WEBVTT 00:00:11.210 --> 00:00:12.704 (Video) 00:00:12.704 --> 00:00:14.589 (Man) 10 seconds 00:00:17.871 --> 00:00:22.777 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 00:00:22.797 --> 00:00:24.428 Official top 00:00:24.428 --> 00:00:28.857 Plus 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 00:00:28.857 --> 00:00:33.383 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 00:00:37.009 --> 00:00:39.410 Guillaume Nery, France 00:00:39.410 --> 00:00:43.073 Constant weight, 123 metres, 00:00:43.073 --> 00:00:45.054 3 minutes and 25 seconds 00:00:45.054 --> 00:00:48.279 National record attempt 00:01:19.053 --> 00:01:20.547 70 metres 00:01:31.331 --> 00:01:35.102 [123 metres] 00:02:20.322 --> 00:02:24.003 (Applause) 00:02:24.003 --> 00:02:27.055 (Woman) National record! 00:02:27.056 --> 00:02:28.627 Guillaume Nery: Thank you. 00:02:28.637 --> 00:02:32.039 (Applause) 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:34.523 Thank you very much. Thanks for your warm welcome. 00:02:34.523 --> 00:02:37.976 That dive you just watched was a journey. 00:02:37.976 --> 00:02:40.199 A journey between two breaths. 00:02:41.331 --> 00:02:45.635 A journey which starts between two breaths, 00:02:45.635 --> 00:02:48.236 the last one before diving into the water, 00:02:48.236 --> 00:02:51.407 and the first one coming back to the surface. 00:02:51.407 --> 00:02:55.908 That dive was a journey to the very limits of human possibility. 00:02:55.908 --> 00:02:58.202 A journey into the unknown. 00:02:58.202 --> 00:03:01.641 But it's also, and above all, a personal journey, 00:03:01.951 --> 00:03:04.318 where all sorts of things go on: 00:03:04.318 --> 00:03:06.805 Physiologically and mentally. 00:03:06.805 --> 00:03:08.638 And that's why I'm here today, 00:03:08.638 --> 00:03:11.994 to share my journey with you, and to take you with me. 00:03:11.994 --> 00:03:14.459 So, we start with the last breath. 00:03:16.349 --> 00:03:19.924 (Breathing in) 00:03:29.434 --> 00:03:31.510 (Breathing out) 00:03:31.510 --> 00:03:33.715 As you've just seen, it's slow, 00:03:33.715 --> 00:03:35.775 deep and intense. 00:03:35.775 --> 00:03:38.467 And I end it with a special technique, called the carp, 00:03:38.467 --> 00:03:41.946 which allows me to store one or two extra litres of air in my lungs 00:03:41.946 --> 00:03:43.843 by compressing the air. 00:03:44.243 --> 00:03:46.921 Off I go; I leave the surface, 00:03:46.921 --> 00:03:49.889 and I've got about 10 litres of air in my lungs. 00:03:50.989 --> 00:03:54.527 I've just left the surface and so the first mechanism kicks in -- 00:03:54.527 --> 00:03:56.225 the diving reflex. 00:03:56.235 --> 00:04:00.985 The first thing the diving reflex does is make your heart rate drop. 00:04:00.985 --> 00:04:03.663 My heart beat will drop from about 60-70 per minute, 00:04:03.663 --> 00:04:05.802 to about 30-40 beats per minute, 00:04:05.802 --> 00:04:08.412 in a matter of seconds; almost immediately. 00:04:08.412 --> 00:04:11.525 Second, the diving reflex causes peripheral vasoconstriction, 00:04:11.525 --> 00:04:15.717 which means that the blood flow will leave the extremities 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:19.063 and prioritise the most important organs: 00:04:19.570 --> 00:04:22.991 the lungs, the heart, and the brain. 00:04:23.941 --> 00:04:27.400 Now, this mechanism is innate. 