Over 200 years ago, Napoleon once said that impossible is not French.

On June 30th 2005 in the waters of the Egyptian red sea of Hurghada, Patrick Musimu took this phrase a step further with his actions that said:
Patrick a Belgian free diver (originally from Zaire), took up free diving at the relatively late age of 29 and five years later at the age of 35 stunned the free diving and the medical world alike by plunging to the unfathomable depth of 209 meters on ONE BREATH setting a whole new benchmark in the no limit category of free diving in 3 minutes and 24 seconds.
To try and put this achievement into context and also to gain some understanding of the man himself , we all know that world records be it in free diving, athletics and so on are normally broken by seconds or a few meters.
In the case of the no limit category, the previous world record set by L. Leferme was to 171 meters , Patrick shattered this record not by one or two meters as is usually the case in free diving , but by the whole of 18 meters.
This tells us something about Patrick, for us he epitomizes the pure and dedicated sportsman, a true lover of the sea, for he is clearly not driven by commercialization or ego rather he is a man who sets out to meet a challenge, to follow an idea, to prove a point he believes in it in his heart of hearts, he wanted to push the limits of human endurance as he believed was possible and true enough he did and how.
The record was already broken well into his training in the preceding days as he dived to 180 meters and then to 200 meters further confirming that this was not about records as such, this was about him and what he as a man can achieve.
While no so called official ratification was sought from AIDA or any other such agencies, it was nevertheless confirmed by the new SUNNTO D 9 computers which were specifically modified by the manufacturer for Patrick to digitally read and record dives to 250 meters, as the SUNNTO representatives who flew in for the occasion was to demonstrate with the dive profiles downloaded from Patrick’s computer and explained during the press conference.
This astonishing feat was also the first time that such a record is officially sponsored by the Egyptian government represented by the Governorate of the Red Sea, it was General Saad Abu Rida the ever active governor who was enthusiastic about the idea when he first met Patrick last year and immediately gave his blessings for this to be an official event and gave his instructions to all departments and to the three main civil organizations in the region to pool their resources to make it a success.
A success it was, not only by the sheer margin with which the world record was broken but equally by the massive interest shown by world sports and diving media in the event, this was clearly evident from the host of cameras, TV , magazines and news papers
(local and international) who attended the press conference .
The press conference was held at the Sunrise beach hotel in Hurghada (part of Sunrise hotel group who hosted the event) was attended by HE Governor of the Red Sea, Patrick Musimu and Karim Helal Chairman of Red Sea Association, Maged
El Kadi Director of the Chamber of Travel Agents, Gen. Hatem Mounir Director of the Red Sea Investors Association, Mr Mohamed A. Wanis Head of the Tourism department at the governorate as well as dozens of key figures in the Red Sea’s official and civil communities.
The press was present in force , to mention but a few, French TV5, Polish, Russian , German and Egyptian TV, as well as Tauchen magazine, Russian diving magazines, Polish magazines, Sports and Fitness of Egypt, Al Ahram ( Egypt’s leading daily) and many more.

HE the governor did not hold back his pride at Patrick’s achievement and asked the audience to give a standing ovation to the man of the hour sitting to his right, Patrick on his part took dozens of questions from the press about his training, his techniques, his plans for the future which he answered with heart pleasing modesty and humility.
I think that this record will and can be broken, it is not impossible, Patrick said.

In closing, the Governor of the Red Sea expressed his firm belief that this record and such high profile events can only produce positive results for Hurghada and will eventually lead to increasing the number of visitors over the coming years which is his ultimate goal.

MEN BEHIND THE SCENE:
To make such an event take place in the safest possible conditions in no simple matter, to this end a technical group was put in place headed by Alaa Abdel Gelil Director of the Association, experienced dive instructor and owner of IMEI diving centre where Patrick started training some three years ago.
Alaa and his team has quite a few crucial tasks including:

Selecting the suitable site which meant studying sea conditions, bottom topography, wind and above all currents to ensure the optimum favourable conditions for the safe execution of the dives and for adequate mooring of the boat to give the sled and the lines the needed stability.
Design and manufacturing of the sled and all the needed hardware which was all done locally in Hurghada.

Installing the sled on the boat and testing the associated mechanics of putting down and pulling it up from such a depth as well as fixing the UW camera on it.

Devise a safety and emergency plan in case of any problems underwater or at the surface, the plan had to be constantly practiced and modified.

Assemble a reliable and qualified team of safety divers including deep mixed gas technical divers, boat and surface support team and conducting numerous briefings and training drills.

The safety plan used for this event was based on:

2 free divers capable of free diving to 30 meters

2 Technical divers who would be positioned at exactly half the distance between the bottom and the surface using trimix for the bottom and each equipped with a 55 lit and 50 lit lift bags and one independent HP air source for inflation, the bottom safety divers were Hesham Ayad a TDI Instructor trainer and Hassan Abdel Aziz (Buddha) a TDI instructor.
1 technical diver between 45-70 meters equipped with a 300 lit lift bag for emergency.
The idea was simple and effective, the team was trained so that when Patrick touches the bottom, the deep divers would count to 15 seconds and if the do not feel any movement on the line they would use their lift bags to pull it up to 155 MSW where they would attach the 55 lit lift bags to Patrick’s harness to send him up.
This scenario and the necessary equipment were put to the test numerous times during the training leading up to the dive; thankfully it was needed for real.

LOGISTICS, HOSPITALITY AND TRANSPORT

Maged EL Kadi, the tireless dynamo behind the scene, who was responsible for all the countless logistics associated with flying dozens of people from all over Europe to Hurghada, organizing their accommodation, transports, meals and countless other logistical problems and requirements.
Maged is the Director General of the Red Sea Chamber of Travel Agents who were a main sponsor of the event and also manager of Blue Sky Group, one of Egypt’s leading travel companies which also own the sunrise group of hotels where Patrick and other guests involved in the event were lodged.
Maged enthusiasm for the event reflects his firm belief that such a high profile event with the international publicity it generates can only be good for the Red Sea and for tourism.
He is ready for another major event, or so we think. Helping Maged in these monumental tasks over the past few months, one has to mention the support and dedication of Gen. Hatem Mounir Director of the Red Sea Investors Association, Valerie Immara who was liaising between Patrick and the various parties in Egypt, Mr Mohamed A. Wanis and Mr Hamouda of the tourism department at the Red Sea governorate who all came together to help make this the success that it was.