# Herbert Nitsch
**Herbert Nitsch** is an Austrian freediver who set the deepest officially certified no-limit freedive, 214 m (702 ft 1.18 in), at Spetses, Greece, on 14 June 2007, and who in 2012 reached 253 m (830 ft) off [Santorini](https://www.edgepedia.org/santorini), the deepest dive ever made on a single breath[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/freediving-no-limit-men) • [2](https://herbertnitsch.com/ewExternalFiles/World%20Records%20-%20Herbert%20Nitsch.pdf). He is known as "The Deepest Man on Earth", a title he earned after the 2007 record[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/). Freediving is diving underwater on a single breath of air, and No Limit is its deepest and most extreme discipline: the diver descends on a weighted sled fixed to a line and ascends with a buoyancy device such as a gas balloon[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/) • [1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/freediving-no-limit-men).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Austrian[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/freediving-no-limit-men) |
| Deepest certified no-limit dive | 214 m (702 ft 1.18 in), Spetses, Greece, 14 June 2007[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/freediving-no-limit-men) |
| Deepest dive ever | 253 m (830 ft) No Limit, Santorini, Greece, 6 June 2012, recognized by Guinness World Records[2](https://herbertnitsch.com/ewExternalFiles/World%20Records%20-%20Herbert%20Nitsch.pdf) |
| Total world records | 33 across all freediving disciplines, the only person to date, including one in the Greek traditional Skandalopetra[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/) |
| Other AIDA records | Constant Weight 124 m (2010); Free Immersion 120 m (2010); Variable Weight 142 m (2009); Dynamic Apnea without Fins 131 m (2001)[2](https://herbertnitsch.com/ewExternalFiles/World%20Records%20-%20Herbert%20Nitsch.pdf) |
| 2012 aftermath | Severe decompression sickness; told he would remain wheelchair-bound and care-dependent; he recovered[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/) |
| Background | Former airline pilot; now a keynote speaker and ocean conservationist supporting Sea Shepherd[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/) |
## The two record dives
**The 214 m dive.** On 14 June 2007 at Spetses, Greece, Nitsch descended to 214 m on a single breath, a depth [Guinness World Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/guinness-world-records) lists as the deepest no-limit freedive by a male with AIDA certification[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/freediving-no-limit-men). AIDA International, the freediving federation founded in 1992 whose record list athletes and media generally treat as the sport's reference, still lists this 214 m dive in its world-record history as the last official no-limit mark[4](https://freedivingbase.com/learn/competition/freediving-world-records/). The dive followed several years of incremental progress: from 2005 to 2007 Nitsch improved his sled design and his technique of breathing from a soda bottle under pressure, setting and breaking his own No Limit world record repeatedly[5](https://www.history.com/articles/freediver-herbert-nitsch-deepest-freedive).
**The 253 m dive.** On 6 June 2012, off Santorini, Greece, Nitsch reached 253 m (830 ft), a performance recognized by Guinness World Records[2](https://herbertnitsch.com/ewExternalFiles/World%20Records%20-%20Herbert%20Nitsch.pdf). This dive was not sanctioned by AIDA; his intention of having it ratified fell through because of a sponsoring conflict[6](https://kco.su/userfiles/file/aebb523d-150b-4938-9eff-a22aa4b95e18.pdf). The two figures therefore coexist in the record literature: 214 m is the last official AIDA no-limit world record, while 253 m stands as the Guinness-recognized deepest freedive[4](https://freedivingbase.com/learn/competition/freediving-world-records/) • [7](https://freedivingguides.com/freediving-training/freediving-world-record/).
## The 2012 accident and recovery
The 253 m dive nearly cost Nitsch his life. He incurred severe decompression sickness afterward, the condition in which dissolved inert gas forms bubbles in the body during a rapid reduction of ambient pressure; nitrogen narcosis and neurological decompression sickness can affect freedivers on a single breath-hold dive at such depths[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/) • [8](https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/3c161006-7e7c-4462-bf3b-ae4c0d486f70/content). He was told he would remain wheelchair-bound and care-dependent, a prognosis he did not accept, and he made what his own account calls a remarkable recovery[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/). He describes this episode in his lecture "Back from the Abyss" and in his autobiography *Breathing is Overrated*, which covers the dive, its aftermath, and his restoration of memory and motor skills after a stroke[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/).