00:04:27.400 --> 00:04:28.904 I cannot control it. 00:04:28.904 --> 00:04:31.720 If you go underwater, even if you've never done it before, 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:34.089 you'll experience the exact same effects. 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:37.736 All human beings have this instinct. 00:04:37.736 --> 00:04:39.686 And what's extraordinary 00:04:39.686 --> 00:04:44.488 is that we share this instinct with marine mammals. 00:04:44.498 --> 00:04:47.834 All marine mammals: dolphins, whales, sea lions, etc. 00:04:47.834 --> 00:04:50.428 When they dive, deep into the ocean, 00:04:50.428 --> 00:04:52.670 these mechanisms get activated 00:04:52.670 --> 00:04:54.232 but to a greater extent 00:04:54.232 --> 00:04:56.956 and, of course, it works much better for them. 00:04:58.286 --> 00:04:59.818 It's absolutely fascinating. 00:04:59.818 --> 00:05:03.162 Leaving the surface, I'm right away given a push in the right direction 00:05:03.162 --> 00:05:06.165 allowing me to head on down with confidence. 00:05:06.203 --> 00:05:08.158 So I go deeper into the blue, 00:05:08.158 --> 00:05:12.573 the pressure will slowly start to squeeze my lungs, 00:05:12.573 --> 00:05:16.062 and since it's the amount of air in my lungs that makes me float, 00:05:16.062 --> 00:05:18.909 the further down I go, the more pressure there is on my lungs, 00:05:18.909 --> 00:05:22.267 the less air I have to breathe, the easier it becomes to go down. 00:05:22.267 --> 00:05:25.294 And at one point, around 35 or 40 metres down, 00:05:25.294 --> 00:05:28.584 I don't even need to swim. 00:05:28.614 --> 00:05:30.825 My body is dense and heavy enough 00:05:30.825 --> 00:05:33.585 to fall into the depths by itself 00:05:33.585 --> 00:05:36.311 and I'm in what is called the free fall phase. 00:05:36.311 --> 00:05:39.057 Free fall is the best part of the dive. 00:05:39.057 --> 00:05:41.052 It's why I still dive. 00:05:41.062 --> 00:05:44.824 Because it feels like you're being pulled down 00:05:45.830 --> 00:05:47.551 and you don't have to do anything. 00:05:47.551 --> 00:05:51.636 I can go down from 35 metres to 123 metres without making a single movement. 00:05:51.636 --> 00:05:55.404 I let myself be grabbed by the depths, and it feels like I'm flying underwater. 00:05:55.404 --> 00:05:59.232 It's a truly unbelievable feeling, a wonderful feeling of freedom. 00:05:59.232 --> 00:06:02.238 And so I slide, slowly, to the bottom. 00:06:02.238 --> 00:06:03.715 40 metres down, 00:06:03.715 --> 00:06:05.036 50 metres down, 00:06:05.036 --> 00:06:09.263 and between 50 and 60 metres down, a second physiological response kicks in: 00:06:10.003 --> 00:06:12.413 my lungs reach residual volume. 00:06:12.413 --> 00:06:14.489 It's the theoretical volume 00:06:14.489 --> 00:06:17.533 below which our lungs are not supposed to be compressed. 00:06:17.533 --> 00:06:20.940 And so this second response is the (English) "blood shift". 00:06:20.940 --> 00:06:23.543 The proper term in French is "pulmonary erection". 00:06:24.483 --> 00:06:27.179 I prefer "blood shift". (Laughter) 00:06:27.179 --> 00:06:28.941 Let's just use "blood shift". 00:06:28.941 --> 00:06:30.501 So how does it work? 00:06:30.501 --> 00:06:34.728 The capillaries in the lungs become engorged with blood 00:06:34.728 --> 00:06:36.062 due to pressure 00:06:36.062 --> 00:06:37.898 so the lungs can harden 00:06:37.898 --> 00:06:40.728 and protect the whole chest cavity from being crushed. 