The Deepest Bear Beats his Static World Record!

In May the Deepest Bear in the World joined all the top freedivers at the Sony Freediver Open Classic Competition. You can see his photos on another page of this site. While he was there he took the opportunity to make an attempt at his own world record in static apnea.
Previously, the bear's best was 2 and half hours - no mean feat! However the excellent company, warm sunshine and ability to show off in front of so many top freedivers inspired him to have another go. One sunny afternoon, Deepest Bear and his supporters met at the poolside to attempt an unbelievable 3 hour static breath hold! The world's press were there with cameras from London, Netherlands, Cyprus and Canada. Deepest Bear clearly needed quite a few safety divers to cover this long hold and these included some of the best freedivers in the world. Safety for the critical first hour was carried out by Christian and Esme Jones, future freedivers and offspring of Howard.
As the Deepest Bear prepared to surface, the crowds gathered. Bill Stromberg gave the bear a tap at 2 hours and all was well. As the all important three hour mark approached, judges Kirk Krack and Martin Stepanek knelt by the poolside with the official timer, you could have cut the atmosphere wiht a knife. Just after the three hour tap, Deepest Bear surfaced with a roar of triumph and posed endlessly for the gathered media before indulging in some honey as a celebration. Here are the photos and thanks to all who helped. DB xx

***News Flash - Deepest Bear has smashed his previous PB to pieces and achieved a new personal best static apnea breathhold of 3 HOURS!! ***