Going Deep

November 23, 1976 – It was on this day that a free diver named Jacques Mayol took a deep breath and descended 330 feet into the ocean off Elba, Italy. This was the deepest any man had ever gone and survived. During the descent, Mayol’s heart slowed from 60 to 27 beats per minute. This is the same mammalian reflex that dolphins and whales use when making similar dives.

Throughout his life, Mayol was fascinated with the sea and particularly with dolphins. He believed that through meditation and conditioning, humans could tap into a dormant ability to make more of their experiences in the aquatic world.

Mayol would go even deeper. At the age of 56 he descended to 344 feet.