Guide Note

Magician David Blaine set a new Guinness World Record by holding his breath underwater for 17 minutes and four seconds. Blaine performed the feat before a live audience at a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 30, 2008.

Suspended in a water-filled sphere on Winfrey's stage, the 35-year-old Blaine set his first-ever world record. When he was pulled out, Blaine said he'd hoped to go for 23 minutes, but at one point he became concerned his heart rate might be too high to set the record. The previous breath-holding record of 16 minutes and 32 seconds was set earlier in 2008 in Switzerland.

Fast Facts

1. Blaine broke world record by 32 seconds
2. Blaine calls his stunts "endurance art"
3. Known for performing death-defying feats in front of a worldwide audience
4. Blaine breathed pure oxygen through a mask before the stunt
5. Oxygen deprivation can cause stroke, brain damage and cardiac arrest
6. Blaine's sphere: eight feet in diameter and holds 1800 gallons of water

In 2006, Blaine attempted a similar breath-holding stunt with dangerous consequences. After suffering convulsions, the unconscious magician had to be pulled from the water after seven minutes.

To prepare for the breath-holding stunt, Blaine underwent rigorous training for several months. He also trained with free divers in the Cayman Islands. In addition to running up to 13 miles each day, Blaine also trained with light weights and consumed a special drink made of garlic, ginger, greens and cayenne pepper.