00:06:40.728 --> 00:06:44.249 It prevents the two walls of the lungs from collapsing, 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:46.467 sticking together or caving in. 00:06:46.467 --> 00:06:50.202 Thanks to this phenomenon, which we also share with marine mammals, 00:06:50.203 --> 00:06:51.993 I can continue with my dive. 00:06:51.993 --> 00:06:53.059 60 metres down, 00:06:53.059 --> 00:06:54.016 70 metres down, 00:06:54.016 --> 00:06:55.747 I keep falling, faster and faster, 00:06:55.747 --> 00:06:58.526 because the pressure is crushing my body, more and more. 00:06:58.526 --> 00:07:00.333 Below 80 metres, 00:07:00.333 --> 00:07:02.559 the pressure becomes a lot stronger, 00:07:02.559 --> 00:07:04.849 and I start to actually feel it. 00:07:04.849 --> 00:07:06.830 I really start to feel the oppression. 00:07:06.830 --> 00:07:09.098 You can see how it looks -- not pretty at all. 00:07:09.098 --> 00:07:11.450 The diaphragm is completely collapsed, 00:07:11.450 --> 00:07:13.985 the ribcage has been squeezed in, 00:07:13.995 --> 00:07:16.760 and mentally, there is something going on, as well. 00:07:16.760 --> 00:07:19.444 You're thinking: "OK, this doesn't feel too good..." 00:07:19.444 --> 00:07:21.528 "What should I do?" 00:07:21.528 --> 00:07:23.153 If I relied on my earthly reflexes, 00:07:23.153 --> 00:07:26.771 what do we do on the surface when there's a problem? 00:07:26.771 --> 00:07:28.993 We want to resist, we go against it. 00:07:28.993 --> 00:07:30.383 We fight. 00:07:30.393 --> 00:07:31.868 Underwater, that doesn't work. 00:07:31.868 --> 00:07:34.330 If you try that underwater, you might tear your lungs, 00:07:34.330 --> 00:07:36.079 spit up blood, develop an edema, 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.969 and then you have to stop. For a while, at least. 00:07:38.969 --> 00:07:42.342 So what you need to do, mentally, is to tell yourself 00:07:42.342 --> 00:07:45.196 that nature is stronger, the elements are stronger than you. 00:07:45.196 --> 00:07:47.817 And so I let the water crush me. 00:07:47.817 --> 00:07:49.652 I accept the pressure, 00:07:49.652 --> 00:07:51.002 and go with it. 00:07:51.262 --> 00:07:53.659 At this point, I'm giving my body this information, 00:07:53.659 --> 00:07:55.692 my lungs start relaxing. 00:07:55.692 --> 00:07:57.540 I relinquish all control, 00:07:57.540 --> 00:07:59.018 and relax completely. 00:07:59.018 --> 00:08:02.587 The pressure starts crushing me, and it doesn't feel horrible at all. 00:08:02.587 --> 00:08:04.537 I even feel like I'm in a cocoon, 00:08:04.537 --> 00:08:06.035 I even feel protected. 00:08:06.035 --> 00:08:08.567 And the dive continues. 00:08:08.567 --> 00:08:10.250 80 metres, 85 metres down, 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:11.524 90, 00:08:11.524 --> 00:08:12.716 100, 00:08:12.716 --> 00:08:15.959 100 metres -- that's a magic number. 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:17.735 In every sport, it's a magic number. 00:08:17.735 --> 00:08:20.056 For swimmers and athletes, and for us too, 00:08:20.056 --> 00:08:22.457 for free divers, it's a number everyone dreams of. 00:08:22.457 --> 00:08:25.770 Everyone wishes to be able to go down 100 metres one day. 00:08:25.790 --> 00:08:29.424 And it's a quite symbolic number for us, because doctors and physiologists, 00:08:29.424 --> 00:08:30.643 in the 1970s, 00:08:30.643 --> 00:08:32.262 did their math and predicted 00:08:32.262 --> 00:08:36.883 that the human body would not be able to go below 100 metres. 00:08:36.883 --> 00:08:39.377 Below that, they said, the human body would implode. 