Guillaume Néry at the Café

Caravan: When Guillaume Néry dived into the Café

It took five magical minutes to understand the dimension of the athlete and the level of requirement of his freediving discipline. Café du Cycliste on the port of Nice is packed with people this Monday evening in March.

Click here to watch the full event.

Guillaume Néry the world champion free-diver walks on stage and, saying nothing, settles in his chair with relaxed eyes, clips his pince-nez to his nose, takes deep breaths, stores air again and again as if to occupy every every cell in his body and for 5 minutes that seem to last years, Guillaume holds his breath.

Time is suspended. As he sits, occasionally opening his eyes to check the elapsed time, the audience watch clips of this motionless man’s extreme endeavours under the sea. This performance is the preamble to a discussive journey with him, taking us 126 meters below sea level to explain how his body and, more precisely his brain, withstand the constraints and pressures of free-diving.

For a long time scientists thought that a human could not descend below 50 meters without oxygen. Athletes of Guillaume's calibre have defied all predictions, pushed the limits beyond the imaginable, undermining all scholarly doctrines.

There is this moment when the body falls into the depths, drawn to the deepest point possible. At less than 126 metres the organs take 12 times the normal pressure, the body literally crushed under the weight of the ocean. And then you must start the ascent, paddling with power to defy gravity. And the further you go, the more oxygen is lacking.

But finally, returning to the surface, the lungs are filled with air, and the body is reborn. For nearly two hours, Guillaume Néry, our Caravan athlete, thrilled the public at the Port of Nice. Relive this extraordinary experience here.

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