Diver breaks depth record

Fifty-two year old South African Nuno Gomes set the world scuba diving depth record on June 10 when he dove to 1,044 feet in the Red Sea.

Gomes previously held the record between 1996 to 2001. This was his second attemmpt to reclaim the record. Last July Gomes reached 889 feet but had to stop the descent when his equipment failed.

To prevent nitrogen buildup, divers breath trimix which is a blend of oxygen, nitrogen and helium.

While it took 20 minutes for Gomes to reach his record depth, it took 12 hours for him to make enough decompression stops to ascend to the surface safely.

The previous depth record was set two years ago in Thailand at 1,026 by British dive instructor Mark Ellyatt.