's a tribute to Audrey," he said. - Sapa-AP
so his wife died doing this extreme stuff... and he's still doing it? as a "tribute"?!? some people...
Record Freedive Attempt Turns Tragic Compiled by Outside Online October 14, 2002 Freediving star Audrey Mestre died on Saturday while attempting to set a new world depth record off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Mestre, 28, of Miami, Florida, was hoping to reach a depth of 561 feet below the surface on a single breath near La Romana. The "no-limits" dive—a form of freediving in which divers ride weighted sleds down along a steel cable until they reach their goal and switch to an inflated bag that rockets them back to the surface—was expected to last between two and a half and three minutes. According to a report by the Associated Press, Mestre was pulled to the surface by scuba divers nine minutes and 44 seconds after she began her descent. Thirteen safety divers were in the water for the attempt. "An accident happened down there,'' the AP quoted Carlos Serra, president of the International Association of Free Divers, the group sanctioning the event, as saying. "We believe something hit the sled. When she came out of the water she was foaming from the mouth and bleeding.'' Medics on scene reportedly tried to resuscitate her before she was sped to a beach hotel, where she was pronounced dead. Her body was taken to Santo Domingo for an autopsy. According to Jeff Blumenfeld, a spokesman for Mares, a diving equipment manufacture and Mestre's sponsor, the preliminary cause of death was drowning. The cause of the accident is unknown. DisplayAds ("Middle!Middle", "250", "250"); Had Mestre returned safely from 561 feet, she would have bested the current "no limits" record of 531.5 feet, held by her husband and IAFD founder, 40-year-old freediving legend Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras. She had already unofficially broken the record twice in practice sessions, reaching 544.6 feet on October 4, and 557.7 feet on October 9. "She was at the top of her game, going for an absolute record," said Blumenfeld. "She was a pioneer as much as the first man who climbed Everest." I watched a strange little movie that centers around freediving called the "The Big Blue" - its eerie when they dive. The movie stars Jean Reno the actor from La Femme Nikita its a good picture.
I din't know this guy from Adam, but have you ever noticed how many people dedicate doing whatever they want to do to someone else,as though it were a sacrifice?
Very true. Also, when people just go through with something that was planned as if nothing had happened when someone dies, they always say "he would have wanted it that way"...sometimes this might be true, but sometimes it just seems like it is easy to infer what the deceased might have wanted in order to do what one wants to do anyway.
There was an article earlier in the year about him and his late wife in, I believe, Sports Illustrated. Very interesting read.
