Illusionists claim world record for holding their breath under water

VILNIUS - Lithuanian illusionists Arvydas and Diana Gaiciunai set a new world record for holding their breath under water during a June 16 show at the Druskininkai water amusement park in the south of the country, organizers of the event claim. They acknowledged, however, that the achievement is not likely to be officially confirmed.

The brother and sister team performed their feat, in which they were chained to a metal frame and immersed in a swimming pool, in front of an audience of several hundred. The show was also broadcast live on  LNK television, which covered the event using underwater cameras.
Diana stayed under water for 11 minutes and 7 seconds. She is reported have beaten the world record for women, held by Russian freediver Natalia Molchanova, of 8 minutes and 30 seconds.
Arvydas emerged from the pool nearly 5 minutes later after having held his breath for 15 minutes and 58 seconds, which organizers said breaks the world record, set in 1959 by Canadian Robert Foster, of 13 minutes and 43 seconds.

Immediately upon leaving the pool the pair were taken to hospital by ambulance, but doctors later said their conditions were stable.
"The doctors did not want to release me because they saw my breath was infrequent. Maybe I used to breathe like this during exercise," Arvydas said the next day.
"Now I just want to spend a few days in bed, not thinking about anything and having a rest," he added.
His sister said she felt tired and had a headache.
"Maybe I don't yet realize what has happened. Everyone is  congratulating me and I do not know what to say in response. I feel like I'm dreaming," Diana said.

The pair, professional illusionists from the Di Archy magic theater, first amazed the country in 2005 when they spent 67 hours stuck in a 12-ton block of ice. That show was also broadcast live by LNK television, which claimed that the pair had beaten the record for being frozen in ice set by American illusionist David Blane.
But Gediminas Malas-
kevicius, spokesperson for LNK, told The Baltic Times that the record for staying underwater without breathing will most likely not be officially verified.
"The Guinness Book of [World] Records does not list records that pose a threat to human life. And the record can not be listed as a sports achievement because the lungs of Arvydas and Diana were hyperventilated with oxygen before they [went into] the water," Malaskevicius said.