New World Record for Breath-Holding

David Blaine, the famous magician and endurance artist set a new record last week, April 30th by holding his breath underwater for 17 minutes and 4.4 seconds while being televised live on the Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago.
He entered the Guinness Book of Records beating the previous record record of 16 minutes, 32 seconds set by Peter Colat of Switzerland.
The 35-year-old wore a silver wetsuit and held his breath, submerged in a sphere filled with about 1,800 gallons of water.
An average person in good health can hold their breath for about two minutes, but with even small amounts of practice it is possible to increase that time dramatically.
"I feel great", said Blaine on the show, as he was pulled out of the water.
"I actually started to doubt I was going to make it because I'd never done it with such a high heart rate," he added.
Winfrey asked him what he was thinking about during his time in the water, to which he replied: "You."
Setting the record was "a lifelong dream", he told Winfrey, which he said had been achieved by being in a meditative state throughout. Before the attempt, he prepared by inhaling pure oxygen to flush carbon dioxide from his blood.
He had hoped to reach 23 minutes, but stopped when his heart started to beat irregularly.
His success follows a failed attempt to beat the world record in 2006.
The record for breath-holding without using pure oxygen is 8 minutes and 58 seconds. Blaine made an attempt on this record last year in Manhattan's Lincoln Center but was unable to beat it.
Blaine’s career has seen him stand on top of a pole for 35 hours, been encased in ice for two and a half days, and fasted for 44 days in a glass box in London.
His next planned stunt is to beat the world record for going without sleep, presently set at eleven and a half days by Englishman Tony Wright.