How much can you do while holding your breath?

For the average person, not very much before we start gasping for air again. But for Danish free diver Stig Severinsen, he can make it 202 meters (or about 663 feet) underwater, according to CNN. 

Guinness World Records has announced that Severinsen has claimed the title for "longest distance swam underwater with one breath using fins (open water, male)." The 47-year-old achieved this goal on Nov. 26 in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, according to Guinness.

The record was previously set back in 2016. Severinsen beat the previous record by 25 meters (about 82 feet).

"When the world was hit by Covid-19 almost a year ago, I was looking for a way to show that the pandemic was not an excuse to forget our priorities for nature, or put our ambitions on standby," Severinsen told Guinness World Records. "On the contrary, my message is that the globe is an amazing place and that our body together with our brain can achieve the most incredible things. Rather than allowing ourselves to be paralyzed by fear, we must continue the human endeavours. But it must be done in harmony with nature — not against it."

Severinsen is not new to the world of breaking records. According to CNN, Severinsen also holds the records for swimming the longest distance under ice with fins and a diving suit (152.4 meters, or 500 feet), as well as without fins and a diving suit (76.2 meters or 250 feet, both set in 2013. He also is the previous record holder for the longest time voluntarily holding his breath in 2012 (22 minutes). This record has since been broken in 2016 by Aleix Segura Vendrell, according to Guinness.

In addition, Severinsen is the founder of Breatheology, a platform for teaching people better breathing techniques, according to Guinness.

Andrea Romano is a freelance writer in New York City. Follow her on Twitter @theandrearomano.

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