Freediver Marinković targets 85-meter German record in Lake Starnberg

The attempt

On Saturday, 29-year-old Minja Marinković will descend into Lake Starnberg at the Allmannshausen steep wall, aiming to reach 85 meters on a single breath in the Free Immersion discipline, which forbids fins. He will pull himself down along a rope; at roughly 30 meters, gravity takes over and the free fall begins. He will fold his arms against his body and plunge headfirst into the dark until reaching the target depth, then turn and pull himself back up the rope. Over his neoprene gloves he will wear garden gloves for extra grip. The entire dive is expected to last about three minutes.

A competition judge from Aida International, the world's largest freediving federation, will evaluate whether the attempt counts. The current German record in the discipline stands at 80 meters, set in 2011.

A failed bid at the same site

In 2018, freediver Jens Stötzner tried to break the record at exactly the same location. He reached 81 meters but lost consciousness upon surfacing. His safety team rushed to help, and the record was declared invalid. The main danger in freediving is loss of consciousness from oxygen deprivation, though freedivers consider their sport no more dangerous than other sports. Marinković now aims to push the boundary at the very spot where Stötzner's bid failed.

Conditions at depth

At roughly 80 meters, nine bars of pressure compress the air in the lungs to about one-ninth of their normal volume. The water temperature sits at four degrees Celsius even in high summer, and the surroundings are pitch dark. Marinković, who ranks among the world's best freedivers and is completing a doctorate in engineering in Munich, has trained extensively for the attempt. Bulky muscles would be counterproductive because they consume oxygen.

Mental preparation

Marinković described the mental state required at depth as one of deliberate emptiness.

I can't manage to grasp a single thought down there, and I don't want to either. Every thought consumes oxygen.

His training partner Samuel Mauch, who will support him during the attempt, said the dive is rehearsed mentally beforehand.

We visualize the entire sequence. That helps enormously, to simply play it back later.

Nils Heininger, vice chairman of Aida Deutschland, which has grown to more than 300 members, described the mental challenge of staying calm under pressure.

It is very demanding to stay mentally calm while the body is essentially switching to alarm mode. But when it succeeds, you enter a meditative state and switch off completely.

Heininger added that these are the dives freedivers eventually become nearly addicted to.

A different underwater world

Despite the extreme conditions, Marinković describes the experience in serene terms. The depth feels "like on another planet. You are very calm, and very alone." He calls it "a very peaceful feeling, like a strong meditation." The dive, though only about three minutes long, brings a calmer contact with the underwater world.

Michael Nedwed, chairman of Aida, contrasted freediving with scuba diving in terms of the impact on marine life.

When four or five scuba divers swim through, it's like a brass band marching through for the fish.

Many freedivers are also drawn to the simplicity of diving with minimal equipment, Nedwed added, calling it "back to the roots."