00:08:39.377 --> 00:08:42.696 And then the little Frenchman, Jacques Mayol, who you all know -- 00:08:42.696 --> 00:08:44.485 the main character in "The Big Blue" -- 00:08:44.485 --> 00:08:47.556 went for it, and dived down to 100 metres. 00:08:47.556 --> 00:08:49.357 He even went down to 105. 00:08:49.357 --> 00:08:53.159 At that time, he was doing no-limits. He would use weights to go down quicker 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:55.745 and come back up with a balloon, like in "The Big Blue". 00:08:55.751 --> 00:08:57.708 Today, we can go up to 200 metres with no-limits. 00:08:57.708 --> 00:09:00.885 I can do 123 metres, by just using my own muscles. 00:09:00.885 --> 00:09:04.855 And all this is in a way thanks to him, because he challenged known facts, 00:09:04.855 --> 00:09:09.340 because with a sweep of his hand he got rid of the theoretical beliefs 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:12.759 and mental limits that we like to impose on ourselves. 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:16.308 He showed that the human body has an infinite ability to adapt. 00:09:16.308 --> 00:09:17.665 So I carry on on my dive. 00:09:17.665 --> 00:09:20.211 105, 110, 115, 00:09:20.211 --> 00:09:21.771 The bottom is getting closer, 00:09:21.791 --> 00:09:23.369 120 metres, 00:09:23.369 --> 00:09:25.857 123 metres. I'm at the bottom. 00:09:25.857 --> 00:09:29.602 And now, I'd like to ask you to join in and to put yourself in my place. 00:09:29.602 --> 00:09:31.515 Close your eyes. 00:09:31.515 --> 00:09:34.807 Imagine you are 123 metres under the surface. 00:09:36.367 --> 00:09:39.414 The surface is very very far away. 00:09:39.634 --> 00:09:41.090 You're alone. 00:09:42.690 --> 00:09:44.447 There's hardly any light. 00:09:45.347 --> 00:09:46.638 It's cold. 00:09:46.648 --> 00:09:47.951 Bitterly cold. 00:09:48.201 --> 00:09:52.128 The pressure is crushing you completely, 13 times stronger than on the surface. 00:09:53.040 --> 00:09:54.973 And I know what you're thinking, 00:09:54.973 --> 00:09:56.912 "This is horrible!" 00:09:57.162 --> 00:09:58.930 "What the hell am I doing?" 00:09:58.930 --> 00:10:00.813 "He must be crazy!" 00:10:01.453 --> 00:10:02.906 Well, I'm not! 00:10:02.906 --> 00:10:05.141 That's not what I think when I'm down there. 00:10:05.141 --> 00:10:07.067 When I'm at the bottom, I feel good. 00:10:07.067 --> 00:10:09.519 I get this extraordinary feeling of well-being. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:12.291 Maybe it's because I've totally let go of all the tensions 00:10:12.291 --> 00:10:13.955 and I've let myself be taken over. 00:10:13.955 --> 00:10:17.290 I feel good, and I don't even want to breathe. 00:10:19.930 --> 00:10:24.457 Now, that's a bit worrying, I know. 00:10:24.777 --> 00:10:27.477 I feel like I'm a tiny dot, a little drop of water, 00:10:27.477 --> 00:10:29.288 floating in the middle of the ocean. 00:10:29.288 --> 00:10:32.620 And, each time, the same image comes into my head: 00:10:33.096 --> 00:10:34.620 (English) The pale blue dot. 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:38.562 (French) You may recognise this picture. It's literally a pale blue dot. 00:10:38.572 --> 00:10:41.055 It's that little dot the arrow is pointing to. 00:10:41.055 --> 00:10:42.895 Do you know what it is? 00:10:43.645 --> 00:10:45.359 It's planet Earth. 