He set the new men's marks diving in the Blue Hole at Dahab, in Egypt. In Variable Weight, in which the diver descends by sled and has to return to the surface by finning or pulling up the dive line, he set a record of 80m.
The dive broke the record of Paul Whincup, set in 2005, by 15m. The men's world record is 140m, held Carlos Coste.
Just half an hour after completing his sled dive, Harris carried out his successful Free Immersion dive, in which the diver has to pull down and back up the dive line.
Despite losing his noseclip and needing to hold his nose by hand, Harris one-armedly hauled himself into the depths and back to set the new British mark of 64m.
This beat by 3m the depth achieved by Marcus Greatwood last year. The men's world record is 106m, held by Martin Stepanek.
Australian Ben Noble, who is living in the UK and serves on the committee of the British Freediving Association, freedived together with Harris in Dahab to set three new Australian records - 50m in Free Immersion, 72m in Variable Weight and 80m in No Limits.
Unlike Variable Weight, in No Limits the sled-diving competitor is aided by an inflatable balloon to rocket back to the surface. It is freediving's deepest discipline, the men's world record being held by Herbert Nitsch at 214m.
Briton Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler was also with the group in Dahab, but her intention to set an inaugural British women's benchmark in Variable Weight was thwarted by illness.
The Dahab dives were judged by two AIDA officials, Lotta Ericson and Linda Paganelli, who are based at Freedive Dahab. Safety cover involved four scuba divers and two freedivers.
The scuba team, managed by Harris's wife Laura Storm of Angels Scuba Support, had to monitor the dive line and, in the event of an incident, communicate with the surface.
In the cases of the Variable Weight and No Limits dives, this would have led to the deployment of a counterbalance, to bring the sled back to the surface. The scuba divers also took stills and video recordings of the dives.
Among the freediving cover, placed at or near the surface ready to attend any shallow-water black-out or samba (near-loss of consciousness), was Sam Kirby, British freediving trainer and Salt Free competition organiser. |
