Diver Breaks Longest Freshwater Dive World Record in Florida

A 47-year-old scuba diver from Lake County in Florida, U.S. has broken a world record by staying underwater in a freshwater lake for five days.

Allen Sherrod broke the scuba diving record for the longest freshwater dive by just 15 minutes at around 9am on 16th September, 2011. He entered the waters of Lake David in Groveland, Florida at exactly 8.46am on Sunday 11th September, to mark the 10th anniversary of the first plane that hit the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001.

Image by : camtb, on Flickr.

Nicole Plussa, a 17-year-old diver who attempted to break the woman's world record but had to surface from the lake after 13 hours, said: "This was like amazing. He's tried this two times before. This whole week we knew he could pull it off."

Sherrod emerged from Lake David with a bottle of champagne after spending 5 days, 14 minutes and 32 seconds underwater. He devoted the third and successful dive to helping veterans to pursue scuba diving by raising money for Wounded Warriors.

"I feel good. I'm glad I did it," Sherrod explained. "I'm the only one that's made 3 dives in 13 months that total almost 300 hours at one time in three dives. So that's an accomplishment on its own."

During his underwater trip, Sherrod lived on a liquid diet of Ensure and Gatorade and watched films and checked his Facebook account with the use of a waterproof monitor and keyboard.

Once on dry land the diver spent hours hooked up to an oxygen tank to adjust back to life on dry land and said that the worst part was the waiting around.

While still wearing the oxygen mask, he said to his friends: "I'm not a patient person."

Image by : frenchy912, on Flickr.

According to his team of safety divers, the last night was the hardest and Sherrod was shivering throughout the evening.

"It really takes a strong mind, a strong heart to be able to do this," said Jose Mijares, the Lead Safety Diver.

Florida is one of the most popular scuba diving destinations in the United States and is home to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, a place is teeming with spectacular marine creatures, beautiful coral reefs and crystal clear waters.

Image by : National Marine Sanctuaries, on Flickr.

During scuba diving holidays in Florida, divers can catch a glimpse of sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, barracuda, moray eels, jellyfish, sea stars, lobsters, crabs, parrotfish, snappers, angelfish, trunkfish, and many more marine species.