Breaking records without breaking the ice: freediver prepares for a freezing swim
By AFP
28 February 2021 |
6:20 am
Czech freediver David Vencl is using this year's cold winter to get ready to set a new world record in swimming under the ice with breath held. He is planning to swim 80 metres with a single breath.
Related
27 Mar 2021
Global heating might be melting the planet's glaciers and ice sheets, but can't we simply avoid rising seas and run for the hills?
10 Apr 2021
Beijing holds speed skating test event for the 2022 Winter Olympics at the National Speed Skating Oval, also known as the Ice Ribbon. Medallists are given awards in a contact-free manner where they pick up their prizes from the podium as part of the Covid-19 prevention measures.
18 Apr 2021
Spanish dancer Ariadna Hafez performs the tango underwater while freediving at a depth of 10 metres.
30 Apr 2021
Faiza Rammuny is a Palestinian-American blogger who tackles regional taboos with humour. She takes on topics like the importance of reputation in Middle-Eastern society, judgement of women based on a different value system to men, pressure to get married, hijab and, you guessed it, virginity.
24 Jun 2021
Otters at Oregon Zoo enjoy an ice bath as the temperature in Portland reached 35°C on Monday. The mercury is expected to rise as high as 42°C during the week. "Set the A/C to ottermatic," the zoo cheekily posted on its Facebook page.
4 Jul 2021
Coastal cities are on the "frontline" of the climate crisis, with swelling oceans redrawing the map and putting hundreds of millions at risk. That's the warning of an unpublished draft report by the UN's climate science advisory panel, seen exclusively by AFP, the most extensive compendium to date of the urgent climate threats facing the planet. Among the cities featured in the report is Cape Town, where 100,000 households are exposed to flooding in a city riven by deep poverty and the legacy of apartheid.
4 Jul 2021
Hundreds seek shelter at a cooling center in Portland, Oregon's biggest city, to escape one of the state's hottest heat waves on record. Portland hit 45°C (114°F) on Monday according to the US National Weather Service (NWS), breaking back-to-back records set over the weekend.
2 Aug 2021
While many people were pleasantly surprised, farmers in more central regions feared the worst for valuable crops. Most of the snow was recorded in mountainous areas.
9 Sep 2021
At just 27, Diana Kidzhi is a Chief Mate -- second in command to the captain -- of a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker, and sets the path the giant vessel will take. Kidzhi is the most senior woman in Russia's growing nuclear icebreaker fleet -- owned by state atomic energy corporation Rosatom -- which Moscow hopes will secure its supremacy over the Arctic as climate change makes it more navigable.
10 Sep 2021
The IIHF said the ban was due to politically motivated discrimination by Dmitry Baskov against players, and his support for the country's authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko.
25 Sep 2021
Teresa Xu arrives at a court in Beijing to fight for the right to freeze her eggs. A public hospital turned down her demand in 2018 and asked to see a marriage license, in accordance with national law.
Latest
28 mins ago
The COP15 conference is meeting to address issues of land degradation, advancing deserts and deforestation. Experts and activists hope that this will not be just another high-level conference with no concrete results.
Rio Ferdinand fronting Amazon documentary series about race, mental health and sexuality in football
28 mins ago
Rio Ferdinand fronting Amazon documentary series about race, mental health and sexuality in football
Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand is reportedly working on a trio of documentaries for Amazon about race, mental health and sexuality in football.
29 mins ago
Germany's parliament decided how it will engage militarily with the West African country, which witnessed another coup last year.
1 hour ago
In the last few years, Nigeria has witnessed the springing up of numerous online quick loan apps but what is supposed to mitigate the hardship of citizens has turned into a menace in the lives of many Nigerians. We are meeting up with one of the victims of these loan sharks who doesn't want his identity revealed.
1 hour ago
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp congratulates Manchester City after they pipped his side to the Premier League title.