Martin Štěpánek (freediver)
Martin Štěpánek (born in Náchod, Czech Republic on June 5, 1977) is a world class free-diver and record-holder. From 1984 to 1997 he was a competitive monofin swimmer (finswimmer)(distances 50m and 100m). He became USA Certified as a Deep Sea and Saturation Commercial Diver in May 1999. Afterwards, he became an instructor of Performance Freediving (June 2001).
As member of Performance Freediving International (PFI) he set nine world records in five AIDA disciplines: ( Static Apnea, Constant Weight, Constant Weight without fins, Free Immersion, and Variable Weight). Until recently he held the world record in Free Immersion with -106m (in 3min 52s) achieved on April 3, 2007 in the Cayman Islands and broke the Constant Weight without fins with -83m (in 3min 28s) achieved on August 8, 2007 at Dahab, Egypt. However the Constant Weight without fins record is being disputed because a tag was not used in the dive. The Constant Weight without fins record is officially held by William Trubridge with -86m.
Martin was on hand during David Blaine's "Drowned Alive" stunt in Lincoln Center in May 2006. Blaine was attempting to hold his breath long enough to break the current world record of eight minutes, fifty-eight seconds. Martin, along with fellow freediver Mandy-Rae Cruickshank, dove into the tank to assist Blaine after the attempt failed. [1]
On March 1, 2007 Martin announced his resignation from longtime employer Performance Freediving International in favor of pursuing independent career.
On March 16, 2007 Martin issued a press release announcing the formation of Freediving Instructors and Trainers, LLC.