During the 20th century, humans managed to break numerous barriers and defy medical and physiological opinions that claimed it was impossible to descend to such depths without breathing underwater. Some of the most notable historical moments include:
- In 1913, Greek freediver Georgios Haggi Stotti descended to 60 metres depth to recover an anchor from the Italian ship Regina Margarita. This man could have been the first to descend beyond 80 metres in free diving.
From the 1940s onwards, a succession of new freediving records began:
- In 1949, Italian Raimondo Bucher reached 30 metres. In 1952, he achieved 39 metres.
- In 1953, another Italian, Alberto Novelli, descended to 41 metres.
- In 1959, the current world record for static apnea was set by Robert Foster, with 13 minutes 42 seconds, achieved after breathing 100% oxygen for half an hour.
- In 1960, Anerio Santarelli, compatriot of the previous divers, went down to 50 metres in free diving.
- Constant Weight: The fairest. The diver descends and ascends using the power of their fins and a constant weight.
- Variable Weight: The diver can descend using a weighted sled pulled by a cable with up to 35 kilos of weight and ascend using fins.
- No Limits: The sled has no weight limit for descent (it's determined by their equalisation capacity). They ascend using an air-filled balloon deployed at maximum depth.
- Free Immersion: The freediver ascends and descends without fins along a taut line to the bottom.
- Dynamic Apnea: This discipline, typically performed in pools, measures horizontal distance covered underwater.
- Dynamic Apnea Without Fins: Herbert Nitsch (AUS) holds the men's record with 134 m. Nathalie Desreac (FRA) holds the women's record with 95 m.
- Dynamic Apnea With Fins: Herbert Nitsch (AUS) holds the men's record with 181 m. Nathalie Desreac (FRA) holds the women's record with 150 m.
- Static Apnea: Measures how long a diver can remain submerged without moving. Typically performed in pools.
- In 1963, another Italian named Enzo Maiorca reached 53 metres.
- In 1964, Polynesian Tetake Williams surpassed 59 metres.
- In 1965, Jacques Mayol reached 60 metres. In 1976 he attempted again, descending to 101 metres in a total time of three and a half minutes. In 1979 he would descend to 110 metres, in variable weight.
- In 1967, American Robert Croft managed to descend to 64 metres. In 1971 he reached 73 metres.
- In 1989, an Italian woman, Angela Bandini, became the first to surpass 100 metres, reaching 107 metres in variable weight.
- In 1991, Belgian-born Cuban Pipín Ferreras reached 120 metres in variable weight. In 1996 he set 130 metres in the "No Limits" discipline. In 2000 he set the free diving record in the no limits category (IAFD) with 162 metres, in Cozumel (Mexico).
- Italian Umberto Pelizzari would take the record in 1993, with 123 metres in the "no limits" category. On 20 September 1997 he managed to reach 115 metres in variable weight. On 18 October 1999, after a total time of 2 minutes 29 seconds, Umberto Pelizzari managed to descend to 80 metres depth in constant weight. Umberto Pelizzari reached 150 metres "no limits" certified by AIDA, after a dive of 2 minutes and 57 seconds, in Santa Margherita, Liguria (Italy), on 24 October 1999.
- In April 1996, Andy Le Sauce (France) set the static apnea record (AIDA) with 7 minutes and 35 seconds, in Reunion Island (France).
- On 9 May 1998, American Tanya Streeter broke the women's CMAS free diving record with 113 metres in Grand Cayman. Later she would hold the women's record with 67 metres, achieved on 19 September 1998 in the waters of Sardinia (Italy).
- On 6 June 1998 Audrey Mestre (France) reached 115 metres in tandem with Pipín Ferreras. On 13 May 2000, she achieved 125 metres depth in the no limits category in La Palma (Canary Islands-Spain). Audrey Mestre broke her own record, set in Spain in 2000, reaching the incredible depth of -130 metres in Ft. Lauderdale (Florida-USA) on 18 May 2001.
- On 3 October 1998, Italian Gianluca Genoni achieved a new world record with 135 m. in variable weight "No limits", in the waters of Porto Ottiolu (Sardinia-Italy). On 2 October 1999, Gianluca Genoni achieved a new world record with 138 m. depth in the "No limits" category, in Porto Ottiolu (Sardinia-Italy).
- On 27 July 1999, Karoline M. Meyer Dal Toé (Brazil) set the women's static apnea record (AIDA) with 6 minutes and 2 seconds in El Gouna, Egypt.
- On 30 September 1999, in Porto Ottiolu (Sardinia-Italy), Italian Gianluca Genoni broke the variable weight free diving record with 122 metres.
- Brett Le Master (USA) broke the constant weight free diving record (AIDA) on 22 November 1999 in Grand Cayman, with 81 metres.
- On 22 June 2000, French freediver Loic Leferme managed to descend to 152 metres depth in the "No limits" category.
- Debora Andollo (Cuba) holds the variable weight record with 95 metres, achieved on 12 July 2000 in Parghelia (Italy).
- On 12 October 2000, Gianluca Genoni achieved a new record with 125 metres in the variable weight category, in the waters of Porto Ottiolu (Sardinia-Italy).
- In the waters of Ft. Lauderdale (Florida-USA), on 19 May 2001, Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras and Audrey Mestre broke the world free diving record in the "No Limits-Tandem" category, reaching a depth of -100 metres.
- Canadian freediver Eric Fattah broke, around 4:00 pm on Saturday 11 August 2001, the world record for constant weight free diving (AIDA) and (CAFA) by reaching a depth of 82 metres. Using a low-volume flooded mask with some weight placed on the back of his neck, he propelled himself with his monofin to collect the tag at -82 m. that accredited him with the new record in this challenging discipline.
- On Saturday 8 September 2001, Brazilian Karolina Dal Toe and American Audrey Mestre achieved a new world record in the women's No Limits Tandem category. The event took place in the waters of Florida, where they reached -91 metres depth in a total apnea time of one minute and forty-three seconds.
- Italian freediver Gianluca Genoni, aged 33, from Galliate (Novara-Italy), broke the variable weight free diving record on 22 September 2001 with a depth of 126 metres. The record was achieved in the waters of Rapallo (Liguria, Genoa-Italy), with a descent time of 1 minute 28 seconds and a total time of 3 minutes and 7 seconds.
- During the World Freediving Championships held in the waters of Ibiza (Spain) from 5 to 14 October 2001, Austrian Herbert Nitsch broke the constant weight descent record, reaching a depth of 86 metres in a total time of 2 minutes and 50 seconds.
- Shortly before 3 p.m. on 3 November 2001, in the waters of Capri (Italy), Italian freediver Umberto Pelizzari set a new variable weight free diving record reaching -131 metres depth. Pelizzari's record was achieved in a total time of 2 minutes and 44 seconds. Umberto descended in 1 minute 6 seconds to -131 metres.
