New Record for Variable Ballast : A Personal Account
Posted By Patrick Musimu on 20 November 2002
I open my eyes and flash a victory sign to the camera. I close my eyes again and start my ascent. I concentrate on every muscle required to extract me from the pull of gravity. I keep repeating to myself: "You've done it". As I progress I hear the divers banging on their tanks and screaming in their regulators. I answer them with a big smile, showing them that everything is OK. My lungs, squeezed to the extreme, start deploying again, as if I were pulling myself out of another dimension.
Last signal. I open my eyes to see Isabelle escorting me the last 20 meters. I break the surface screaming, expressing my joy. According to the federation's rules nobody can touch me for the next 60 seconds, to prove the depth was mastered.
The dive was completed in 3 minutes and 10 seconds: a 1:10 descent and a 2:00 minute ascent. A fully-equipped staff of 7 doctors and paramedics of SSS Hyperbaric Chambers was present to supervise the safety of the event, and waited with us for the last diver to come up after his 135 minutes of decompression time.
I would like to thank my partners: SSS Hyperbaric chambers, Bahia Divers, Bahia Principe, TDI/SDI Mexico, Placid SA, Poseidon Mexico, Sunbreeze Ambergris Caye, Barefoot Watersports, Fundacion Ecological, and Xel-Ha, who contributed to the realization and safety of this world record attempt.
I want to dedicate this dive in person to all the friends we made during this event,
See you down there!
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