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:48.171 Planet Earth, photographed by the Voyager probe, 00:10:48.171 --> 00:10:51.412 4 billion kilometres away. 00:10:52.402 --> 00:10:55.759 It shows that our home is that dot over here. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.179 That little dot floating in the middle of nothing. 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:02.291 That's how I feel when I'm at the bottom, at 123 metres. 00:11:02.291 --> 00:11:04.275 I feel like a little dot, 00:11:04.275 --> 00:11:07.121 a speck of dust, stardust, 00:11:07.121 --> 00:11:09.359 floating in the middle of the cosmos, 00:11:09.359 --> 00:11:11.972 in the middle of nothing, in the immensity of space. 00:11:11.972 --> 00:11:13.359 It's an amazing sensation, 00:11:13.359 --> 00:11:17.318 because I look up, down, left, right, in front, behind, 00:11:17.318 --> 00:11:20.351 and I see the same thing: the infinite deep blue. 00:11:20.351 --> 00:11:23.026 Nowhere else on Earth you can experience the same thing, 00:11:23.026 --> 00:11:26.992 looking all around you and seeing the same thing. 00:11:26.992 --> 00:11:29.144 It's extraordinary. 00:11:29.144 --> 00:11:32.624 And at that moment, I still get the same feeling, each time, 00:11:32.642 --> 00:11:34.827 building up inside of me, 00:11:34.827 --> 00:11:37.786 a feeling of humility. 00:11:38.966 --> 00:11:40.323 I feel very humbled 00:11:40.323 --> 00:11:43.167 when I look at the photo that was just on the screen, 00:11:43.167 --> 00:11:44.331 (Laughter) 00:11:44.331 --> 00:11:48.077 and when I'm at the bottom, because I'm nothing. 00:11:48.077 --> 00:11:51.957 I'm a little speck of nothingness lost in all of time and space. 00:11:51.957 --> 00:11:54.746 And it's absolutely fascinating. 00:11:54.746 --> 00:11:59.014 I decide to go back up, because I don't belong there. 00:11:59.014 --> 00:12:00.990 I belong up there, on the surface. 00:12:00.990 --> 00:12:03.167 So I start heading back up. 00:12:04.647 --> 00:12:08.819 I get something of a shock, 00:12:08.819 --> 00:12:11.602 at the very moment when I decide to go up again. 00:12:11.602 --> 00:12:15.360 First of all, it takes a huge effort to tear yourself away from the bottom, 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:19.213 since it pulled you in on the way down it's going to do the same on the way up. 00:12:19.213 --> 00:12:21.291 You need to swim twice as hard. 00:12:23.067 --> 00:12:24.814 Then, I get hit by another phenomenon: 00:12:24.814 --> 00:12:27.775 The bends. I don't know if you've heard of that 00:12:27.775 --> 00:12:29.834 -- it's also called decompression sickness. 00:12:29.834 --> 00:12:32.322 It's something that usually happens to scuba divers, 00:12:32.322 --> 00:12:34.680 and it can also happen to free-divers. 00:12:34.680 --> 00:12:37.840 It happens because the nitrogen dissolved in the blood, 00:12:37.850 --> 00:12:39.974 which is partly responsible for the struggle 00:12:39.974 --> 00:12:42.981 between the conscious and unconscious mind. 00:12:43.211 --> 00:12:45.045 So many thoughts rush through your head, 00:12:45.045 --> 00:12:47.745 left, right, and centre, spinning through your head, 00:12:47.745 --> 00:12:49.570 You cannot control anything, 00:12:49.570 --> 00:12:52.648 you experience something similar when you're on acid. 00:12:52.648 --> 00:12:54.612 I've never taken acid, but if I ever... 00:12:54.612 --> 00:12:56.452 -- no, you seem like a sensible lot! 00:12:56.452 --> 00:12:59.816 Anyway, it's supposed to have the same effect as acid has on you. