Guillaume Néry: The exhilarating peace of freediving
Guillaume Néry: La arrebatadora paz del buceo libre
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!
¡Guillaume Néry! ¡Récord nacional!
thanks for the warm welcome.
de ver es un viaje.
between two breaths --
entre dos inspiraciones,
coming back to the surface.
al regresar a la superficie.
to the very limits of human possibility,
de los límites humanos.
es un viaje interior.
an inner journey,
aquí hoy con Uds.,
and to take you along with me.
y llevarlos conmigo.
con la última respiración.
in is slow, deep and intense.
called the carp,
extra liters of air in my lungs
de aire en los pulmones,
I have about 10 liters of air in my lungs.
de aire en los pulmones.
the first mechanism kicks in:
is make your heart rate drop.
from about 60-70 per minute
almost immediately.
vasoconstricción periférica
peripheral vasoconstriction,
will leave the body's extremities
con prioridad los órganos vitales:
incluso si nunca lo han hecho,
even if you've never done it before,
share this characteristic.
compartimos la misma propiedad.
con los mamíferos marinos.
with marine mammals --
dolphins, whales, sea lions, etc.
delfines, ballenas, leones de mar, etc.
these mechanisms become activated,
y descienden profundamente,
much better for them.
en ellos, obviamente.
la naturaleza me da un primer impulso
in the right direction,
to squeeze my lungs.
va a aplastar mis pulmones,
en los pulmones el que me hace flotar,
in my lungs that makes me float,
aplasta los pulmones,
the more pressure there is on my lungs,
que mi cuerpo caiga más fácilmente.
and the easier it is for my body to fall.
al llegar a 35 o 40 metros,
around 35 or 40 meters down,
lo suficientemente denso
to fall into the depths by itself,
the free fall phase.
is the best part of the dive.
you're being pulled down
por el fondo
sin hacer ningún movimiento.
without making a single movement.
la sensación de volar bajo el agua.
completamente increíble,
an extraordinary feeling of freedom.
que es extraordinaria.
sliding to the bottom.
hacia la parte inferior.
a second physiological response kicks in.
fisiológica que se produce:
su volumen residual.
to be compressed, in theory.
que el pulmón se pueda comprimir.
es el desplazamiento de la sangre.
is called blood shift,
become engorged with blood --
se llenan de sangre,
del aplastamiento.
from being crushed.
of the lungs from collapsing,
de los pulmones colapsen,
which we also share with marine mammals,
con los mamíferos marinos,
I keep falling, faster and faster,
my body more and more.
cada vez más mi cuerpo,
se hace mucho más fuerte,
no es muy bonita.
not pretty at all.
completamente retraído,
the rib cage is squeezed in,
se retrae hacia el interior,
también ocurre algo.
going on as well.
"This doesn't look enjoyable.
una restricción en la tierra,
when there's a problem?
lo contrarrestamos, luchamos.
puede desgarrar los pulmones,
you might tear your lungs,
un edema, y dejará de bucear,
for a good amount of time.
is to tell yourself
hacer con la mente, es decir:
are stronger than you.
le doy la información de mi cuerpo,
receives this information,
and relax completely.
and it doesn't feel bad at all.
y no es en absoluto desagradable.
I'm in a cocoon, protected.
es una cifra mítica.
y grande también para nosotros,
and also for us, free divers,
se trata de un número de sueño.
to be able to get to 100 meters.
ir a 100 metros de profundidad.
doctors and physiologists did their math,
en los años 70,
y predijeron que a los 100 metros,
would not be able to go below 100 meters.
el cuerpo humano no podía bajar.
the human body would implode.
Jacques Mayol,
in "The Big Blue" --
el héroe de Big Blue,
se sumergió en No limit.
and come back up with a balloon,
como en la película.
in no limit free diving.
vamos a 200 metros.
usando solo la fuerza muscular.
by simply using muscle strength.
because he challenged known facts,
got rid of the theoretical beliefs
con un revés de su mano
that we like to impose on ourselves.
que el hombre es capaz de imponerse.
has an infinite ability to adapt.
una capacidad de adaptación infinita.
and put yourself in my place.
cuando estoy en el fondo.
when I'm down there.
me siento bien.
feeling of well-being.
de bienestar extraordinario.
released all tensions
por completo todas las tensiones
ningún deseo de respirar.
para estar preocupado, admitirán.
