The sun sets on the bay and Branko Petrovic stokes the charcoal. Tiny orange ambers sparkle upwards as Branko begins his tour into his parallel universe.
Branko is, in every aspect, a superhuman. Passionate and full of energy, he lives in a different world to us and, thanks to his sport, he can visit his universe at will . Not every sport teleports us to a new world, but Branko’s world is not for everyone. He visited our islands to coach apnea alongside fellow free diver, Frenchman Matt Conan, owner of Ocean Freedivers.
Among several titles, Petrovic holds the world record for Static Apnea—a vital discipline in his sport of Free Diving. His official time is 11 minutes 54 seconds, a time frame in which most humans would black out or worse. For a person to hold their breath for so long does not only take passion and energy, but it also takes scientific research and an extremely calm mind.
Outside “the zone”, he is anything but calm. Full of stories, theories and explanations Branko was serving up dinner, a few fish he spearfished at 60 metres deep. Two groupers, and sea bream. Re-read that. 60 metres deep, one breath, no scuba equipment. One man, one wet suit and one spearfishing gun. Four grilled tasty fish later conversation flows during one of the most epic interviews ever.
But what drives a man to hold his breath for so long? The Serbian champion jokingly calls himself a “lab eat” as he explains that “the scientific research behind the sport can contribute massively to the world of medicine, particularly when dealing with comas.” His support team can carry out studies relating to blood sugar, insulin, and oxygen levels, which can be vital for the world of science.
11 minutes 54 seconds: The phases
In 11 minutes and 54 seconds, a lot can happen. While some of us would prefer to brew and drink a cup of tea, Branko gets ready for a long session of static apnea. No cups of tea are needed for his pre-relaxation, but the initial key is to slow down the heart rate as much as possible. You and I will have a heart rate of between 60 – 100 beats per minute on average, me slightly more after an evening with this immense athlete. To fully relax and reduce the speed of the blood flowing through his body Branko somehow manages to go down as low as 28 BPM – an alarming rate which will have many call for paramedics, if not a funeral home.
The Super Relaxation Phase
In this state, there is far less oxygen consumption, and despite a low heart rate, he does not black out – instead, he is in the zone of total relaxation and only dreams. His dreams he says are ”totally positive and feel like a parallel universe. Here I am in my own big world and it’s the best place on Earth to be – I call this The Super Relaxation Phase.” Early on in his career, Branko admits, “panicking a lot and felt completely lost until I got used to the new feelings, but now my brain is my second home”.
After this phase Branko wakes up. His oxygen levels are going down while his CO2 levels in his blood are rising. Here “it is important to keep stress levels low as this will keep my heart rate low. I try to think of happy thoughts and being a positive man thankfully I have never run out of these – I imagine I am spearfishing, navigating through the deep blue see. I dream of fish and the water – the place I am at one with. This journey is beautiful, and it needs to be as peaceful as possible at this stage”.
The Struggle Phase
At this point, most of us would have turned blue or perhaps blacked out a while ago, but Branko pushes through to the most challenging phase of the experience – the aptly named Struggle Phase, and the name puts it lightly. “This is the most uncomfortable phase as here your brain will try and make you breathe by sending its signals. Your body has a raise in CO2 levels and the blood acid requires your body to take a breathe. “But I don’t – I struggle on willingly and contractions are now happening every 20 seconds – I am now battling in the middle of a rough storm, out of my calm blue waters from the previous phase”.
The Time-Acceleration Phase
With the spiking contractions, the brain will soon realise something is wrong and to counter the negative feelings, it is clever enough to send pleasure hormones throughout the body, to prepare it for the final and most exciting phase – The Time Acceleration Phase, a phase Branko admits “it’s a hard final one to reach, but the most interesting.” What happens here is, like the title reveals, time is accelerated. “One minute in apnea actually feels like 4 or 5 seconds to the diver. The contractions are now easy to deal with, but for the outsiders they look even more rough.” In this dangerous phase safety is paramount and your body is releasing heaps of endorphins, the same hormones released after taking part in sport.
“Your coach here is your life saver. He knows when to stop the session by using simple questions in which you are required to lift your finger if acknowledged” The questions here can be as simple as “Branko, do you know where we are?” or “Do you know your name?” but despite the ease of questions “the response time is critical. To me it might feel like I am responding in a mini second, but due to the Time Acceleration Phase my response on the outside seems long, and if it becomes too long for the coach, it is time to stop your amazing experience.”
“At that moment, I feel negative about everything. I am hot, bothered, and frustrated all at once and I just want to get out to begin my recovery breathing.”
A thrilling explanation from a World Record Holder whose passion for sport motivates him to teach others and take them into their own parallel universe. “the fight is unbelievable and I believe that any sport helps keep people on the right path in life.”
Besides his grandfather, who Branko admits inspired him to take one breath, Branko also credits “all people who want to push themselves and go to the next level in any sport” With this in mind, motivation is all around him, particularly during the Olympic Games this month.
“My diving helps me understand life and with that, I can be at peace.”
Judging by his energy levels and love for life, I know Branko understands life, and with him constantly pushing himself, it will not surprise me to see him beat his own world record in the near future.
Picking the tender meat from the bones, our chat opened my eyes into a whole new world. As the ambers slowly die out, it is now my turn to exit Branko’s parallel Universe. His energy and lessons will stay with me, and this was the single best barbecue of the summer so far!
