Guillaume Néry: The exhilarating peace of freediving
غيوم نيري: سفر بين شهيقين: "غيوم نيري" في TEDxToulouse
With just one breath, Guillaume Néry can dive to -125m below the water's surface. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
Guillaume Néry! National record!
غيوم نيري! رقم قياسي وطني!
thanks for the warm welcome.
between two breaths --
coming back to the surface.
to the very limits of human possibility,
an inner journey,
and to take you along with me.
in is slow, deep and intense.
called the carp,
extra liters of air in my lungs
في الرئتين
I have about 10 liters of air in my lungs.
the first mechanism kicks in:
is make your heart rate drop.
from about 60-70 per minute
almost immediately.
peripheral vasoconstriction,
will leave the body's extremities
حتى ولو لم تفعلوا هذا سابقاً
even if you've never done it before,
share this characteristic.
مع الثديات البحرية
with marine mammals --
dolphins, whales, sea lions, etc.
الحيتان، الفقمات، إلخ.
these mechanisms become activated,
much better for them.
من الطبيعة
in the right direction,
to squeeze my lungs.
ما يجعلني أطفو،
in my lungs that makes me float,
the more pressure there is on my lungs,
and the easier it is for my body to fall.
أو 40 متر،
around 35 or 40 meters down,
to fall into the depths by itself,
the free fall phase.
is the best part of the dive.
you're being pulled down
without making a single movement.
وأشعر بأنني أطير تحت الماء
an extraordinary feeling of freedom.
sliding to the bottom.
a second physiological response kicks in.
to be compressed, in theory.
is called blood shift,
become engorged with blood --
from being crushed.
of the lungs from collapsing,
which we also share with marine mammals,
I keep falling, faster and faster,
my body more and more.
not pretty at all.
the rib cage is squeezed in,
going on as well.
"This doesn't look enjoyable.
when there's a problem?
المعارضة ونحارب.
تمزق الرئتين،
you might tear your lungs,
for a good amount of time.
is to tell yourself
are stronger than you.
receives this information,
and relax completely.
and it doesn't feel bad at all.
I'm in a cocoon, protected.
and also for us, free divers,
هذا العدد مدعاة للحلم
to be able to get to 100 meters.
100 متر في العمق.
doctors and physiologists did their math,
would not be able to go below 100 meters.
the human body would implode.
in "The Big Blue" --
"اللاحدود".
and come back up with a balloon,
in no limit free diving.
قوة العضلات فقط.
by simply using muscle strength.
because he challenged known facts,
got rid of the theoretical beliefs
that we like to impose on ourselves.
للإنسان أن يحددها.
has an infinite ability to adapt.
and put yourself in my place.
when I'm down there.
feeling of well-being.
released all tensions
I should be worried.
a little drop of water,
أي النقطة الصغيرة الشاحبة.
the arrow is pointing to.
من طرف مسبار "Voyager"
by the Voyager probe,
is that small dot over there,
in the immensity of space.
left, right, in front, behind,
يساراً، يميناً، أمامي، ورائي
the infinite deep blue.
العميق جدّاً.
أي مكان آخر على الأرض،
you can experience this --
and seeing the same thing.
المشهد الموحّد نفسه.
building up inside of me --
أرى هذه الصّورة،
I feel very humble --
down at the bottom --
ضائعة في هذا الكلّ الكبير.
lost in all of time and space.
because this is not where I belong.
to tear yourself away from the bottom.
phenomenon known as narcosis.
to scuba divers,
dissolving in the blood,
and unconscious mind.
through your head.
and you shouldn't try to --
the harder it is to manage.
كلما زادت صعوبة تسيير الأمر.
إلى هذه الحقيقة.
reminds me of that fact.
جدّاً أن أفقد التركيز،
"Where's the surface?
لا بالعينين، ولا بالذهن.
picture yourself up there.
leading me back to the surface.
on the present moment.
سأفزع
about the surface, I panic.
ينضمون إليي،
my guardian angels, join me.
we meet at 30 meters,
for the final few meters,
my team, that I'm here.
the people around me,
would be impossible.
is above all a group effort.
my journey with them,
if it weren't for them.
to their normal volume.