I should be worried.
a little drop of water,
flotando en la mitad del océano.
el pequeño punto azul pálido.
que señala la flecha,
the arrow is pointing to.
por la sonda Voyager
by the Voyager probe,
is that small dot over there,
nuestra casa, eso es todo allí.
en medio de la nada.
que siento en el fondo a 123 metros.
en medio de nada,
in the immensity of space.
left, right, in front, behind,
izquierda, derecha, delante, detrás,
the infinite deep blue.
infinito azul, muy profundo.
se puede tener esta sensación,
you can experience this --
and seeing the same thing.
y tener la misma visión uniforme.
cada momento, en mí,
building up inside of me --
cuando miro esta foto,
I feel very humble --
down at the bottom --
a esta profundidad,
se pierde en este gran conjunto.
lost in all of time and space.
completamente fascinante.
porque no es mi lugar.
because this is not where I belong.
en la superficie,
hay un gran shock que ocurre,
en que decido volver.
to tear yourself away from the bottom.
requiere un esfuerzo colosal
me atrae cuando quiero volver.
la narcosis.
phenomenon known as narcosis.
el rapto de la profundidad.
to scuba divers,
pero también en buceadores libres.
dissolving in the blood,
que se disuelve en la sangre
and unconscious mind.
through your head.
and you shouldn't try to --
no debe tratar de hacerlo.
the harder it is to manage.
más complicado de manejar.
el deseo de respirar.
me hace volver a esta realidad.
reminds me of that fact.
con todo lo que está sucediendo,
perder completamente el pie,
"Where's the surface?
Quiero la superficie y respirar ya".
con los ojos o con la mente.
picture yourself up there.
leading me back to the surface.
ante mí, a la cuerda.
que me lleva a la superficie.
on the present moment.
en el momento presente.
me entra el pánico
about the surface, I panic.
ya no estoy solo.
de la guarda se unen a mí.
my guardian angels, join me.
we meet at 30 meters,
nos encontramos a 30 metros,
for the final few meters,
los problemas pueden ocurrir.
cuando los veo:
gracias a mi equipo.
my team, that I'm here.
de recordatorio de humildad.
las personas que me rodean,
the people around me,
would be impossible.
serían imposibles.
is above all a group effort.
son, sobre todo, colectivas.
my journey with them,
este viaje con ellos,
if it weren't for them.
poco a poco a su volumen,
to their normal volume.
a la superficie.
I start to breathe out,
empecé a espirar el aire,
como llego a la superficie.
to the surface all I do is breathe in.
pequeñas moléculas de oxígeno
oxygen molecules fueling my body.
but at the same time it's traumatizing.
as you can you imagine.
a la luz del día.
to the light of day,
profundidades al bullicio.
to the commotion up top.
velvety feeling of the water,
que se precipita en mis pulmones.
se despliegan a su vez.
un minuto treinta antes,
just 90 seconds ago,
quite a lot of things.
porque tengo los jueces enfrente,
to verify my performance;
I'm in perfect physical condition.
perfecta integridad física.
I was doing a so-called exit protocol.
para quitar mis pinzas de nariz,
to take off my nose clip,
(English) "I am OK."
no es agradable.
los jueces me muestran el cartón blanco,
the judges show me a white card,
de lo que acaba de ocurrir.
what has just happened.
extrema del buceo libre.
mostrar otra cara del buceo libre,
another side of free diving,
hablan de él,
about competitions and records.
es mucho más que eso.
very poetic and artistic.
poético y artístico.
tratar de mostrar otra cara.
sobre todo, entrar en el agua.
to go into the water.
to finish my story.
bajo el agua.
you try to stop breathing,
when you stop breathing,
al dejar de respirar,
we're under so much pressure.
siempre, se piensa a 10 000 por hora,
we think at a million miles an hour,
lets you, just for a moment,
calmar la mente.
to experience weightlessness.
de experimentar la ingravidez.
letting go of all your tensions.
mal de espalda, de cuello, nos duele todo.
everything hurts,
y tensos todo el tiempo
and tense all the time.
as if you were in space.
with your body, mind and spirit.
about learning to breathe correctly.
nacimiento, hasta nuestro último aliento.
at birth, up until our last one.
is learning how to live better.
es aprender a vivir mejor.
sin tener que ir a 100 metros,
not necessarily at 100 meters,
una máscara y aletas,
a pair of flippers,
ver la fauna y la flora,
the flora and fauna,
mirando hacia atrás, a la superficie:
and coming back to the surface,
to become one with nature like that.
con la naturaleza como esté.
finding this underwater world --
es volver a conectar.
about the body's memory
esta memoria corporal
to our marine origins.
nuestro origen acuático.
por unos segundos,
for a few seconds,
a los orígenes.
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