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The 35-year-old magician David Blaine set a new world record on April 30, 2008, for holding one breath for 17 minutes and 4 seconds in a water-filled sphere 8 feet in diameter.

The feat was broadcast live during “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Everyone in the studio who witnessed his achievement was cheered for him when he was pulled out from the water-filled sphere by the divers.

“A lifelong dream,” a relaxed-looking Blaine told Winfrey immediately after setting the record. “I can’t believe that I did that.”

In May 2006, Blaine tried to set the breath-holding record at New York’s Lincoln Center, but he had to be rescued shortly after 7 minutes when he was unconscious and having convulsions.

The previous Guinness World Records holder for this title was Peter Colat from Switzerland, he set the 16 minutes and 32 seconds record on Feb. 10.