Guillaume Néry: The exhilarating peace of freediving
Guillaume Néry: Guillaume Néry fala em 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!
Guillaume Néry ! Recorde nacional!
thanks for the warm welcome.
obrigado pelo vosso aplauso.
é uma viagem.
between two breaths --
entre duas inspirações,
antes de partir,
coming back to the surface.
quando regresso à superfície.
to the very limits of human possibility,
dos limites humanos.
an inner journey,
uma viagem interior.
and to take you along with me.
e levar-vos comigo.
in is slow, deep and intense.
conforme viram, é lenta,
called the carp,
que se chama "carpa",
extra liters of air in my lungs
mais um ou dois litros de ar nos pulmões,
I have about 10 liters of air in my lungs.
nos pulmões.
the first mechanism kicks in:
e o primeiro mecanismo entra em ação:
is make your heart rate drop.
from about 60-70 per minute
almost immediately.
quase instantaneamente.
peripheral vasoconstriction,
uma vasoconstrição periférica,
will leave the body's extremities
os órgãos nobres:
even if you've never done it before,
mesmo que nunca o tenham feito,
a entrar em ação.
share this characteristic.
partilham esta propriedade.
with marine mammals --
com os mamíferos marinhos,
dolphins, whales, sea lions, etc.
as baleias, as otárias, etc.
these mechanisms become activated,
e descem em profundidade,
much better for them.
e tenho logo uma ajuda a natureza
in the right direction,
com toda a confiança.
to squeeze my lungs.
vai esmagar os meus pulmões.
in my lungs that makes me float,
nos meus pulmões que me faz flutuar,
the more pressure there is on my lungs,
mais a pressão esmaga os pulmões,
portanto o meu corpo cai facilmente.
and the easier it is for my body to fall.
aos 35 ou 40 metros,
around 35 or 40 meters down,
to fall into the depths by itself,
suficientemente denso,
the free fall phase.
a fase da queda livre.
is the best part of the dive.
you're being pulled down
without making a single movement.
sem fazer qualquer movimento.
tenho a sensação de voar debaixo de água.
an extraordinary feeling of freedom.
que é extraordinária.
sliding to the bottom.
a second physiological response kicks in.
ao seu volume residual.
to be compressed, in theory.
já não consegue comprimir-se mais.
is called blood shift,
é o "blood shift".
become engorged with blood --
que vão encher-se de sangue,
from being crushed.
contra o esmagamento.
of the lungs from collapsing,
dos pulmões entrem em colapso,
which we also share with marine mammals,
com os mamíferos marinhos,
I keep falling, faster and faster,
my body more and more.
o meu corpo cada vez mais.
not pretty at all.
the rib cage is squeezed in,
está metida para dentro.
going on as well.
passa-se uma coisa.
"This doesn't look enjoyable.
when there's a problem?
um incómodo na terra,
opomo-nos, lutamos.
you might tear your lungs,
arriscamo-nos a dar cabo dos pulmões,
fazer um edema
for a good amount of time.
is to tell yourself
mentalmente, é pensar
are stronger than you.
receives this information,
dou a informação ao meu corpo,
and relax completely.
and it doesn't feel bad at all.
e já não é nada desagradável.
I'm in a cocoon, protected.
é um número mítico.
and also for us, free divers,
e para nós também,
é um número que faz sonhar.
to be able to get to 100 meters.
chegar aos 100 metros de profundidade.
doctors and physiologists did their math,
nos anos 70,
que os 100 metros
would not be able to go below 100 meters.
o corpo humano não podia descer.
the human body would implode.
in "The Big Blue" --
o herói da Imensidão Azul,
and come back up with a balloon,
como no filme, a Imensidão Azul.
in no limit free diving.
vão até aos 200 metros.
utilizando apenas a força muscular.
by simply using muscle strength.
because he challenged known facts,
got rid of the theoretical beliefs
that we like to impose on ourselves.
que o homem consegue fixar.
has an infinite ability to adapt.
tinha capacidades de adaptação infinitas.
and put yourself in my place.
e se ponham no meu lugar.
when I'm down there.
quando estou lá no fundo.
feeling of well-being.
de bem-estar extraordinário.
released all tensions
todas as tensões
vontade nenhuma de respirar.
