The heart rate of breath-hold divers during static apnea: effects of competitive stress.

Breath-hold divers compete with regard to depth, time and/or distance. The present observations were carried out on athletes performing static apnea where they perform one breath-hold for as long a duration as possible with the body and face immersed in water. Heart rate was measured on eight competitors participating in the Swedish Championship in static apnea 2001, both during the competition and during a separate training session using the...