Guillaume Néry: The exhilarating peace of freediving
Guillaume Néry: En reise mellom to åndedrag
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!
thanks for the warm welcome.
det er en reise.
between two breaths --
før jeg går under vann,
coming back to the surface.
to the very limits of human possibility,
hva som er mulig
en reise i det indre.
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
I have about 10 liters of air in my lungs.
med luft i lungene.
the first mechanism kicks in:
is make your heart rate drop.
from about 60-70 per minute
almost immediately.
nesten øyeblikkelig.
nedsatt blodgjennomstrømning
peripheral vasoconstriction,
will leave the body's extremities
selv om du aldri før har gjort det -
even if you've never done it before,
share this characteristic.
med sjøpattedyrene.
with marine mammals --
dolphins, whales, sea lions, etc.
delfiner, hvaler, sjøløver osv.
these mechanisms become activated,
much better for them.
for dem enn for oss.
en håndsrekning,
in the right direction,
to squeeze my lungs.
som gjør at jeg flyter,
in my lungs that makes me float,
jo mer klemmer trykket på.
the more pressure there is on my lungs,
desto mer synker kroppen.
and the easier it is for my body to fall.
på 35 eller 40 meters dyp,
around 35 or 40 meters down,
tett nok,
to fall into the depths by itself,
"fritt fall"-fasen.
the free fall phase.
is the best part of the dive.
på veien ned.
at jeg fortsetter å dykke.
you're being pulled down
uten å bevege meg.
without making a single movement.
det føles som jeg flyr under vann.
an extraordinary feeling of freedom.
sliding to the bottom.
a second physiological response kicks in.
andre periode:
det volumet av luft
to be compressed, in theory.
etter maksimal utpust.
is called blood shift,
become engorged with blood --
fra å klappe sammen.
from being crushed.
of the lungs from collapsing,
which we also share with marine mammals,
I keep falling, faster and faster,
raskere og raskere,
my body more and more.
kvelningsfornemmelser.
ikke særlig vakkert!
not pretty at all.
the rib cage is squeezed in,
going on as well.
"This doesn't look enjoyable.
when there's a problem?
man kjemper.
at lungene revner,
you might tear your lungs,
kroppen, så sier det stopp,
for a good amount of time.
is to tell yourself
er å si til seg selv:
are stronger than you.
når jeg sier dette til meg selv,
receives this information,
and relax completely.
and it doesn't feel bad at all.
men det er ikke ubehagelig.
I'm in a cocoon, protected.
også for oss fridykkere
and also for us, free divers,
får tallet oss til å drømme.
to be able to get to 100 meters.
å kunne være på 100 meters dyp.
doctors and physiologists did their math,
would not be able to go below 100 meters.
var i stand til å synke ned til.
the human body would implode.
Jacques Mayol,
in "The Big Blue" --
filmen "The Big Blue",
for å synke raskt til bunns,
and come back up with a balloon,
in no limit free diving.
bare ved å bruke muskelstyrke.
by simply using muscle strength.
because he challenged known facts,
got rid of the theoretical beliefs
that we like to impose on ourselves.
has an infinite ability to adapt.
en uendelig tilpasningsevne.
and put yourself in my place.
når jeg er på bunnen.
when I'm down there.
feeling of well-being.
released all tensions
Har ikke lyst til å puste.
det er grunn til bekymring.
I should be worried.
a little drop of water,
En lyseblå prikk.
the arrow is pointing to.
romsonden Voyager,
by the Voyager probe,
is that small dot over there,
når jeg er på 123 meters dyp.
et stjernestøv,
i det store intet,
in the immensity of space.
left, right, in front, behind,
til venstre, til høyre, foran og bak,
the infinite deep blue.
et uendelig, blått dyp.
kan du få den følelsen.
you can experience this --
and seeing the same thing.
building up inside of me --
I feel very humble --
down at the bottom --
lost in all of time and space.
jeg er ikke der jeg hører hjemme.
because this is not where I belong.
meg for å stige opp igjen.
to tear yourself away from the bottom.
synke når jeg vil opp.
phenomenon known as narcosis.
to scuba divers,
dissolving in the blood,
løses opp i blodet,
and unconscious mind.
through your head.
de svinser omkring,
and you shouldn't try to --
the harder it is to manage.
jo vanskeligere blir det.
reminds me of that fact.
"Where's the surface?
picture yourself up there.
verken med øynene eller i tankene.
leading me back to the surface.
med overflaten.
on the present moment.
er her og nå.
får jeg panikk.
about the surface, I panic.
jeg er ikke lenger alene.
blir med.
my guardian angels, join me.
we meet at 30 meters,
for the final few meters,
takket være laget mitt.
my team, that I'm here.
uten de rundt meg,
the people around me,
would be impossible.
vært umulig.
is above all a group effort.
først og fremst med andre.
my journey with them,
reisen med dem,
if it weren't for them.
to their normal volume.
hjelper meg oppover.
I start to breathe out,
begynner jeg å puste ut
når jeg når overflaten.
to the surface all I do is breathe in.
de små oksygenmolekylene
oxygen molecules fueling my body.
but at the same time it's traumatizing.
as you can you imagine.
to the light of day,
til et brus av stemmer.
to the commotion up top.
velvety feeling of the water,
det fløyelsaktige, myke,
som stryker meg lett over ansiktet.
just 90 seconds ago,
quite a lot of things.
tilbake til meg selv,
for dommerne sitter overfor meg
to verify my performance;
I'm in perfect physical condition.
I was doing a so-called exit protocol.
har jeg 15 sekunder på å fjerne neseklypa,
to take off my nose clip,
(English) "I am OK."
alt jeg nettopp var gjennom!
holder dommerne opp det hvite kortet.
the judges show me a white card,
det jeg nettopp gjorde.
what has just happened.
Langt ifra.
for å vise en annen side ved apnea,
another side of free diving,
about competitions and records.
very poetic and artistic.
veldig poetisk og kunstnerisk.
for å vise et annet perspektiv av apnea.
to go into the water.
to finish my story.
av vakre undervannsbilder.
you try to stop breathing,
en gang, å stoppe å puste,
when you stop breathing,
skikkelig satt på prøve.
we're under so much pressure.
tenker 10 000 tanker i timen.
we think at a million miles an hour,
lets you, just for a moment,
to experience weightlessness.
letting go of all your tensions.
vondt i ryggen, i nakken, overalt
everything hurts,
and tense all the time.
as if you were in space.
with your body, mind and spirit.
about learning to breathe correctly.
at birth, up until our last one.
is learning how to live better.
er å lære å leve bedre.
selv om du ikke er på 100 meters dyp,
not necessarily at 100 meters,
med maske og svømmeføtter,
a pair of flippers,
havets flora og fauna.
the flora and fauna,
ser deg rundt, kommer opp til overflaten,
and coming back to the surface,
to become one with nature like that.
finding this underwater world --
når du er under vann,
med livet i havet.
about the body's memory
kroppens hukommelse som går
to our marine origins.
til livets opprinnelse i havet.
om så bare i noen sekunder,
for a few seconds,
med livets begynnelse.
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