Marshall Islands freedivers circa WW II

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daniel1948

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A friend of mine recently told me this story: His father was in the Marshall Islands either during or after the second world war, teaching the local people to farm sponges (this was before plastic). Soldiers had left great quantities of empty pop bottles, and these were useful as floats for the lines on which the sponges were seeded.

My friend's father was a scientist, and my friend says that his father was precise in his language and did not exaggerate. That said, my friend is remembering something his father told him 50 years ago:

The father said that the Marshall Islanders (who were accomplished breath-hold spear-fishermen) could hold their breath for ten minutes.

I've read other threads in this forum citing world's records of 8 to 9 minutes, with longer times being achieved only by breathing oxygen beforehand. Either my friend is remembering incorrectly, or the Marshall Islanders of the WW II period were regularly breaking the modern breath hold record. My first thought was that the father may have "rounded up" to impress him with the islanders' abilities, but my friend insists that his father would not have done that.

Does anybody know anything about this? Is there any literature about breath-hold diving among traditional island peoples?
 
I don't know anything about the islanders that you mention.

There is a huge difference in a static breath hold and actively swimming underwater while holding your breath. The world records (8+ minutes) that you mention are static world records where the person is relaxing and floating motionless, conserving energy.

There are only a handful of freedivers on the planet that can achieve a 4+ minute breath hold, using plain air, while constantly swimming. These are typically world record holders. I have never heard of anyone exceeding 5 minutes while constantly swimming.
 
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