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Canadian diver seeks new depths

Broadcast Date: Nov. 24, 2003

Mandy Cruickshank's favourite sport is seeing just how low she can sink. The Canadian diver has set multiple world records in the extreme sport of "free diving" - dropping to incredible depths on a single breath of air and without any breathing apparatus. These divers confound doctors, who say these depths - which can compress the lungs to the size of golf balls and even kill - are not physically possible. In this 2003 clip from CBC-TV's Sports Journal, Cruickshank attempts a new women's world record, diving to 71 metres under Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver.

Canadian diver seeks new depths

• There are eight different types of free dive, classified according to whether the diver uses weights, fins, artificial propulsion and whether they are aiming for depth, distance, or simply the length of time they can hold their breath.

• Mandy-Rae Cruickshank's attempt at 71 meters is now well short of the women's constant ballast diving record, wherein the diver wears a weighted belt to help reach their depth, but must also surface with that same amount of weight. British diver Sarah Campbell shattered that record when she dove to 90 metres in October 2007. That's almost swimming the length of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, which measures 92 metres.

• Divers have also pushed the envelope for the No Limit dive - where the diver uses a weighted sled to reach the intended depth - sometimes with terrible results. In 2002, 28-year-old French diver Audrey Mestre died while attempting to set a new No Limits record of 170 metres. The current women's No Limit record is 160 metres, held by American Tanya Streeter, while the men's record is an astounding 214 metres, set by Austrian Herbert Nitsch.

Canadian diver seeks new depths

Medium: Television

Program: Sports Journal

Broadcast Date: Nov. 24, 2003

Guest(s): Mandy-Rae Cruickshank, Harry Gladstone, Kirk Krack, Erik Seedhouse


Host: Tom Harrington
Reporter: Lisa Bowes

Duration: 16:25

Last updated:
March 10, 2009


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