I start to breathe out,
to the surface all I do is breathe in.
oxygen molecules fueling my body.
but at the same time it's traumatizing.
as you can you imagine.
نحو ضوء النهار.
to the light of day,
to the commotion up top.
velvety feeling of the water,
سيحتكّ بوجهي.
just 90 seconds ago,
quite a lot of things.
لأن الحكّام أمامي،
to verify my performance;
I'm in perfect physical condition.
I was doing a so-called exit protocol.
لأزيل كمّاشة الأنف،
to take off my nose clip,
(English) "I am OK."
أن أكون ثنائيّ اللغة.
أحصل على بطاقة الحُكام البيضاء،
the judges show me a white card,
what has just happened.
حبس الأنفاس تحت الماء
بل أبعد من هذا.
آخر لهذا الغطس،
another side of free diving,
about competitions and records.
تكون بخير في الماء.
very poetic and artistic.
وفنّي.
to go into the water.
to finish my story.
تحت الماء.
you try to stop breathing,
يوماً حبس الأنفاس،
when you stop breathing,
we're under so much pressure.
نحن نفكر بسرعة 10.000 في الساعة.
we think at a million miles an hour,
lets you, just for a moment,
to experience weightlessness.
letting go of all your tensions.
في العنق، في كل مكان.
everything hurts,
and tense all the time.
تحررون أنفسكم وتسبحون،
as if you were in space.
وجهاً لوجه
with your body, mind and spirit.
about learning to breathe correctly.
إلى النفس الأخير.
at birth, up until our last one.
is learning how to live better.
هو أن تتعلم الحياة الأفضل.
not necessarily at 100 meters,
وتضع قناعاً وعوّامتين،
a pair of flippers,
والفونة والفلولة،
the flora and fauna,
وتعود للسطح:
and coming back to the surface,
to become one with nature like that.
finding this underwater world --
about the body's memory
to our marine origins.
من أصولنا المائية.
for a few seconds,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Guillaume Néry - World champion freediverWith just one breath, Guillaume Néry can dive to -125m below the water's surface.
Why you should listen
Guillaume Néry is a French freediving champion, specializing in deep diving. As a multiple world record holder and the double reigning world champion, Guillaume's goals go well beyond the simple realm of sport. With a perfect combination of aesthetics, performance, films and exploration, Guillaume practices his discipline like an art form — it has become his way of life.
Guillaume grew up by the Mediterranean Sea, in Nice. As a child, he used to go diving every summer with his flippers and mask, accompanied by his father, to discover the wonders of the underwater world. At the age of 14, he and a friend took up a challenge: to hold their breath for as long as possible. The simple game became an obsession and led him one day to meet Claude Chapuis, the founder of the international AIDA federation (Worldwide Federation for breath-hold diving). Claude became Guillaume’s mentor.
True to the Nice school of diving, Guillaume devoted all his time and energy to his passion. He made huge progress when working alongside Loic Leferme (5x No-Limits world record holder), who later became a role model, guide and close friend.
In 2002, he became the youngest ever freedive record holder, by diving to a depth of -87m using the force of his fins alone. That marked the beginning of a great adventure. Guillaume then beat the world record 3 times, became the world team champion in 2008 and the individual world champion in Greece in 2011, diving down to -117m. Nowadays, he dives until -125m of depth, the new French record
Guillaume also teaches deep diving at his school, CIPA (in Nice), conducts training, is involved in business life and sets sail across the world's oceans searching for new areas to explore.
However, it was thanks to the film he produced in 2010 with his partner Julie Gautier, Free Fall, that the Frenchman's career truly took off. One scene shows Guillaume walking on a seabed, towards an underwater chasm: the Deans Blue Hole (Bahamas), the deepest blue hole in the world. Suddenly, he jumps into emptiness and starts his free fall into the chasm. In just a few days, these images had been seen all around the world, revealing a new, artistic and poetic approach to freediving.
Since then, the couple has carried out a number of other film projects, including Narcoses or, recently, Ocean Gravity. They also launched their own website dedicated to all their creations: www.lesfilmsengloutis.com
Guillaume Néry | Speaker | TED.com