## Record career across disciplines
Nitsch set 33 world records across all freediving disciplines, the only person to date to have done so, including one in [Skandalopetra](https://www.edgepedia.org/skandalopetra-diving), a Greek traditional discipline in which the diver descends and ascends using a stone tied to a rope[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/). His record list includes, among others[2](https://herbertnitsch.com/ewExternalFiles/World%20Records%20-%20Herbert%20Nitsch.pdf):
- Dynamic Apnea without Fins, 131 m, Geneva, Switzerland, 27 January 2001
- Variable Weight, 142 m, [Long Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-island), Bahamas, 7 December 2009
- Constant Weight, 123 m, Long Island, Bahamas, 9 December 2009, improved to 124 m on 22 April 2010
- Free Immersion, 112 m (2009), improved to 114 m and then 120 m in April 2010
- Skandalopetra, 107 m, Rhodes, Greece, 26 June 2009
He holds the last five consecutive No Limit world records[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/).
## The No Limit discipline and its status
No Limit is widely considered the most dangerous form of freediving. Practitioners may descend and ascend by any method they choose; most ride a bar or sled fixed to a line for the descent and return with the aid of gas balloons[1](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/freediving-no-limit-men). At record depths the body faces crushing pressure and extreme cold, and a single breath-hold dive can produce nitrogen narcosis or neurological decompression sickness[5](https://www.history.com/articles/freediver-herbert-nitsch-deepest-freedive) • [8](https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/3c161006-7e7c-4462-bf3b-ae4c0d486f70/content).
AIDA has since closed the no-limit category as a record discipline, which is why Nitsch's 214 m dive remains the federation's last official mark in the event[9](https://biurorekordow.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GWR-2022-rekordy.pdf). Guinness World Records, unlike AIDA or CMAS (the World Underwater Federation), is not a sporting federation; it certifies one-off attempts against criteria negotiated with the applicant, so its figures are not directly comparable with competition records ratified under a federation's rules[7](https://freedivingguides.com/freediving-training/freediving-world-record/).
## Life outside competition
Nitsch trained as an airline pilot, a background he credits for his detailed planning and analytical approach to risk, and he draws on it in his keynote lectures on risk and stress management[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/). He is an ocean conservationist supporting Sea Shepherd and is based in Vienna, Austria[3](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/).
## References
1. [Freediving – no limit (men) (AIDA certified), Guinness World Records](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/freediving-no-limit-men)
2. [World Records Freediver Herbert Nitsch (official record list PDF)](https://herbertnitsch.com/ewExternalFiles/World%20Records%20-%20Herbert%20Nitsch.pdf)
3. [Herbert Nitsch, official website](https://www.herbertnitsch.com/)
4. [Freediving World Records: Every Discipline, Current Holders & History, freedivingbase](https://freedivingbase.com/learn/competition/freediving-world-records/)
5. [The Man Who Plunged to Record Ocean Depths, HISTORY.com](https://www.history.com/articles/freediver-herbert-nitsch-deepest-freedive)
6. [Freediving records overview (noting the 2012 AIDA sanctioning outcome)](https://kco.su/userfiles/file/aebb523d-150b-4938-9eff-a22aa4b95e18.pdf)
7. [Freediving World Records: Current Records Across All Disciplines, Freediving Guides](https://freedivingguides.com/freediving-training/freediving-world-record/)
8. [Lang, Meir, Streeter and Van Hoesen, Diving Physiology and Decompression Sickness, Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences](https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/3c161006-7e7c-4462-bf3b-ae4c0d486f70/content)
9. [Guinness World Records 2022 (record book PDF, noting AIDA's closure of the no-limit category)](https://biurorekordow.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GWR-2022-rekordy.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Water sports › Swimmers (biographies and medalists)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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