Martin Štěpánek

Martin Štěpánek, born on 5 June 1977 in Náchod, is a Czech freediver and record holder. From 1984 to 1997 he was a competitive monofin finswimmer, and he studied forestry engineering and sports biology at Charles University in Prague before moving to the United States, where he became a certified commercial diver. Coached from 2000 by Douglas Peterson, he set his first world record in July 2001 and kept setting freediving world records every year until he retired from competition in 2012. In May 2009 he became the first man to dive beyond 400 feet on a single breath using only a monofin. He founded Freediving Instructors International and was a safety diver during David Blaine's Drowned Alive stunt in 2006.