- A pair of divers set the world record for the longest underwater kiss.
- The couple held the kiss for four minutes and six seconds, breaking a record set 13 years ago.
A freediving couple made history by sharing the longest underwater kiss ever — a four minutes and six seconds — and said that it has given them more respect for what the human body can accomplish.
In a luxury resort in Maldives on February 4, Beth Neale from South Africa and Miles Cloutier, a Canadian, broke the previous longest underwater smooch record.
The previous record of three minutes 24 seconds was set 13 years ago in Italy, according to the Guinness World Records.
The couple met around five years ago in Bermuda, where Neale taught Cloutier how to freedive, which is diving without breathing equipment. They later got engaged and now have an 18-month-old daughter.
While together they have traveled the world together and filming freediving videos which they post to a joint Instagram.
Breaking the world record was a feat that they first set their eyes on three years ago.
"We thought this was something we could do, and it would just be a really just awesome thing for us to do, just because we could do it," Cloutier, 33, told Insider.
But they pushed back their plan when Neale discovered that she was pregnant with their first child, and they did not want to attempt anything extreme that could harm the baby. But with 18-month-old Neve by their side, the parents decided last Christmas to go ahead with the plans, in time for Valentine's Day.
They started training for the challenge in their home pool in South Africa, two weeks before they flew into Lux South Ari Atoll Resort in Maldives.
This was where they broke the record. The attempt was in front of Guinness World Records adjudicator Swapnil Dangarikar from India, two official witnesses, timekeepers, and a crowd of resort guests and staff, per a press release shared by the couple.
Neale, who is a professional freediver, said that the longest she had gone underwater in one breath was six minutes. But staying underwater while kissing another person is much more complex, she told Insider.
"When you're connected to another person, you're not in a relaxed position at the surface. We could feel exactly what's happening to the other person, which impacts your mental state," Neale, 40, said.
She said that another big challenge that they encountered was the nerves of trying to break the record, which caused their heart rates to increase as they were attempting it.
"Your heart rate is meant to decrease if you want to hold your breath for a longer time," she said. Both of them, she said, had to fight the intense urge to draw breaths.
The experience gave Cloutier a newfound appreciation for his body.
"I have even more respect for my body since doing the challenge and breaking the record," Cloutier said. "The body is capable of more than you think, right?"
Neale said that she hoped that people seeing them break the record will be inspired to discover the underwater world.
"I hope that this gives them a passport to this incredible world that needs protection and needs all the love. It can get. And, you know, hopefully it will inspire people to discover that for themselves," she said.