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:00.536 --> 00:13:03.873 Above all, you shouldn't try to control it. You have to let it happen. 00:13:03.873 --> 00:13:07.929 Don't try to control it. The more you do, the harder it is to manage. 00:13:07.929 --> 00:13:10.522 Then a third thing comes along: The desire to breathe. 00:13:10.522 --> 00:13:12.148 Well, I'm not a fish-man, 00:13:12.148 --> 00:13:16.349 I'm a human being, and the desire to breathe reminds me of that fact. 00:13:16.349 --> 00:13:18.493 At 60 or 70 metres, 00:13:20.073 --> 00:13:22.933 You start to feel the need to breathe. 00:13:22.933 --> 00:13:25.552 And with everything else that's going on 00:13:25.552 --> 00:13:29.739 you could very easily lose your mind 00:13:29.739 --> 00:13:31.462 and start to panic. 00:13:32.482 --> 00:13:34.143 When that happens, you're thinking, 00:13:34.143 --> 00:13:37.062 "Where's the surface? I want to go up. I want to breathe. Now." 00:13:37.062 --> 00:13:38.408 You should not do that. 00:13:38.408 --> 00:13:40.680 Never look up to the surface, 00:13:40.680 --> 00:13:41.963 not with your eyes, 00:13:41.963 --> 00:13:43.473 or your mind. 00:13:43.473 --> 00:13:46.150 You can never imagine yourself up there. 00:13:46.150 --> 00:13:48.108 You have to stay in the present. 00:13:48.108 --> 00:13:50.173 I look straight ahead of me 00:13:50.173 --> 00:13:53.266 at the rope that leads me back to the surface. 00:13:53.266 --> 00:13:56.573 And I focus on that, on the present moment. 00:13:56.573 --> 00:13:59.226 Because if I think about the surface, I start to panic, 00:13:59.226 --> 00:14:00.878 and if I panic, it's over. 00:14:01.512 --> 00:14:03.710 Time passes much faster this way. 00:14:03.710 --> 00:14:06.260 And at 30 metres, there we are, I'm finally saved. 00:14:06.260 --> 00:14:07.482 I'm not alone any more. 00:14:07.482 --> 00:14:09.676 My safety divers, my guardian angels, 00:14:09.690 --> 00:14:10.851 are there. 00:14:10.851 --> 00:14:13.290 They leave the surface, we meet up at 30 metres, 00:14:13.290 --> 00:14:15.372 and they escort me, for the last few metres, 00:14:15.372 --> 00:14:18.048 which is where problems could arise. 00:14:18.498 --> 00:14:20.843 And each time I see them I think, 00:14:21.673 --> 00:14:23.101 "It's thanks to you." NOTE Paragraph 00:14:23.101 --> 00:14:25.514 It's thanks to them that I'm here -- my team. 00:14:25.514 --> 00:14:27.695 It brings back the sense of humility. 00:14:28.475 --> 00:14:31.900 Without them, my team, without all these people around me, 00:14:31.900 --> 00:14:34.278 the adventure into the deep would be impossible. 00:14:34.278 --> 00:14:38.177 A journey into the deep is a group action, above anything else. 00:14:38.177 --> 00:14:40.458 So I'm happy to finish my journey with them 00:14:40.458 --> 00:14:42.499 because it's thanks to them that I'm there. 00:14:42.929 --> 00:14:44.542 20 metres, 10 metres. 00:14:44.542 --> 00:14:46.690 My lungs slowly return to their normal volume, 00:14:46.690 --> 00:14:49.266 the Archimedes' principle helps me back to the surface. 00:14:49.266 --> 00:14:51.700 5 metres below the surface, I start to breathe out, 00:14:51.700 --> 00:14:55.646 so that as soon as I arrive at the surface all I have to do is breathe in. 00:14:57.206 --> 00:14:59.171 Then I get to the surface. 00:14:59.741 --> 00:15:02.666 (Breathing in) 00:15:05.896 --> 00:15:07.731 Air floods into my lungs, 00:15:07.731 --> 00:15:09.093 it's like being born again 00:15:09.093 --> 00:15:10.556 -- a relief. 