Turkish scuba-diving instructor Mazlum Kibar has “kept it in the country” as he set a new Guinness World Record for the longest open saltwater scuba dive in cold water.
He entered the 12°C Aegean sea with his support team at Mimoza Beach in Anzac Cove on Turkiye’s Gallipoli peninsula at 7am on 14 March – and remained at a depth of 7m for 36 hours, 9 minutes and 36 seconds before emerging the following evening.
The previous record had been set by Kibar’s countryman Cem Karabay, who stayed under water for 30 hours and 20 minutes in April, 2018, also in Gallipoli (Çanakkale). Karabay is a serial endurance record-holder in both cold and warm water.
Kibar’s dive lasted almost a fifth longer than Karabay’s eight years ago. A Guinness World Records (GWR) adjudicator had travelled from Portugal to oversee the new attempt and was able to confirm the record and award the certificate on site.
Kibar, who is 32 and based in Istanbul, dedicated his record dive to the anniversary of the Ottoman WW1 naval victory at Gallipoli on 18 March, 1915, and the associated Martyrs’ Remembrance Day.
His attempt followed a 13-hour test-dive. Kibar used a full-face diving mask, which he would remove intermittently to take on nourishment. Rather than relying on it for communication over such a long period, he and his support divers used slates. Members of the team also gave him massages to help maintain his circulation in the cold water.
Kibar, who started diving as a teenager in 2011, hopes to emulate Karabay by going on to set multiple records across environments including not only cold seawater but enclosed pools, lakes and warm seas.
“As a team of 75 people, we achieved this incredible milestone with dedication and unity,” he said after the dive. “Every moment proved the power of perseverance and teamwork. Let’s keep pushing the limits together.”
