Champion free diver Nicholas Mevoli dies trying for new record
LONG ISLAND, Bahamas: As Nicholas Mevoli lay prone, floating in the azure sea, attempting to relax, his exhales were audible. The countdown had begun, and he prepared to dive into Dean's Blue Hole, hoping to reach 72 metres on a single inhalation, with no fins or supplemental oxygen. He began sipping the air, attempting to pack as much oxygen in his lungs as possible.
At 12:25pm on Sunday (4.25am on Monday Sydney time), surrounded by 15 other athletes and observers, as well as five safety divers, he turned and submerged, face first and looking like a human arrow shooting into the darkness on what would be the last dive of his life.
Officials for Vertical Blue, a championship event in the sport of free diving, monitored and announced Mevoli's progress by sonar, and all was progressing smoothly until he had trouble at 68 metres and seemed to turn back. Yet instead of heading to the surface, he decided to dive down again in an attempt to reach his goal and achieve his second American record. A few of his fellow athletes squirmed with discomfort, recognising that his decision was a dangerous one.
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Mevoli ripped off his goggles, flashed the OK sign and attempted to complete the surface protocol that would make his attempt official by saying, “I am OK.” But he wasn't. His words were garbled, his eyes wide and blank. He tipped backward into the ocean and lost consciousness, which, while alarming, is not unheard-of in a sport in which almost all the top athletes have lost consciousness at one time or another, though usually for only a few seconds. Mevoli was not so fortunate.
Five safety divers, one of them an Australian paramedic, Joe Knight, and all certified in life support techniques, hefted him onto a nearby platform where the event physician, Barbara Jeschke of Germany, went to work trying to revive him.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/champion-free-diver-nicholas-mevoli-dies-trying-for-new-record-20131118-2xqtn.html
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