00:15:10.976 --> 00:15:12.446 Because it feels good. 00:15:12.446 --> 00:15:13.962 The journey was extraordinary 00:15:13.962 --> 00:15:16.253 but I did need those little oxygen molecules 00:15:16.253 --> 00:15:18.132 that I've just breathed in. 00:15:18.452 --> 00:15:22.180 It's an extraordinary sensation, but at the same time it's traumatising 00:15:22.180 --> 00:15:23.612 It's a shock to the system. 00:15:23.612 --> 00:15:27.506 Can you imagine going from complete darkness to the light of day? 00:15:27.512 --> 00:15:31.862 I go from the near-silence of the depths to the hustle and bustle up top. 00:15:32.352 --> 00:15:36.909 In terms of touch, I go from the soft, velvety feeling of the water, 00:15:36.909 --> 00:15:39.471 to the air which rubs across my face. 00:15:39.481 --> 00:15:42.673 In terms of taste, in terms of smell, 00:15:42.673 --> 00:15:45.043 there's the air which rushes into my lungs. 00:15:45.053 --> 00:15:47.488 And in turn my lungs open up. 00:15:47.488 --> 00:15:50.021 They were completely squashed just 90 seconds ago, 00:15:50.021 --> 00:15:51.860 and now, they're opened up again. 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:55.640 So all of this affects quite a lot of things. 00:15:55.640 --> 00:15:58.021 I need a few seconds to come back, 00:15:58.021 --> 00:15:59.719 to feel "all there" again. 00:15:59.719 --> 00:16:02.981 But that has to happen quickly, because the judges are in front of me 00:16:02.981 --> 00:16:04.487 to approve my attempt, 00:16:04.487 --> 00:16:07.136 and I have to show them that I'm in perfectly healthy. 00:16:07.136 --> 00:16:10.039 You saw it in the video, I was doing a so-called exit protocol. 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:13.948 Once I'm at the surface, I have 15 seconds to take off my nose clip 00:16:14.648 --> 00:16:16.098 to make this sign, 00:16:16.098 --> 00:16:17.953 and say (English) "I'm OK." 00:16:17.953 --> 00:16:19.475 And you need to be bilingual. 00:16:19.475 --> 00:16:20.997 (Laughter) 00:16:20.997 --> 00:16:22.260 After all that, 00:16:22.260 --> 00:16:23.611 it's not easy. 00:16:25.136 --> 00:16:28.635 Once the protocol is finished, the judges show me a white card, 00:16:28.635 --> 00:16:30.676 and that's when the joy starts. 00:16:30.676 --> 00:16:33.574 I can finally celebrate what has just happened. 00:16:34.255 --> 00:16:39.673 So, the journey I've just told you about, is a more extreme version of freediving. 00:16:40.121 --> 00:16:42.270 Luckily, it's not just about that. 00:16:42.270 --> 00:16:44.747 Far from it. 00:16:44.847 --> 00:16:48.542 For the last 2 or 3 years, I've been trying to show another side of freediving, 00:16:48.542 --> 00:16:51.886 because the media often talks about competitions and records. 00:16:51.886 --> 00:16:53.636 But freediving is more than just that. 00:16:53.636 --> 00:16:56.036 It's about being at ease in the water. 00:16:56.036 --> 00:16:59.005 It's extremely beautiful, very poetic, and artistic. 00:16:59.005 --> 00:17:03.254 My partner and I decided to shoot films, and try to show another side of it. 00:17:04.036 --> 00:17:06.669 To make you want to go into the water. 00:17:06.679 --> 00:17:11.174 So, let me show you some images to finish my story. 00:17:12.444 --> 00:17:15.853 It's a patchwork of beautiful underwater photos. (Music) 00:17:15.853 --> 00:17:21.312 To let you know that if one day you try to stop breathing, 00:17:21.312 --> 00:17:23.599 you'll realise that when you stop breathing 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:25.572 you stop thinking too. 00:17:26.192 --> 00:17:27.984 It calms you down. 00:17:28.704 --> 00:17:31.834 Today, in the 21st century, we're under so much pressure. 