I should be worried.
a little drop of water,
a flutuar no meio do oceano.
que volta à minha cabeça.
ou seja, o pontinho azul pálido.
the arrow is pointing to.
mostrado pela seta.
by the Voyager probe,
pela sonda Voyageur
de quilómetros de distância,
is that small dot over there,
a nossa casa, está ali.
no meio do nada.
no fundo, aos 123 metros.
no meio do nada,
in the immensity of space.
left, right, in front, behind,
para a frente, para trás,
the infinite deep blue.
aquele azul infinito, muito profundo.
you can experience this --
podemos ter esta sensação,
and seeing the same thing.
e ter aquela mesma visão uniforme.
invade-me sempre um sentimento
building up inside of me --
quando observo esta foto
I feel very humble --
down at the bottom --
lost in all of time and space.
perdido naquele grande todo.
because this is not where I belong.
porque ali não é o meu lugar.
to tear yourself away from the bottom.
um esforço colossal
quando quero subir,
com o dobro do vigor.
phenomenon known as narcosis.
de outro fenómeno: a narcose.
to scuba divers,
mas também acontece aos apneistas.
dissolving in the blood,
que se dissolve no sangue
and unconscious mind.
through your head.
andam às reviravoltas,
and you shouldn't try to --
Não controlamos nada.
the harder it is to manage.
mais complicado fica de gerir.
a vontade de respirar.
faz-me voltar a essa realidade.
reminds me of that fact.
perder o pé totalmente,
"Where's the surface?
Quero a superfície e respirar".
nem com os olhos, nem mentalmente.
picture yourself up there.
leading me back to the surface.
on the present moment.
nesse momento.
about the surface, I panic.
entro em pânico
enfim a libertação, já não estou sozinho.
my guardian angels, join me.
os meus anjos da guarda, juntam-se a mim.
we meet at 30 meters,
encontramo-nos aos 30 metros,
for the final few meters,
podem surgir problemas.
graças à minha equipa.
my team, that I'm here.
the people around me,
sem todas as pessoas à minha volta,
would be impossible.
seria impossível.
is above all a group effort.
é, antes do mais, coletiva.
my journey with them,
por terminar esta viagem com eles
if it weren't for them.
to their normal volume.
o seu volume, suavemente,
acompanha-me até à superfície.
I start to breathe out,
começo a expirar o ar,
quando chegar à superfície.
to the surface all I do is breathe in.
oxygen molecules fueling my body.
estas pequenas moléculas de oxigénio
but at the same time it's traumatizing.
é um pequeno traumatismo.
as you can you imagine.
to the light of day,
para a luz do dia.
para o bruaá.
to the commotion up top.
velvety feeling of the water,
passo dum toque aveludado,
que se esfrega na minha cara.
nos meus pulmões.
just 90 seconds ago,
um minuto e meio antes,
quite a lot of things.
porque tenho que enfrentar os juízes,
to verify my performance;
o meu desempenho.
I'm in perfect physical condition.
em perfeita integridade física.
I was doing a so-called exit protocol.
o protocolo da saída.
to take off my nose clip,
para tirar o grampo do nariz,
(English) "I am OK."
que eu seja bilingue.
não é simpático.
the judges show me a white card,
tenho o cartão branco dos juízes,
what has just happened.
com o que acabei de passar.
muito longe de ser só isto.
tentar mostrar uma outra face da apneia,
another side of free diving,
about competitions and records.
very poetic and artistic.
muito poética e artística.
decidimos fazer filmes,
to go into the water.
de entrar na água.
to finish my story.
debaixo de água.
you try to stop breathing,
tentarem parar de respirar,
when you stop breathing,
parar de respirar
we're under so much pressure.
é posto à prova, duramente.
we think at a million miles an hour,
pensamos a 10 000 à hora,
lets you, just for a moment,
acalmar esse espírito.
to experience weightlessness.
a ausência de peso.
letting go of all your tensions.
temos dores nas costas,
everything hurts,
and tense all the time.
como no espaço.
as if you were in space.
with your body, mind and spirit.
about learning to breathe correctly.
at birth, up until our last one.
ao nascer, até ao nosso ultimo suspiro.
is learning how to live better.
é aprender a viver melhor.
not necessarily at 100 meters,
sem ir aos 100 metros,
e umas barbatanas,
a pair of flippers,
the flora and fauna,
ver a fauna e a flora,
and coming back to the surface,
voltar à superfície:
to become one with nature like that.
poder fazer corpo com o elemento.
finding this underwater world --
é voltarmos a ligar-nos.
about the body's memory
das nossas origens aquáticas.
to our marine origins.
a mergulhar na água,
for a few seconds,
durante uns segundos,
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