Herbert Nitsch

photo credit Nazim Ahmed

Herbert Nitsch, nicknamed “the Deepest Man on Earth”, is the current freediving world record holder with a No Limit dive to 253 m (830 ft). Nitsch can hold his breath for more than 9 minutes and has set a total of 33 world records, 32 of these are across all of the eight freediving disciplines – unrivaled achievements in freediving history. He has also set an additional world record in the traditional Greek freediving discipline of “Skandalopetra”. He is the first freediver ever to reach 100 m (328 ft) without fins or sled (in the free immersion discipline, in 2003).

On June 6th, 2012, Herbert during his 253 m (830 ft) No Limit sled-dive, well after having reached the planned depth, Herbert temporarily fell asleep due to nitrogen narcosis and consequently missed the planned one-minute underwater decompression stop on the same breath-hold. At the surface, he was alert and asked for a mask to return underwater to recompress on pure oxygen, which is a standard after-dive safety feature to further off-gas. While decompressing underwater, Herbert felt the onset of decompression sickness. He incurred severe DCS (type 2) which would eventually result in multiple brain-strokes. He arrived comatose at the hyperbaric chamber and his future did not look good. With a prognosis of remaining a wheelchair-bound care-dependent patient, he dismissed himself from long-term facilitated care and took his healing into his own hands. Two years later, against all odds, Herbert is fit, training, and deep-freediving again.

In December of 2013, Herbert proudly joined the Ocean Advocacy Advisory Board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He is also a well-sought after lecturer and key-note speaker worldwide for corporate events and for the general public.

His sponsors included Breitling, Hyundai, Landrover, Shell V-Power, Coors Miller Light, SeaBob, Canon, and many others.

3 words to describe Nature?

Life. Water. Power

3 things Nature taught you?

Stillness

Beauty

Happiness

3 most treasured Nature spots?

All of them are below the surface:  

Fakarava’s South Pass, French Polynesia 

Palau, Micronesia

And anywhere with shipwrecks, caves, and abundant marine life

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?

Part of it

When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?

Insignificant

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?

Humble

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?

Like free-diving (since at these times there’s the most action underwater to observe).

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?

Alive

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?

Like sailing away

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

I’m definitely an ocean person, although I enjoy living part of the year in the mountains, surrounded by forests. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10+

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

The first underwater memory I have is snorkeling as a kid in the Maldives. This was about four decades ago. At the time the waters were abundant with marine life. I treasure this moment since I am aware that I cannot relive this memory, as sadly, such richness underwater does not exist anymore.


Terry Giles

Terry Giles was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University at Fullerton and his Jurist Doctorate from Pepperdine University School of Law, where there is now a Terry M. Giles Honor Scholar. In 1975, he established what would become one of the largest and most successful criminal law firms on the West Coast. Some of Giles’ clients have included Richard Pryor, Kenneth Lay, J. Howard Marshall III and Martin Luther King Jr.’s remaining children. In 1983, Terry withdrew from the firm, disillusioned with the criminal legal system.

Starting over, he took a small Toyota dealership and built it into the fifth largest in the world. He then helped build a Canon copier distributorship into the third largest in the country and negotiated the sale of ComputerLand, a company with $2.5 billion in annual sales. He also reestablished his legal practice, but this time focused exclusively on civil trial matters and only for clients and causes that he believed in. In 2008 he was runner up for “National Jury Trial Lawyer of the Year” for his work in the Catholic predator priest cases in California.

Through the course of his career, he has bought/built 35 companies in a variety of industries. Today, his company, Giles Enterprises, has diversified interests in biotech, time management, European 5-Star hotels and restaurants, and financial portfolio investments. Part of his portfolio includes the Chateau Eza on the Mediterranean French Coast and Grand Hotel Son Net on Mallorca in Spain.

He is chairman of Landmark Worldwide Corporation, a San Francisco-based enterprise with 43 offices in 20 countries and Pacific Biomarkers, a diagnostic laboratory enterprise in Seattle. Additionally, Terry serves on the Boards of Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, the Pepperdine University Board of Regents, and The Giles O’Malley Foundation.

Terry has received the Medal of Honor Alumni Award from Pepperdine University, Alumnus of the Year from Pepperdine University School of Law, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Award, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of California State University of Fullerton. He further serves as an adjunct professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law.

3 words to describe Nature? 

Beautiful. Powerful. Terrifying.

3 things Nature taught you? 

Respect

Aloneness

Oneness

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

Red Wood Forrest in California

The deserts of Arizona

The canyons and rock formations of Utah and Colorado

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...? 

Small

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...? 

Peaceful

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...? 

In awe

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...? 

Happy

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...? 

Uneasy

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...? 

Nervous

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person? 

Mountain. The majestic nature of mountains inspires me.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

8, except when I am in it. Then it is definitely a 10.

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

Even as a kid, it occurred to me that we have a finite number of sunsets in our life.  We do not know in advance how many that is, but I try to make sure to enjoy each one as much as I can.