Florida Scuba Diver Breaks Second World Record in a Year

A diver from Central Florida has broken the world record for the longest saltwater dive by five minutes after spending two days at the bottom of the ocean in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

The record was broken by 45-year-old Allen Sherrod in the waters surrounding the Windjammer Resort, a popular destination for scuba diving holidays in Florida.

Sherrod was helped onto dry land by a team of divers as he surfaced from the ocean on Saturday 3rd December at 10.25am, two days after submerging into relatively calm waters at 10:12 a.m. on Thursday 1st December.

The new world record for the longest saltwater dive is 48 hours and 13 minutes after Sherrod beat the previous record (48 hours, 8 minutes and 7 seconds) which was set by William Gordon, a diver from the United Kingdom, in January 2010 in Lombok, Indonesia.
Sherrod spent his time 15 feet underwater near the town's new artificial reef which is situated 200 metres offshore. The reef stimulates coral growth using solar-powered electrical currents. The diver chose this location for his world record attempt because the reefs are colourful and close to the beach, making them also a popular attraction for many tourists who come to the area to enjoy scuba diving holidays.

This was his second attempt to break the record; he made his first attempt on 25th October, 2011, but he was forced to come out of the water after 12 hours due to bad sea conditions.

The record-breaker said that he spent most of time kneeling on the sea bed to try and stabilise himself throughout the attempt and he also clung on the artificial reef.

When he emerged from the sea, Sherrod told the media that despite his swollen hands and feet, and the broken skin on the back of his knees, he felt "great" and was looking forward to a sleep and a nice meal to get rid of the taste of saltwater.

Though the waters were calm when Sherrod first entered the water, conditions soon deteriorated and at one point the diver's temperature dropped so his team of divers massaged him and helped him swim laps through strong currents to try and bring it back up.

Sherrod is no novice when it comes to scuba diving in Florida. The diver broke the world record recently for the longest freshwater dive after spending five days in a Florida lake.

Lead safety diver, Jose Mijares, said that compared to the previous dive in the freshwater lake, this one came with more problems.
"It was even harder because we had no control over the environment," he explained. "The environment had the control."

Sherrod has been spurred on by breaking two world records this year and he has decided to set a new one for 2012 with a trip from Lake Worth to Bimini in the Bahamas on an underwater scooter.

Florida is one of the leading scuba diving destinations in the United States and in September 1997, the Broward County Commission declared Lauderdale-By-The-Sea as the "Shore Dive Capital of South Florida."