MANILA, Philippines — Cancer survivor and content creator Wil Dasovich made a Philippine record for five minutes and 39 seconds for underwater breath hold.
His feat on Static Apnea (STA) was recognized by the Association Internationale pour le Développement de l'Apnée (AIDA), a worldwide rule- and record-keeping body for competitive breath holding events, also known as freediving.
In his Instagram account, Wil posted his achievement.
"My national record is now official on AIDA International at 5:39 minutes for Static Apnea (STA)," he wrote.
Wil said he learned from watching Joe Rogan.
“Fun story of how I learned to hold my breath. I was watching Joe Rogan on a Sunday afternoon talk about the health benefits of breath holds and the legendary freediving GOAT @mr10minutes. I quietly fanboyed, slid in his DMs & said i thought he was cool and asked how he became an amphibious mutant,” he said.
“He surprisingly replied & told me he can turn me into a mutant just like him with his 3 month plan. We had weekly meetings, I did what he told me to do, and just like that I joined his army of 5+ minute breath holding mutant students from all over the world.
“Moral of the story, don’t be afraid to ask someone for help and if you want to be the best, learn from the best! I walked into a freediving competition 4 months ago with no coach or training and tried to do this all on my own via watching YouTube videos. I blacked out at 4:20 minutes and was extremely embarrassed leaving me with a heavy feeling of shame I knew I could never get rid of until I came back and redeemed myself. This is my redemption and I can now sleep at night!
“Thank you @mr10minutes for this superhuman ability I will cherish for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to use my super lungs & adapted red blood cells for when I go diving in the ocean, go on trail runs, and do specific cool party tricks that need not be mentioned on social media!”
Wil was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in August 17. The former "Pinoy Big Brother" housemate survived it a year later.
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