00:17:31.834 --> 00:17:35.011 Our minds are overworked, we think at a million miles an hour, 00:17:35.011 --> 00:17:37.105 we're always stressed, 00:17:37.105 --> 00:17:40.182 and being able to freedive, helps you to, just for a moment, 00:17:40.182 --> 00:17:41.927 let your mind relax. 00:17:42.497 --> 00:17:44.236 Holding your breath underwater 00:17:44.236 --> 00:17:47.964 means giving yourself the chance to experience weightlessness. 00:17:48.374 --> 00:17:51.350 Being underwater, floating, 00:17:51.350 --> 00:17:55.052 with your body completely relaxed, letting go of all your tensions. 00:17:55.052 --> 00:17:58.277 That's issue with the 21st century: our backs and necks hurt, everything, 00:17:58.277 --> 00:18:00.035 because we're stressed all the time. 00:18:00.035 --> 00:18:01.401 We're always tense. 00:18:01.401 --> 00:18:05.309 But when you're in the water, you let yourself float, like in space. 00:18:05.852 --> 00:18:07.970 You let yourself go completely. 00:18:07.971 --> 00:18:11.191 It's extraordinary, you can finally get in touch 00:18:11.191 --> 00:18:14.875 with your body, your mind, with yourself. 00:18:15.305 --> 00:18:17.343 Everything feels better, all at once. 00:18:18.723 --> 00:18:23.790 Learning how to hold your breath, is also about learning to breathe well. 00:18:23.790 --> 00:18:28.070 We breathe from our first breath, at birth, to our last. 00:18:28.080 --> 00:18:31.527 Breathing is the rhythm of our lives. 00:18:31.687 --> 00:18:35.253 Learning how to breath better helps you learn to live better. 00:18:35.553 --> 00:18:39.645 Holding your breath, in the sea, not necessarily at 100 metres, but 2 or 3, 00:18:39.645 --> 00:18:41.944 putting on your goggles, a pair of flippers, 00:18:41.944 --> 00:18:43.685 means you can go see another world, 00:18:43.685 --> 00:18:45.686 another universe, completely magical. 00:18:45.686 --> 00:18:47.604 Seeing little fish, seeing seaweed, 00:18:47.604 --> 00:18:49.400 all the flora and fauna, 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:51.796 and being able to watch that discreetly, 00:18:51.796 --> 00:18:54.915 sliding under the water, looking around, and coming back to the surface, 00:18:54.915 --> 00:18:56.855 leaving no trace. 00:18:56.855 --> 00:18:58.405 It's a wonderful feeling, 00:18:58.405 --> 00:19:01.247 being able to become a part of the sea like that. 00:19:01.857 --> 00:19:04.840 And let me tell you on more thing, 00:19:05.220 --> 00:19:10.044 holding your breath, being in the water, finding this underwater world, 00:19:10.044 --> 00:19:12.386 is all about connecting with yourself again. 00:19:12.386 --> 00:19:13.965 You've just heard about it, 00:19:13.965 --> 00:19:17.325 I've talked a lot about the body's memory 00:19:17.325 --> 00:19:20.175 which dates back millions of years, to our marine origins. 00:19:20.175 --> 00:19:22.958 The day you get back into the water, 00:19:22.958 --> 00:19:25.341 when you hold your breath for a few seconds, 00:19:25.341 --> 00:19:29.020 you will be in touch with those origins again. 00:19:29.020 --> 00:19:30.508 And I can guarantee you 00:19:30.508 --> 00:19:32.165 that it's absolutely magic. 00:19:32.165 --> 00:19:34.560 I encourage you to try it out. Thank you. 00:19:34.560 --> 00:19:37.972 (Applause)