MANILA – Wil Dasovich has achieved a noteworthy milestone by setting a national record in static apnea (STA), in which a person endeavors to hold their breath underwater for as long as possible.

Taking it to Instagram, Dasovich said he was able to secure a national record officially recognized by AIDA International with an impressive duration of 5 minutes and 39 seconds.

In the same post, he also shared how he trained himself in holding his breath underwater for long duration.

“Fun story of how I learned to hold my breath. I was watching Joe Rogan on a Sunday afternoon talk about the health benefits of breath holds and the legendary freediving GOAT @mr10minutes. I quietly fanboyed, slid in his DMs & said I thought he was cool and asked how he became an amphibious mutant,” he said.

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A post shared by Wil Dasovich (@wil_dasovich)

“He surprisingly replied & told me he can turn me into a mutant just like him with his 3 month plan. We had weekly meetings, I did what he told me to do, and just like that I joined his army of 5+ minute breath holding mutant students from all over the world,” he added.

According to Dasovich, the key takeaway from his story is to have the courage to seek help from others and to aspire to greatness by learning from those who excel in their field.

“I walked into a freediving competition 4 months ago with no coach or training and tried to do this all on my own via watching YouTube videos. I blacked out at 4:20 minutes and was extremely embarrassed leaving me with a heavy feeling of shame I knew I could never get rid of until I came back and redeemed myself. This is my redemption and I can now sleep at night,” he said.

To end his post, Dasovich thanked his coach “for this superhuman ability I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

“I can’t wait to use my super lungs & adapted red blood cells for when I go diving in the ocean, go on trail runs, and do specific cool party tricks that need not be mentioned on social media,” he said.